May we drop quotes into the paper, or do we need to lead into quoted material? (Quotes are good, but read this question carefully.)

Explanation:

You need to footnote anything that is a quotation (quote has a different meaning).

Usually a quotation is meant to be paraphrased if you are not using a proper  footnote. It should still have a footnote even if the idea is paraphrased because the idea is not yours.

Instructors are really getting tough about footnoting.

The answer to your question is "It depends."

Be safe. Use footnotes.

the sun warms our planet, and with the moon, creates the tides. the moon orbits the earth and in turn, the earth orbits the sun. because they appear to be the same size in the sky, the sun, earth and moon work together to create eclipses. when the moon is directly in between the earth and sun

they both lost a woman they loved named lenore

they believed they interracted with a talking raven

they became orphaned at a young age.