With doublespaced court papers, it also serves the purpose of condensing, since block quotations are ordinarily singlespaced within doublespaced documents. Ellipses an ellipsis is a series of three points with spaces between them. After all, the thinking goes, the judge must know the best way to express the law. Is there a guideline for when you want to include the text of some other text within your story. Because some introductory phrases will lead naturally into the block quote, you might choose to begin the block quote with a lowercase letter. For quotations longer than four lines, use a block quote. Beethoven did not have any ties to aristocrats for patronage of his works.
Remember that any direct quote of 50 words or more should be offset from the text as a block quote. If, however, the provision cited or quoted has changed since the publication of the source doing the citing or quoting, cite to the version the original cites. Block quotations may be called extracts, setoff quotations, long quotations, or display quotations. As a rule, it is necessary to reduce the number of direct quotations to a minimum. When writing an essay, we quote sources to support a point were making or to attribute particular ideas to a particular thinker. Judge kozinski of the ninth circuit admits that he does not even read block quotations. A block quotation generally looks just like a literal block of text. For any quotation that is 50 words or longer, use a block quotation. You can ignore more than twothirds of the book if all you need to do is to cite cases and statutes which covers most of the first year of law school, and a lot of litigation. If that isnt available, highlight the paragraph you want to unblock and rightclick. Sometimes when youre quoting a case or other source, you want to leave out some words. Heres everything you need to know about block quotations. Block quotations follow particular formatting rules. Despite these concerns, many wellwritten memos and briefs contain at least one block quotation and sometimes more.
In print these show up in a different font from the main text. The indigo book isnt the same as the bluebook, but it does implement the same uniform system of citation that the bluebook does. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Rather, the whole quote is set to the same indent mark. The editors provide authoritative guidance to reasonable questions on subjects covered by the bluebook. Whether you are creating a block quote to conform to an academic standard or just to improve the appearance of your document, knowing how to do block quotes in word is a valuable skill. This point matters much less in an age of word counts as opposed to page counts. Block quotations are used in academic writing but are also common in journalistic and nonfiction writing. Help when using a block quote in a paper, will i double.
Occasionally, you will need to quote four or more lines 50 or more words of text from a key source, such as when the precise wording matters of say, a particular statute or regulation. Use a block quote if the text is longer than 4 lines of prose, such as in a novel. Surely you have never encountered anything quite like the bluebook before. When using mla format, a block quote should be used if the material you are quoting is longer than 3 lines of verse, such as in a poem.
Its the blue arrow at the very top of the tabs on the left. When citing a source for the purposes of a citing or quoting parenthetical under rule 1. The indigo book was compiled by a team of students at the new york university school of law, working under the direction of professor christopher jon sprigman. Use of block quotes in brief articles can be problematic because the quote may consumer the readers attention and interfere with the authors rhetorical stance. New law students sometimes believe, incorrectly, that they should always quote a judges words. Blue book citation for depositions top law schools.
Quoting passages using mla style a research guide for. If you must use block quotes, be sure to indent and single space. Quotation marks are used for components, such as chapter titles in a book, individual episodes of a tv series, songs from a broadway show or a music album, titles of articles or essays in print or online, and shorter works such as short stories and poems. Block quotations are not surrounded by any quotation marks. Quotations within quotations grammar and punctuation. Long quotations within your text proper manuscript. Indent 10 spaces 2 tabs from the left margin but not from the right margin. Citations in quotingciting parentheticals, 6152010 related section. How to integrate direct quotations into your writing. Like so many aspects of writing, when formatting block quotations, the devil is in the details. However, a blue tip posted to the bluebook site in 2010 addressed the when to omit question.
How to format block quotations by mark nichol a block quotation is a distinct body of type set off from the default text also called the running text, usually distinguished by insertion of line spaces above and below and formatting of a narrower margin and sometimes even. B7 italicization for style and in unique circumstances. Following the rules of properly integrating quotes into your paper is essential for the proper formatting of. Indent the entire quotation five spaces from the left and right margins. You can minimize your use of block quotations, but you shouldnt eliminate them altogether. By including lengthy quotations in your writing, you imply that you were too lazy to paraphrase the quoted materialor, worse, that you did not understand it. Note, you should only use the singlespaced 1 margin layout if the quote is more than 50 words. Parenthetical use is governed in part by the bluebook and in part. Cases bluebook legal citation tarlton law library at. Should be singlespaced, indented on both sides, justified, and without quotation marks. The most useful answers are gathered here as blue tips, classified by subject. Sometimes you need to provide the full language of a pertinent rule or provision.
