For more detailed examples and guidelines on the MLA method for punctuating citations, link to Handling Quotations at the Purdue University Writing Center web page. Organization is essential to good writing. It is good practice to give each paragraph of your essay a mini-thesis of its own. Individual paragraphs should be as well-focused and clearly defined as is the paper as a whole. Arguments and examples that belong in one paragraph should not crop up earlier or later, in a paragraph devoted to a different stage of the argument.
Coherence is essential to good writing.
Pay attention to the transitions between paragraphs and between sentences within a given paragraph, making sure that the argument flows smoothly and that each paragraph or sentence picks up where the previous paragraph or sentence left off. It is usually inadvisable to begin a paragraph with a quotation. Take as much care in shaping individual sentences as you do in shaping your argument as a whole. Read your sentences aloud slowly and ask yourself how clear they are. If they are too long and convoluted for the reader to follow easily, break them up into two independent clauses or sentences, rework the subordinate clauses, cut out unnecessary phrases and words.