How to Cite Books as Sources When Mentioning Large Segments of Text

Whether for small quotes or long quotes that you use in an essay or paper, you need to provide citations in order to avoid plagiarizing. Proper citations add authority to your writing and help to further develop and explain your ideas. A block quote is a quote that is usually over four sentences in length. Sometimes there is relevant information that you want to add from a book to your essay that warrants the inclusion of block quotes. The citation style you use will determine how your quotes are integrated into your text.

Instructions

    • 1

      Include a signal phrase. A signal phrase is what introduces your quote. It doesn't matter that this is a block quote because all quotes must be introduced; otherwise they are considered dropped quotes. Signal phrases can be something like:

      "Joseph Morrison argues that Dickinson's work was influenced heavily by her ideas on transcendentalism. He goes on to further explain his position on new criticism:"

      The signal phrase is followed by a colon in this instance because the block quote will be separated from the text and will not run into your sentence.

    • 2

      Set off your quote from the preceding text by setting it in a free-standing block that is indented twice and justified. Because it is a block quote, you do not need to include quotation marks before or after the quote. The book citation, however, will still follow the quoted material.

    • 3

      Cite according to citation guidelines. Your citation style -- MLA, APA or CMS -- will determine how you cite the book you are using. Note that the citation will include the author's name if you didn't include it in the signal phrase.

      MLA:

      The author goes on to describe his debilitating condition:

      This was not because he was cowardly and abject, quite the contrary;

      but for some time past, he had been in an over-strained, irritable condition,

      verging on hypochondria. He had become so completely absorbed in

      himself, and isolated from his fellows that he dreaded meeting, not only his

      landlady, but anyone at all. He was crushed by poverty, but the anxieties of

      his position had of late ceased to weigh upon him. (Dostoevsky 1)

      APA:

      Dostoevsky's (1866) description of Raskolnikov clearly established him as a man with profound psychological disorders:

      This was not because he was cowardly and abject, quite the contrary;

      but for some time past, he had been in an over-strained, irritable condition,

      verging on hypochondria. He had become so completely absorbed in

      himself, and isolated from his fellows that he dreaded meeting, not only his

      landlady, but anyone at all. He was crushed by poverty, but the anxieties of

      his position had of late ceased to weigh upon him. (p. 1)

      In APA style, when you cite a book, you need to include publication date, last name and page number, unlike MLA where you only include the page number and author's last name.

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