Conventions of Composition Rule 76
Rule: To quote a passage of three or more lines: lead in with a colon, double indent, single space, don’t use quotation marks, except if there is both narration and dialogue, and leave the font the same as in the rest of the essay. Directly after a long quotation, do not start a new paragraph or indent the next line. If the quotation is in verse, maintain original line breaks or note them with slashes.
Examples:
Correct: [as part of a double-spaced paragraph]...Wes Moore emphasizes the theme of being guided by others:
His tribe's influence in making him a man was obvious and indelible.
At that moment, I realized the journey I took was never mine alone either.
Our eyes met, and he smiled and nodded his head. I nodded my head in return. (171)
Though the two men are meeting in a prison's visiting room, their knowing nods indicate a shared understanding...
Correct: [as part of a double-spaced paragraph]...Romeo meets Juliet's farewell speech with longing and planning:
Juliet: Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow,
That I shall say good night till it be morrow. [Exit]
Romeo: Sleep dwell upon thine eyes, peace in thy breast!
Would I were sleep and peace, so sweet to rest!
Hence will I to my ghostly father's cell,
His help to crave and my dear hap to tell. (II.ii.200-205)
His thoughts immediately after Juliet leaves turn him back towards his need to tell his story to the friar...
Practice formatting the following middle lines of a longer paragraph:
...Cary's frequent feelings of isolation often lead her to question her choices. "[The song] jangled as noisily in my head as the hormones in my body. And what with all the racket, how could I have hoped to listen to the longings of my peers and know they were my own? How could I have imagined the crinkling of Cash's waxed paper in the dark?" (80) Because she never asks these questions of her peers, it takes Cary years to realize that many students shared her sense of being an outsider...
Resources for further explanation of formatting long quotations:
WikiHow's How to Format a Block Quote
Boundless's Block Quotations