Columbia High School - White Salmon, Washington

By now you know that anytime you use a quotation from another source in a research paper you must reproduce the words exactly as they appear in the original, enclose them in quotation marks, and provide a citation to show your readers how they can find the same information. And you know that anytime you use a paraphrase or summary of information from a source you must do provide the citation (but skip the quotation marks because the words are yours).

But there is a certain type of quotation where the formatting rules change a bit: a Block Quote.This page will show you how to format your block quote so it is presented correctly in your paper.

First, in order to use the block quote formatting shown below, you need to have a quotation from your research that is at least 3 lines long when it's typed. If you have that (or whenever you have that) you need to follow the steps below.

Imagine you have the following quotation from the writer Mary Trotter Kion that you really want to use in your report: "When George Washington was a toddler of two years, his family moved from Pope Creek. They relocated some fifteen to eighteen miles north on a new plantation near the Potomac River. This new home was called Little Hunting Creek Farm and later became a part of the much larger estate of Mount Vernon. But the expansive, lawn-clipped stately mansion, south of present-day Washington, D.C., that would come to be called Mount Vernon was still far in the future."

Normally, you'd just present your quotation as part of your paper, but this one's clearly longer than three lines long, so you have to use a block quote format for it in your paper. The incorrect, normal format is shown first below, while the correct format is shown afterward. The right hand column points out key features of each.

Incorrect Format

Notes

The first President was deeply influenced by his early life experiences and

surroundings. "When George Washington was a toddler of two years, his family

moved from Pope Creek. They relocated some fifteen to eighteen miles north on a

new plantation near the Potomac River. This new home was called Little Hunting

Creek Farm and later became a part of the much larger estate of Mount Vernon. But

the expansive, lawn-clipped stately mansion, south of present-day Washington, D.C.,

that would come to be called Mount Vernon was still far in the future" (Kion). The

landscape, climate, waterways, and spaces of his early youth would later draw him to

the wilderness as a young man and provide him with a means to explore the rapidly

expanding colonial frontier (James 243). Because of this, Washington became a man

who never let go of the importance of the natural world in his daily decisions.

The paragraph begins with a topic sentence and ends with a clincher, with 2 pieces of research in between--one the long quotation, and another a paraphrase. Both are cited.

The entire paragraph is double spaced, with a 1/2" indentation on the first line.

Correct Format

Notes

The first President was deeply influenced by his early life experiences and

surroundings.

When George Washington was a toddler of two years, his family moved from Pope Creek. They relocated some fifteen to eighteen miles north on a new plantation near the Potomac River. This new home was called Little Hunting Creek Farm and later became a part of the much larger estate of Mount Vernon. But the expansive, lawn-clipped stately mansion, south of present-day Washington, D.C., that would come to be called Mount Vernon was still far in the future (Kion).

The landscape, climate, waterways, and spaces of his early youth would later draw him

to the wilderness as a young man and provide him with a means to explore the rapidly

expanding colonial frontier (James 243). Because of this, Washington became a man

who never let go of the importance of the natural world in his daily decisions.

The text of the paragraph is the same, but the long quotation has now been set off as a block quote. It is instantly apparent that a large part of this paragraph is quoted from another source.

Changes include:

Single spacing for block quote

1/2" extra indent on both sides of quote

Removal of quotation marks (The spacing and indentation already call attention to the quotation)

Source: Kion, Mary Trotter. "Young George Washington: Early Family Life Near the Potomac River." Suite 101.com. February 12, 2008. http://americanhistory.suite101.com/article.cfm/younggeorgewashington

Creating a Block Quote in your Paper