An Argument Against Block Quotes

Recently, I saw a long listserv conversation about teaching first-year and LLM students to properly format block quotes. You might remember from your law review days that block quotes are long quotes of “fifty or more words.”  See The Bluebook, Rule 5.1.  Under The Bluebook and other citation manuals, we must set block quotes apart from other text, usually in a single-spaced block of text double-indented from the left and right, with no quotation marks.

Apparently, word processors have made it more difficult to do the left and right indenting needed for block quotes, and the original listserv poster asked for advice on helping students manage block quotes efficiently.  Having noticed the way our Typepad blogging system makes simple indenting more difficult now, and having banned my students from using most block or other long quotes for years, I was intrigued by this thread. 

Some professors on the thread suggested using quotation marks, even in a block quote, to deal with indenting difficulties.  Other professors offered great tips on various word processing program shortcuts and macros to help students properly indent their long quotes.  However, some contributors asked if teaching the format was worth the investment of class time.  The original poster later gave us all a summary of the info gained from the post, and explained that the majority of commenters suggested taking some class time to teach students a tech shortcut. 

To my surprise, I did not see any comments suggesting students simply break apart the quoted material into shorter, more digestible portions for the reader.  Thus, I acknowledge that I might be an outlier here.  Plus, a block quote is much easier to insert into a document–with mere cutting and pasting–than carefully crafted sentences with smaller pieces of the quoted material.  Nonetheless, I ask you to consider clarity and word limits (hopefully in that order), and ban most block quotes from your writing.  

First, think about how often you have actually read the material in a block quote.  Be honest.  If you are like many readers, you tend to skim tightly blocked text, like long brief point headings and block quotes.  See https://proofed.com/writing-tips/5-top-tips-on-how-to-write-for-skim-readers/. Even style manuals allowing the use of block quotes give many tips on how to make sure your reader still gets your point, despite the block quote.  For example, Bryan Garner’s The Redbook Rule 8.10 suggests that we always introduce a block quote with our own assertions, and let the block material simply support our claims.  Just removing the block entirely will increase your chance of the reader truly seeing your ideas.   

Next, think about the lack of clarity from fifty or more words from one source at one time.  Is the material you need from the quote really just on one point?  If so, you likely do not need fifty words or more from the source, added to your own introduction and analysis.  Consider placing the key parts of the quote, likely five to ten words, in your own sentence.  Additionally, if your rationale for using the long block is to cover several points at once, you might be asking too much of your reader.  Your reader will better understand two or three shorter sentences, each with one main point and a relevant short part of the former block quote. 

Finally, look for extra words in the block quote that you don’t need for your point.  Long block quotes are just that; these blocks are long pieces of text that often devour your word count without adding meaningful content.  My students spend a huge amount of time railing against word limits.  Nonetheless, we know word limits are part of any appellate practice.  Thus, I suggest removing long quotes and keeping only what you need.  Sure, you could keep the quote and add ellipses, but too many ellipses are distracting.  See also Jayne T. Woods, The Unnecessary Parenthetical (“Parenthetical”) (April 9, 2024) (explaining research on the way unneeded parentheticals mid-sentence distract readers).  Rather than obscuring your point in a closely-typed long quote with jarring ellipses, use your own words to present the ideas, working in key short quoted phrases.  

Of course, you might have an instance where the clearest and shortest way to convey your point truly is a block quote.  For this reason, I ban most, not all, block quotes.  I urge you to do the same.