Function

• Primarily, quotation marks are used in MLA style when quoting directly from a research source. MLA style requires you to handle the use of quotation marks differently, depending upon the length of the content you are borrowing. MLA's goal is to allow the quoted material to fit seamlessly into your paper's narrative. For this reason, all standard MLA rules apply when using quotations, including the MLA mandate that you double-space all content.
  
  

Short Quotations

• MLA style, according to the Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL), considers less than four typed lines of prose or fewer than three lines of verse a short quotation. Short quotations fit directly into your narrative. Do not separate them into a free-standing block. Include the material you are borrowing in double quotation marks. While all punctuation that is part of the original quote goes inside the quotation marks, all other commas, periods, exclamation points and other punctuation follow the quotation marks. Immediately follow the quoted material with a parenthetical citation, using MLA's author-page format. Do not wait until the end of the sentence.
  
  

Long Quotations

• You should situate long quotations in a free-standing block starting on a new line that is indented one inch from the left margin. When quoting multiple paragraphs in MLA style, Purdue's OWL notes that you should indent the first line of the first paragraph by half an inch. Do not use quotation marks when you include long quotations in an MLA-style paper. Parenthetical citations should follow the period, or applicable punctuation mark, at the end of the quotation.
  
  

Considerations

• In some cases, you will add your own words to quoted material. MLA format requires that you enclose these words in brackets. When you exclude a word or words from a quotation, Purdue's OWL points out that you must include ellipsis marks--three periods, preceded and followed by one space--in lieu of the omitted word or words.
  
  

Other Quotation-Related Concerns

• There are several other areas of MLA style in which the use or non-use of quotation marks is a concern. Generally, section headings, such as a title page or Works Cited page, do not require special formatting, including quotation marks. Purdue's OWL reports that, as of 2009, MLA only mandates quotation marks around the titles of shorter works, such as articles and poems, in a Works Cited list. Larger titles, such as books and magazines, utilize italics, a change from MLA's previous use of underlining.