You can QUOTE me on that

A quote is the exact wording of a statement

from a source.
Quotes make an essay more believable; they
are evidence that can support your thesis.
Opinions supported by quoted text are
evidence of good reading and thoughtful
responses.
There are several types of quotes.
 Direct Quotes
Quotes printed word for word exactly
as the author wrote them are direct
quotes. These words appear inside
quotation marks. The attribution word
appears outside the quotation marks.
The attribution is the phrase that tells
who said it - where you got the
information.
 Examples of Direct Quotes
• “I am thrilled to be representing the great
State of Texas at the Free Spirit Conference,”
Joe Mama, newspaper adviser said. “I owe it
all to my talented students.”
• “I’m just glad I didn’t have to spend any more
time with my adviser than I did,” said Casey
Deeya, who added that she enjoyed riding the
subways more than attending the conference.
 Indirect Quotes
Information from a source which is not made up of
the author’s exact words is not placed inside
quotation marks. This is an indirect quote, which is a
paraphrase or a summary of the meaning of the
direct quotation.
Indirect quotes are used to:
• Express a fact stated by the source
• Clarify a quote that is too long, confusing or dull
• Condense the ideas of several direct quotes
 Never change the
meaning of a quote when
you paraphrase!
(And you will still need to
cite your source.)
 Partial Quotes
Sometimes it might work better to use a
portion of a quote to convey the
information than to use an entire quote. To
do this, put only the quoted words inside
quotation marks.
Use partial quotes when you need to use a
speaker’s exact words but the entire direct
quote might be too long or too confusing
for the reader.
 Example of a Partial Quote
In his novel, Styles at LCC, author
Harry Skaulp states that spiked hair is a
“part of our cultural heritage, not
merely a symbol of rebellion,” adding
that he thinks nose piercing should be
mandatory.
 Punctuating Quotations
• The author’s exact words go inside the quotation
marks: “I am super, duper cool.”
• The end punctuation (period, question mark,
exclamation point) goes inside the last quotation
mark. “Give me the money!”
• When the attribution comes after a direct quote,
use a comma to separate the quote from the
attribution. “Here it is,” replied Bob.
• If a question mark relates to the sentence and
not the quote, place it at the end of the sentence
outside the quotation marks: What kind of moron
says, “I am super, duper cool”?
 Punctuating Quotations
• Use single quotation marks to indicate a
quote inside a quote. “And so I told her, ‘Fix
your own tire, Grandma!’”
• Leave off the closing quotation marks at
the end of a paragraph if the quote
continues in the next paragraph.
• If a quote is a complete sentence, begin
it with a capital letter. If it’s not, don’t.
 Punctuating Quotations
• Use quotation marks to indicate the title
of a smaller work, such as an article, essay,
short story, song, poem, or speech.
In his essay, “Potatoes are Yummy,” Joe Smith argues that…

• Use italics (or underline) for larger works

such as a book, magazine, album, play, film,
or long poem.
In her novel, Potatoes are Yucky, Ann Smith argues that…
In her novel, Potatoes are Yucky, Ann Smith argues that…
 Using Quotes
• If a direct quote is very long or boring, use
an indirect quote or a partial quote instead.
• To clarify or modify a phrase within a quote,
insert brackets. “Slowly, [Bob] reached for the
meat cleaver.”
• Add the word “sic” (meaning thus) in italics
within brackets after words that are misspelled
or used incorrectly in a direct quote from a
printed source. This indicates the quote is
exactly like the original source. “Macbeth is a
grate [sic] play.”
Integrating Quotations
Never just drop a quotation into
your paper. Always introduce it
and explain it with your own
prose.

There are three main ways to

introduce quotations. These
include:
1. Incorporate the quotation into your
sentence, punctuating it just as you
would if it was not a quotation.

As Bob is being beaten, he hopes he “will

become unconscious but [he] can’t.”

Bob appraises Mrs. Harrison derisively,

stating that “she looked so complacent,
sitting there in her two-hundred dollar chair
[. . . ] bought with dough her husband had
made overcharging poor hard-working
colored people for his incompetent services,
that I had a crazy impulse to needle her.”
2. Introduce the quotation by using
an attributive tag like he writes, she
claims, and so on.
To describe his childlike consciousness,
Wright explains, “Each event spoke with a
cryptic tongue. And the moments of living
slowly revealed their coded meanings.”

After going to Memphis and boarding with

Mrs. Moss, Wright wonders, “Was it wise
to remain here with a seventeen-year-old
girl eager for marriage and a mother
equally anxious to have her marry me?”
3. Introduce the quotation by writing a
full sentence and a colon to introduce
the quotation, which should itself be a
full sentence.

Bob’s description of Madge emphasizes her

fake appearance: “She was a peroxide blonde
with a large-featured, overly made-up face, and
she had a large, bright-painted, fleshy mouth.”

Richard Wright explains his reasons for writing:

“I was striving for a level of expression that
matched those of the novels I read.”
Block a quotation if it is four lines or
longer. Indent the quotation one half of an
inch on both sides, and punctuate it like
the following example.
Wright describes how his mother’s illness
affected him:
My mother’s suffering grew into a
symbol in my mind, gathering to itself
all the poverty, the ignorance, the
helplessness; the painful, baffling,
hunger-ridden days and hours; the
restless moving, the futile seeking, the
uncertainty, the fear, the dread.
(Wright 29)
Handling Quotes in Your Text
Author’s last name and page
number(s) of quote must
appear in the text
Romantic poetry is characterized by
the “spontaneous overflow of
powerful feelings.” (Wordsworth 263)
Wordsworth stated that Romantic
poetry was marked by a
“spontaneous overflow of powerful
feelings.” (263)
The End

“Goodbye!”