how to use block quotes

So, you’re writing an academic paper. You’ve gone to the library, done your research, and pinpointed the right sources to write a solid thesis statement and support it throughout your essay. Most of those sources have ideas you can easily paraphrase or a sentence or two you want to use in your own work. Sometimes, however, there are whole paragraphs that you just couldn’t say better yourself. That’s why it’s important to know how to use block quotes. 

The problem? Using them is tricky. Their presentation varies from one citation style to the next, and even knowing when to use them requires a pretty thorough knowledge of writing rulebooks—unless you have this article on hand. We’ll share what block/long quotes are and when and how to use them below, so you’ll never have to puzzle over it again. 

What Are Block Quotes?

When writing an academic research paper, essay, or article, you should back up your arguments with direct quotations from your sources. You can do this with primary sources (a first-hand account by an author) and secondary sources (an analysis of the primary source). 

Most of the time, you can pull short quotations or paraphrase a text, especially in a short essay. But sometimes it’s necessary to include more extensive textual evidence from your source. That’s where block quotes come in. 

A block quote is a direct quotation with a specific length. You should only utilize this it if the text is longer than four lines (MLA), five lines (Chicago/Turabian), or 40 words (APA). Each academic style manual also has its own rules regarding how to format the long quotation. As a general rule, you should separate the block quotation from the rest of the text by a space above and below, and don’t use quotation marks. We’ll go into more detail later in this guide on formatting depending on the academic style required for your paper.

While these are handy tools for communicating big ideas, you should use block quotes sparingly in an academic paper. Only use them when you can not capture or rephrase the idea without using the entirety of the original material. 

How to Use Block Quotes

As with any quotation, you should introduce the author and source of the passage before using it in the paper. Then follow it with your own analysis of what the text’s author is saying.

For example, if you’re working with a poem, introduce the context for the poem before the quotation. Lead into it with a specific reason for why you’re using it in your paper. Then follow the long quotation with a detailed explication or close reading of the poem.

Sound easy? There’s a bit more nuance to using them in your essay. Here’s a more detailed breakdown:

First, Give an Introduction

You'll want to explain why you're about to cite a longer quotation to your reader. Introduce it in your own words and state its purpose in the broader argument of your essay. If you haven't discussed the text or author yet, make sure to include an introduction to both before the quoted material appears. This helps contextualize your research and orient your reader. Use a colon to separate the introduction and the block quote. 

Next, Format and Cite

Long quotes stand out from the rest of the content in your essay. In order to be easily read, style manuals call for writers to indent block quotes. MLA, APA, and Chicago styles require a half-inch (0.5) indent on the left margin and no indent on the right margin. Both MLA and APA require double-spacing; for Chicago style, single space the quotation. There are additional rules per style guide for multiple paragraphs and drama dialogue. 

To cite the original source, use author page formatting in all three citation styles. Author page formatting includes the author and page number: (Fitzgerald, 133). If you already cited the author and the work you’re quoting in the same paragraph, you can use the page number instead: (133). Include the inline citation on the last line of the quote, after the closing punctuation. 

Analyze the Quote

The subsequent paragraph following the quoted text should return to standard formatting. Now comes the part where you apply the block quotation to the central thesis of your essay. You chose this quotation for a reason. You should explicitly use the quotation to support your argument, launch into deep analysis, argue for or against the ideas expressed in the text, or work as an example of something specific in your paper.

General Example

Following the steps above, here’s an example of how to create a prose quote block in MLA:

Near the end of Brontë's Jane Eyre, the protagonist realizes she needs to leave her safe home and the man she loves. This is because his marriage to another woman and social standing put her at a disadvantage. However, Jane does not leave without a fight: 

Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong! - I have as much soul as you, - and full as much heart! And if God had gifted me with some beauty and much wealth, I should have made it as hard for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you! (Bronte, 301). 

Jane argues that her moral righteousness and strength of spirit are worth more than his material wealth. She will settle for no less than fair, honest love between them. In this argument with Mr. Rochester, she reclaims her dignity after he nearly tricks her into an illegal marriage.

When to Use Block Quotes

Quotations from Prose

Prose block quotes include quotations from any kind of primary prose source, from a novel to a letter to a magazine article. This is most commonly used in essays. You may use prose quotes to support your argument or argue against a secondary source, like an academic article. 

Quotations from Poetry

You should use block quotes of poetry when quoting more than four poetic lines in MLA or two lines in Chicago Style. You’ll generally want to go line by line and use short quotations for close reading. However, longer excerpts are handy if you're analyzing an entire stanza to talk about the rhyme scheme and meter. They are also helpful for explaining sections of a long poem, like an epic.

Here’s an example of how to use long quotes for a poem in MLA:

Elizabeth Bishop concludes her masterful villanelle “One Art” with a quatrain that brings all the echoes of loss throughout the poem together:

-Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture

I love) I shan’t have lied. It’s evident

the art of losing’s not too hard to master

though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster. (Bishop, “One Art)

She brings a catalog of lost things-which grow progressively worse as she moves through the poem's stanzas-to a close with losing a loved one. While the language in the stanza implies that the speaker is starting to lose her composure, "I shan't have lied" (line 17), she stays mostly faithful to the elaborate villanelle rhyme scheme. Her dedication to the form echoes her commitment to what she loves, even lost loves.

