Poetry, 4+ Lines Long

Easy MLA Citation

STEPS:

Introduce the quotation in your paragraph.
INDENT twice to start copying the quotation. For each line of the quotation, indent twice.
Copy the quotation exactly as it appears in the text, copying the line breaks exactly as they appear in the original text.
When you get to the end of the quotation, include the information about where the quotation occurred in the text. Here's the formula for that:

Open parentheses + poet's name + line number(s) + Close parentheses

Example: (Eliot 22-23) = Eliot's poem, lines 22-23

5. Place a period at the END of the quotation AND/OR after the close parentheses.

6. Continue your paragraph with analysis of the quotation, but DO NOT INDENT. What you say next should be at the LEFT MARGIN of the page.

See below for an example.

He has found a woman and wants to live and enjoy his life with her. However he constantly questions himself and his ability to do so. He believes that that he will be judged by others even for his appearance. The narrator, Prufrock is left to himself:

To wonder, "Do I dare?" and, "Do I dare?"

Time to turn back and descend the stair,

With a bald spot in the middle of my hair --

(They will say: 'How his hair is growing thin!")

My morning coat, my collar mounting firmly to the chin,

My necktie rich and modest, but asserted by a simple pin--

(They will say: "But how his arms and legs are thin!")

Do I dare

Disturb the universe? (Eliot 38-46).

Prufrock has been trying so hard to conform that he constantly questions his own person and decisions. He is afraid of what others might think or say if he appears in any way different. For this reason he is forever tormented by his own thoughts and cannot escape.

Don't forget to complete the WORKS CITED at the end of your paper!