I want to include a block quote in a footnote, specifically in the citation parenthetical. The punctuation at the end of the block quotation goes before the citation. If the quote is in the body of the text, the footnote number goes at the end. Thats the impression block quotations give, especially if you overuse them, and that perceived laziness turns readers off. How to paraphrase and quote mla style guide, 8th edition. Most of the bluebook, however, is irrelevant for many people who create legal documents.
If you just created the block quote, you can hit the undo button. If the quote is in the footnotes, the citation goes on the line following the quote but is not indented. Help when using a block quote in a paper, will i double space it as well. Another defining characteristic of the romantic period had to do with the mentality of the musicians. You may either insert the direct quotes from the source into your paper or paraphrase the sentences taken from the source. Only indent the quote if the quote itself is the beginning of a paragraph. Whenever a specific passage of a work speaks directly and authoritatively to the point for which you cite it, the critical language should be quoted. Legal citation differs from any other type in academic scholarship or writing. Loads of block quotes may give the reader the impression that you are inexperienced in the subject or are simply filling pages to meet a word count requirements.
Blue book citation for depositions study tips, dealing with stress, maintaining a social life, financial aid, internships, bar exam, careers in law. But i say you can treat that rule as a recommendation, not. A block quotation also known as a long quotation or extract is a quotation in a written document that is set off from the main text as a paragraph, or block of text, and typically distinguished visually using indentation and a different typeface or smaller size font. A parenthetical is an explanatory phrase included in parentheses at the end of a legal citation. Any lawyer or law student can block quote authority. However, it is an essential book that every lawyer should know how to use.
For information regarding quotations within quotations within quotations, please see our reply to ray of august 23, 2010, and our response to nadia of may 7, 2014. And, every now and then, a court makes a point so perfectlyand aptlyto your. This is called an omission, and the bluebook rule for it is 5. Quotation incorporation chicagokent college of law. It is typically not set off by quotation marks, and though it technically starts a new paragraph, the first line is generally not indented. Select the paragraph menu from the list of options. Using quotations judiciously is thus a vital study skill for every university student however, many people format longer quotations incorrectly in. Quotation marks punctuation rules the blue book of. A quote with fifty or more words must be reformatted as a block quote. A little more than four years ago, the court of appeals dismissed an appeal for, among other things, an attorneys numerous bluebook. Also, for extended quotations, you may want to consider indentation to eliminate the opening and closing set of quotation marks see rule 8 of colons. Block quotations are always single spaced, justified, and indented on both the right and left sides. Adding or deleting a letter or an entire phrases of source material can help you build seamless transitions between your own ideas and those of experts youre quoting.
Everything you wanted to know that the bluebook does not tell. Im thinking of something like barry malzbergs herovits world where parts of the novel were actually exerpts from the main characters novel that he was writing. Quotations of 50 words or longer should be indented at both the left and right margins by. Ultimately, youre in charge of your block quotations, so use them sparingly but effectively. These tips are searchable and linked to the bluebook content they address. Block quotations citations academic guides at walden university.
Making the case for teaching law students the art of effective quotation in legal memoranda, 56 s. Over the course of your academic career, there will be times when you are required to quote the words of others in your writing. Introduction bluebook guide guides at georgetown law. Message from illinois secretary of state jesse white. In this and the later examples we use lorem ipsum text to ensure that each block quotation contains 40 words or more. Using long quotations harvard style proofread my document. Also, that paragraph addresses paragraph structure, not. A block quotation is a direct quotation that is not placed inside quotation marks but instead is set off from the rest of the text by starting it on a new line and indenting it from the left margin. Quotation marks within a block quotation should appear as they do in the quoted material. Thus, he did not need to cater to the demands of his patrons, whom he would depend on for money.
After the block quotation, return to double spacing and regular margins. Dont startend the quote with quotation marks any internal quotes should be double quotes only indent the quote if the quote itself is the beginning. A film, a piece of theater, a piece of music, or a book can make a difference. If it is less than 50 words, then you just put it inline. Unless, of course, youre not putting the quotation in a parenthetical, and actually just quoting it. So the point is not to ban block quotations but to use them sparingly and effectively. The text after the block quotation begins on its own line, with no indentation. While block quotations are perfectly acceptable, its important for writers to be selective about their use. Small changes can yield effective results when it comes to integrating quotations into your writing. The ending citation is included on the last line of the block quotation.
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