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If I use a quote and then want to explicitly refer to a small part of that quote again, within the same paragraph, do I need to use quotation marks again? Can I use italics instead? I am writing in MLA format.

Example: "One day at the end of the fall when I was out where the oak forest had been I saw a cloud coming over the mountain."

Then I explicitly refer to the phrase "I saw a cloud coming over the mountain."

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If you are referring to a select section of a quote, mentioned previously or not, you would place an ellipse from where it was selected:

"One day at the end of the fall when I was out where the oak forest had been I saw a cloud coming over the mountain."

(Else where in the text)

"...I saw a cloud coming over the mountain."

This ellipse would denote that 'I saw a cloud coming over the mountain.' wasn't a quote itself but rather a selection from another quote (regardless of if it was mentioned in the text). Like a commenter mentioned, you may want to mention that it's from an earlier selection.

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  • Would you use the exact same format if the repeated part isn't at the end of the original quote? Like mentioning "One day at the end of the fall..."?
    – Mussri
    Commented Mar 8, 2013 at 9:36
  • @Mussuri - yes. Also, mention the fact you are citing a fragment of the earlier quote somewhere in the text near that citation - people's memory works in funny ways, a quote outside its context may seem entirely different than within it.
    – SF.
    Commented Mar 8, 2013 at 10:24

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