Https owl english purdue edu owl resource 747 03

Quoting Poetry 1

PRESENTING EVIDENCE, PART THREE Quoting Poetry

CITING POETRY You should cite by author’s last name (if known), and line number(s) in the poem. If you mention the author’s name in the introduction to the quote, you need only to list the line number(s). .

LONG (BLOCK) FORM (only use long format for final paper)

Example of introduction, production and explanation of quote in long format: In The Soldier, Brooke suggests the soldier’s sacrifice as purposeful, because his grave transforms conquered ground into England WU Windows User This intro provides a small amount of explanation, but it is mostly context. The sentence following the quote must analyze it further. Make sure that your explanations of evidence don’t just simply translate the quote into “plain English”—or simply define words. That would all be context not analysis. :

If I should die, think only this of me:

That there's some corner of a foreign field

That is for ever England. . . (1-3)

The soldier achieves a victory in death, because. . . (explanation)

-- As always, quotation marks are not used in the LONG FORM . The one inch indentation signals the reader that you are quoting . -- Further, citations follow the punctuation in the LONG FORM. -- The LONG FORM presents the quote as it appears in print. -- It is acceptable to use complete statements to introduce LONG FORM quotes, providing you end with the colon. --As always, the quote is considered part of the sentence that introduces it—complete sentence or not. --If you start or end in the middle of a line of poem, use the ellipsis to indicate that part of the line has been omitted.

SHORT FORM

Although you won’t use it in your final paper, here is how to quote poetry in short format. Quoting poetry in the short form requires slashes to indicate the beginning of a new line.

Brooke suggests that a soldier’s grave transforms enemy territory into English soil: WU Windows User This introduction provides context. It does NOT analyze the quote. It does NOT explain the quote relative to a topic sentence. Make sure that your explanations of evidence don’t just simply translate the quote into “plain English”—or simply define words. That would all be context not analysis. “If I should die, think only this of me: / That there's some corner of a foreign field / That is for ever England. . .” (1-3). OR, if you prefer a simpler introduction:

For instance, the author writes, “If I should die, think only this of me: / That there's some corner of a foreign field / That is for ever England. . .” (Brooke 1-3).

-- The forward slashes indicate the beginning of a new line in the poem. -- There are spaces between the words and the slashes. --The author’s name is not mentioned in the citation, because it is mentioned in the introduction to the quote. Since there is no page number, no citation is needed. --The ellipsis is used because the quote ends in the middle of a line. In prose, you need not use the ellipsis when you choose to start/end a quote in the middle of a line. In poetry, the lines represent rhythm and rhythm has meaning

Here’s a direct link to the Purdue University OWL online guide to MLA quoting!

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/03/ " https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/03/