Long quotations are relatively easy to integrate into your writing. The MLA Handbook explains this clearly:
If a quotation runs to more than four typed lines, set it off from your text by beginning a new line, indenting ten spaces from the left margin, and typing it double-spaced, without adding quotation marks. A colon generally introduces a quotation displayed in this way, though sometimes the context may require a different mark of punctuation, or none at all. If you are quoting only a single paragraph, or part of one, do not indent the first line more than the rest. When adding a parenthetical reference to a prose quotation set off from the text, skip two spaces after the quotation and give the reference. . . . In quoting two or more paragraphs, indent the first line of each paragraph an additional three spaces. If, however, the first sentence quoted does not begin a paragraph in the source, do not indent it the additional three spaces. Indent only the first lines of the successive paragraphs. (Gibaldi and Achert 58)On the other hand, there are many options for incorporating shorter quotations. "If a prose quotation runs no more than four lines and requires no special emphasis, put it in quotation marks and incorporate it in the text," advises the Handbook (56). Occasionally, quoting "just a word or phrase" is enough for your purposes (57).
"You may," they explain, "put a quotation at the beginning, middle, or end of your sentence or, for the sake of variety or better style, divide it by your own words" (57).
In-text quotations are surrounded by double quotation marks (" "). When the original contains quotation marks, convert these to single quotation marks (' ') and surround the whole quotation with double quotation marks.
The punctuation introducing the quotation may vary. The Handbook states: "Use a colon before a quotation you formally introduce" (66). However, they add that "either no punctuation or a comma" may be used "before a quotation you integrate into the sentence" (66).
According to the Handbook, "the closing punctuation depends on where the quoted material appears in your sentence." Even if the quotation ends a sentence in the original, it still "depends on where the quoted material appears in your sentence," whether a period or comma is used. Where there is a parenthetical reference, it appears between the quotation and the end punctuation. Which is really to say that "the closing punctuation depends on where the quoted material appears in your sentence" (67).
Generally, you must copy quoted material exactly as it is printed. Any deviations must be noted. The Handbook suggests two principles to guide decisions regarding modifications: "fairness to the author quoted" and "the grammatical integrity of your own writing" (61).
The most common modification of original material is omission, which is indicated by ellipsis points ( . . . ). These are not necessary when you are quoting only a word or phrase, "since it will be obvious" that something is missing (61). However, when the resulting quotation appears to be a sentence, the ellipsis must be noted. I state at the beginning of this paragraph on modifications: "The most common . . . is omission."
"When the ellipsis coincides with the end of your sentence, use three spaced periods following a sentence period - that is, four periods, with no space before the first" (62). I repeat: "When the ellipsis coincides with the end of your sentence, use three spaced periods following a sentence period. . . ." Four periods are also used within a quotation to indicate the omission of one or more whole sentences, even a whole paragraph.
"[Y]ou may decide that a quotation will be unclear or confusing to your reader unless you provide supplementary information," explains the Handbook (65). Most additions are indicated "by putting them in square brackets [like these] within the quotation." Some additions, however, are explained after the quotation: "An explanation in parentheses - for example, an indication that you have underlined words for emphasis - immediately follows the closing quotation mark" (65, emphasis added).
The MLA Handbook says it best: "The accuracy of quotations in research writing is extremely important. They [the quotations] must reproduce the original exactly" (65). No matter what you do, "you must construct a clear, grammatically correct sentence that allows you to introduce or incorporate a quotation with complete accuracy" (66). When this is difficult, you might recast your sentence to "paraphrase the original" while "quot[ing] only fragments." As they say, "[m]ethods vary. . . ."
Gibaldi, Joseph and Walter S. Achert. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 3rd ed. New York: MLA, 1988.