Quotations from Drama or Plays

In plays, a new speaker prompts a line break. Because of this, you’ll need to use long quotes if you’re citing a scene between two characters. In this case, be sure to include the character names in the quoted text. If only one character is speaking in your quotation and it exceeds the set length for the academic style you’re using, format it like prose.

Here’s an example of how to use block quotes in a drama dialogue using MLA style rules:

In Brian Friel’s Philadelphia, Here I Come, the main character, Gar, speaks to the audience with a public persona and speaks to himself in an inner monologue. This is apparent from the start of the play:

PRIVATE (now on). Just think, Gar.

PUBLIC. Think...

PRIVATE. Think... Up in that big bugger of a jet, with its snout pointing straight fo the States, and its tail belching smoke over Ireland; and you sitting up in front (Public acts this) with your competent fingers poised over the controls; and then away down below in the Atlantic you see a bloody bugger of an Irish boat out fishing for bloody pollock and- (Friel, 5). 

Friel sets up this device to explore Gar’s range of emotions as he prepares to leave his home in a small town in County Donegal, Ireland, to live with his aunt in Philadelphia. Gar is ready to take on the world and fly into an adventure, yet this cheeky conversation between his public and private self reflects on what he will leave behind.

Block Quote Rules by Citation Style

MLA

MLA is an academic writing style designed and managed by the Modern Language Association. At the moment, the current version of MLA is MLA 9, which came out in 2021. If you're a student writing about language and literature in any language, literary criticism, or cultural studies, you should use this citation style. (Note that this guide primarily uses examples in MLA because literature students frequently work with prose, poetry, and drama.) 

Block quotes in MLA are:

• On a new line, with a space before and after the quoted text
• Indented 0.5 inches
• Double spaced
• Cited inline on the last line of the quotation

Plays have special instructions for quoted material laid out in this useful article. 

APA

The American Psychological Association maintains the APA style. As such, it’s used for academic papers in the social sciences. Students who use this style are usually studying psychology, sociology, or social work. The current edition is APA 7, which came out in 2019. Because APA format is for social science fields, the inline citation also includes the publication year for the source. Writers rarely use APA for poetry and drama citations.

Long quotes in APA follow the same general rules as MLA (0.5 inch indent, double spaced, cited inline). However, it must contain 40 words or more. The full APA online style guide on quotations has more information on all style rules for APA. 

Here’s an example of an APA block quotation from an article from Psychology Today:

Psychologists recently began recognizing a new condition associated with neurodiversity and feelings of rejection. This new condition is called Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD), and Dr. Andrea Bonior of Psychology Today describes the condition as follows:

People with RSD have such a strong emotional reaction to negative judgments, exclusion, or criticism from others that it sends them into a mental tailspin, leading to rumination and the pit-of-the-stomach malaise that won't let them move forward with their day. They feel like failures, disproportionate to what has actually occurred. They may feel rage and want to lash out. They often exaggerate how people are against them, or how much people dislike them, or they carry long-term shame. (Bonior, 2019, p. 1). 

Bonior’s article details the general symptoms of RSD so other psychologists can learn more about this new condition. However, RSD is not yet recognized by the DSM 5. For this reason, people outside the field of psychology dismiss it. This is likely because RSD is comorbid with neurodiverse conditions like ADHD and autism, which are invisible disabilities. 

How to use Chicago Manual/Turabian

Chicago University Press maintains the Chicago style. Students of history, fine art, and archaeology use this style. The most recent version is the 17th edition.

Chicago style is unique because:

• The text is single-spaced
• The inline citation is a footnote

Long quotes for poetry and drama also have unique rules for the Chicago style, since historians and artists frequently need to cite works of literature. 

Here’s an example of a Chicago style prose block quote:

At the start of the Easter Rising, on April 24, 1916, the leaders of the independence movement laid out their aims:

The Republic guarantees religious and civil liberty, equal rights and equal opportunities to all its citizens, and declares its resolve to pursue the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation and of all its parts, cherishing all the children of the nation equally and oblivious of the differences carefully fostered by an alien government, which have divided a minority from the majority in the past.

This document was clearly Ireland’s declaration of itself, not just as a sovereign nation but as a modern state. Patrick Pearse and the writers of this “Proclamation of Independence” envisioned Ireland as an egalitarian nation, independent of colonial rule, and revising the mistakes of the American “Declaration of Independence.” ¹

¹ Patrick Pearse, “Proclamation of Independence,” Gov.ie. Government of Ireland, November 19, 2018, https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/bfa965-proclamation-of-independence/. (February 23, 2022).

Frequently Asked Questions About Block Quotes

Why don't we use quotation marks in block quotes?

Because they stand out on the page, we don't need quotation marks to designate them. If there are quotes within it, such as a quotation from a literary critic that includes a citation from a novel, follow the instructions for your required style guide. You will likely use single quotation marks within the quoted text.

How many block quotes are too many?

You should use block quotes to make essential points in your essay. However, if you use too many without complete analysis to back up their use, your teacher may suspect you're using them for bulking up an essay. You should avoid using them in a short essay and limit their use to one every other page in longer papers. 

Which style guide should I use?

Which style guide you use is usually determined by your teacher or professor and the paper's subject. If you're unsure, ask your professor. Visit your college's writing center if questions persist.

How do I stay up to date with the style guides?

Check out the MLA, APA, and Chicago Manuel of Style (CMOS) websites to stay up to date on the latest style guides and conditions.