EMBEDDING QUOTATIONS

HOW TO EMBED QUOTATIONS

THERE ARE THREE BASIC RULES TO
FOLLOW WHEN CHOOSING QUOTATIONS

• Use quotations when another writer’s words are memorable and will make
your paper more interesting.
• Use quotations when another writer’s words can say something better than
you.
• Use quotations when you want add authority to your paper. Basically, you are
providing proof that what you are arguing is true.
METHOD OF EMBEDDING THE QUOTE

• Introduce the quotation with a complete sentence and a colon. Example: Thoreau ends his essay with a metaphor: "Time is but
the stream I go a-fishing in.”
• Use an introductory or explanatory phrase, but not a complete sentence, separated from the quotation with a comma. According
to Thoreau, "We do not ride on the railroad; it rides upon us.” Ex According to the poet London was, “All bright and glittering”.
• Make the quotation a part of your own sentence without any punctuation between your own words and the words you are
quoting. According to Thoreau, people are too often "thrown off the track by every nutshell and mosquito's wing that falls on
the rails.” Ex. According to the poet London wears the sunrise “like a garment”.
• Use short quotations--only a few words--as part of your own sentence. Thoreau argues that people blindly accept "shams and
delusions" as the "soundest truths," while regarding reality as "fabulous.”. The Poet is clearly enamored with London when he
declares anyone who would not feel the same way is “dull” because the city is “fair” is “touching in its majesty” and makes him
feel a “calm so deep”.
WHAT TO DO FIRST

• Each piece of quoted material in a paragraph must

have the context and background for that quote.
WHY IT IS IMPORTANT

• Embedding quotations correctly helps quoted material flow naturally

material flow naturally into your paragraph.
• Example: While traveling on a bus, the author is “Heart-filled, head-filled
with glee”.
IT SHOULD BE SEAMLESS

• When written properly, the reader should not be able to hear where the
quotation marks are when the sentence is read aloud.
• A properly quotation creates an invisible link from the background
information to the quoted material.
IT SHOULD MAKE SENSE

• Poor example: This is shown by “And he was no bit bigger”.

• The last example does not make sense when read aloud.
• Better example: The writer demonstrates this in chapter two by saying, “ And
he was no bit bigger
MAKING IT GRAMMATICALLY CORRECT

• You may need to miss out words in your quote so your sentence is
grammatically correct.
• When missing words out, replace them with “…”
• Example: George says ranch hands “are the loneliest guys in the world…
they ain’t got nothing to look ahead to.”
HOW TO CREATE A GOOD TRANSITION IN A
QUOTATION

• give background and context for the quote - what is happening, who is
speaking
• only use the most important part of the quote. Don’t go on and on
•  read your sentence aloud – can you “hear” the quotation marks? You
shouldn’t be able to.
THREE METHODS OF EMBEDDING QUOTES

• Begin with explanation: Even though Mrs. Wilmot appears to love her children to the rest
of the world, “when her children were present, she always felt the center of her heart go
hard.”
• Begin with quote: “She always felt the center of her heart go hard” demonstrates how Mrs.
Wilmot appears a loving mother to the rest of the world, while inwardly feeling little for
her children.
• Quote is inserted in the middle: Mrs. Wilmot “always felt the center of heart go hard” when
her children were present, but to the rest of the world, she appears to be a loving mother.
WHAT NOT TO DO

• You want to stay away from statements like “On page 24, the narrator
says….”
• OR “In Chapter 3, this quote says…” You will want to stay within the
context of the text.