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ENC 1102 - Prof. Barr

Fall 2019

MLA: Direct Quote

When citing word for word then you must use quotation marks. See the following example.

If machines are to think, they must "at the very least be able to do thinking-related things humans can do" (Nilsson 47).

Tips on Block Quoting

When your quote is longer than four lines:

• Start the quote on a new line.

• Indent the entire quote by ten spaces (two tabs).

• Don't use quotation marks.

• Double-space the entire quote (just like the rest of the paper).

• If your quote contains a quote, use double quotation marks (" ") around the original quote.

MLA: Paraphrased

Whenever you use another's words, facts or ideas for your paper you must provide a parenthetical reference.This will usually be the author's last name and page number. See the following example.

In order for a machine to think it must execute the tasks related to thinking that humans can do (Nilsson 47).

This is only the parenthetical citation (in-text). The full citation will appear in the works cited page at the end of your work. For this specific source, a book, it will look like this.

Nilsson, Nils J. The Quest for Artificial Intelligence: A History of Ideas and Achievements. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010. Print.

 

Tips on Paraphrasing

When you paraphrase or quote a source:

Cite only the last name of the author.

Cite the page number(s) of the paraphrased information.

Exceptions: don't include the page number if:
• the source is only a page long
• the source is a website
• the source is an article from an online database
• you wish to cite the entire source

Within a paragraph, the second (or third, etc.) time you site a source, list only the page number. No page number? Then you can write "(ibid.)" Use the present tense to explain what an author wrote. If your quote contains a quote, use single quotation marks (' ') around the original quote.