NARRATOR: Using quotations in your research provides textual evidence to support your thesis. But what do you do when you have a long quote that takes up multiple lines of your paper? You need to format them as block quotes according to the style manual that you're following. So what is a block quote? It has nothing to do with LEGOs, unfortunately. It's easier to explain block quotes using a real example. So let's leave this video for a sec so that you can see how it really works. 

Here's a paper I wrote for my transcendentalism class during my senior year of college. You can see that I have a super-long quote from the lovely Ralph Waldo Emerson. In MLA formatting, which is what this paper follows, longer quotes that run on for more than four lines in the text need to be reformatted as block quotes. 

Most block quotes are formatted as follows. You need to move the quote to its own line. You need to add a colon to the end of the previous word to introduce the block quote. You have to get rid of the quotation marks. And with MLA, you need to indent the entire quote as a block-- hence, its name-- 1 inch from the left margin. 

And remember how with smaller quotes that you use directly in the text, you keep the parenthetical citation inside the sentence? With block quotes in MLA style, the in-text citation gets moved outside with no extra punctuation. Double-check with an instructor, librarian, or style manual to ensure that your block quote is formatted correctly. The rules vary from the length of the quote to how it looks, so make sure that it matches the suggested formatting style so that you don't lose points. 

Use block quotes in your writing sparingly. While it might seem like an easy way to take up space in your paper, they disrupt the flow of your writing. They're clunky and take away your voice from the paper. If all you're doing is taking other people's quotes and throwing them in your assignment, not only will it be horribly difficult to read, but your professor may deduct points. Experts suggest that you summarize sources in your own words and give credit, of course. But if a lengthy quote must be used, make sure to format it as a block quote when necessary.