If I am not quoting directly, but paraphrasing or summarizing, do I still put quotes around the sentence?

Question

I'm trying to state a fact that was in a movie, and I have to cite my work. Thanks! It is in MLA format if that makes a difference.

Answer 1

you don't need quotations, but you still have to site the page in parenthesis at the end of the sentence

Answer 2

no you dont... because you are not using the source directly

Answer 3

I may be wrong, or i should say my english teachers may be wrong, but i have always been told yes for that question

Answer 4

No, but footnote it.

Ha Ha, interesting that you chose "Quotations" as the category for a question about quotation marks.

Answer 5

I'm not sure the name of how you do this, some type on internal citation, but I know it goes like this:

In the movie ________ *insert movie name here,* the characters_________ *did this that and the other* and the outcome was_________*ect. ect. Whatever*  then at the end, put the date of the movie in parenthesis (1991)

Then in the bibliography, you put directors name, who produced it, movie title, and year it was made.

But to put it simply, no. You don't have to put quotes around it. Hope this helps.

And if that doesn't work feel free to tell me how wrong my answer was, thanks. :)

Answer 6

say something like, "X according to X", or "X says that X happened", you don't need to use quotation marks but you should cite your source

Answer 7

What you can do is parenthetically site something like that.  All that is requires is this -

"Summarizing sentence" (Director of film, film title).

So it goes quote, summary, end quote, parenthacy, film director, film title, end parenthacy, end punctuation.

HOPE THIS HELPS!!! It does not require being put in a bibliography if you did it this way, it just goes right in your essay or whatever you are writing.

Answer 8

Hello, all of my college papers are to be written in APA format which is somewhat similar to MLA. The only time quotes should be used are if you are making a direct quote or quoting pretty close to the original words used. For example, if I was quoting something from a review on the movie Conspiracy Theory, it would be quoted as follows:

"Not a terrible movie exactly, just a dark, edgy idea relentlessly worn down into mildly diverting blandness by the mega-wattage presence of stars Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts" (McDonagh, 2008, p. 1, para. 1).

(This is quoted word for word though I try to avoid quoting this many words)

I would reference this on my reference page as follows:

McDonagh, M. (2008). Conspiracy Theory:  

     Review (title italicized). TV Guide.com.  

     Retrieved June 18, 2008 from

     http://www.tvguide.com/movies/conspiracy

     theory/review/132446

You should atleast reference where you got your information from using in-text citations when paraphrasing or summarizing and reference those in-text citations on the reference page.

Hope this helps! You can also check out some sites on MLA. Links are provided under sources. The first details MLA quoting, paraphrasing and summarizing. (I am a 3rd year college student working on BHSM).