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Thread: MLA Help - AGH!

  1. #1
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    MLA Help - AGH!

    Sorry to make this my first post, but I'm having an mla emergency! Is my in-text citation correct for this?

    Is the period at the end needed, or do I need to move the question mark around?
    -----------------------

    Entirely controlled by her husband, the woman is forbidden to write, walk around her room, and even socialize: “Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good. But what is one to do?” (Gilman 161).

    -------------
    Thanks!

  2. #2
    nobody said it was easy barbara0207's Avatar
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    The question mark is part of the quotation and must stay where it is. The period, which ends your own sentence, must be there, too.

    I do, however, not see what the quotation is to do with your sentence, but then I don't know the work you're analyzing.

    Welcome to LitNet, dottore!
    Last edited by barbara0207; 02-25-2008 at 06:17 PM.
    O schaurig ists übers Moor zu gehn,
    wenn es wimmelt vom Heiderauche,
    sich wie Phantome die Dünste drehn
    und die Ranke häkelt am Strauche.


    Annette von Droste-Hülshoff (1797 - 1843) (see avatar) Der Knabe im Moor/The Lad in the Moor

  3. #3
    Explorer of Texts teejay17's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by dottore11 View Post
    Sorry to make this my first post, but I'm having an mla emergency! Is my in-text citation correct for this?

    Is the period at the end needed, or do I need to move the question mark around?
    -----------------------

    Entirely controlled by her husband, the woman is forbidden to write, walk around her room, and even socialize: “Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good. But what is one to do?” (Gilman 161).

    -------------
    Thanks!
    Are you asking a question, or is the question being asked by the person being quoted? If it's part of the text, then your period at the end is legitimate. However, you might want to clarify your writing to illustrate that the person is asking a question.
    All the world's a stage,
    And all the men and women merely players

  4. #4
    Jealous Optimist Dori's Avatar
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    The citation is right, I believe.
    com-pas-sion (n.) [ME. & OFr. <LL. (Ec.) compassio, sympathy < compassus, pp. of compati, to feel pity < L. com-, together + pali, to suffer] sorrow for the sufferings or trouble of another or others, accompanied by an urge to help; deep sympathy; pity

    Dostoevsky Forum!

  5. #5
    seasonably mediocre Il Penseroso's Avatar
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    the citation looks good, but like barbara I'm not too keen on what relationship you're implying between what you are saying and the quotation itself. Typically, a colon is used for clarification of what has preceded it, but in this case what follows the colon seems to be making another point. I'd clean up that a bit first. Maybe just tack on a little description of who the speaker is and clarify how the quote suggests your interpretation after the quote, like so:

    ...But what is one to do?” ____ says, blah blah blah

    this is "The Yellow Wall-Paper" right?
    Last edited by Il Penseroso; 02-23-2008 at 11:12 PM.
    and somehow a dog
    has taken itself & its tail considerably away
    into the mountains or sea or sky, leaving
    behind: me, wag.
    - John Berryman

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