USE QUOTATIONS ONLY WHEN THEY STRENGTHEN YOUR SENTENCES AND YOUR ARGUMENT– BE SELECTIVE!!! Using Quotations

Length of Quotes In general, try to use short excerpts from the text—it is rare that you should use the entire sentence or several sentences. You must choose only the words, or sets of words, that you actually need to make your point. As a guideline, quotations should be limited to eight words.

INTEGRATING QUOTES Quotes should NEVER be used as a stand-alone sentence in your essay– they must ALWAYS be integrated into the paragraph using your own words. The quote should be part of a sentence that you create–whether the quote begins this sentence, is in the middle of this sentence, or ends this sentence.

INCORRECT  Daisy does not hope for her daughter to be the best she can be; she wants her to be a fool. “And I hope she’ll be a fool-that’s the best thing a girl can be in the world, a beautiful little fool” (17). This shows that Daisy wants her child to be naïve. THIS IS INCORRECT BECAUSE THE QUOTE IS STANDING ALONE. HOW CAN I CHANGE THIS SO THAT THE QUOTE IS INTEGRATED?

CORRECT Daisy does not hope for her daughter to be the best she can be; she hopes that “she’ll be a fool– that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool” (17). This shows that Daisy wants her child to be naïve. THIS IS CORRECT BECAUSE THE QUOTE HAS BECOME A PART OF A FULL SENTENCE. IT ISN’T TRYING TO BE A STAND-ALONE SENTENCE.

INCORRECT Tom is cheating on Daisy with Myrtle and even Jordan tells Nick. “Tom’s got some woman in New York” (15). It is obvious that Jordan knows about the affair. Why is this incorrect? How can I change it to make it right?

CORRECT Tom is cheating on Daisy with Myrtle and Jordan tells Nick that, “Tom’s got some woman in New York” (15). It is obvious that Jordan knows about the affair. OR Jordan states, “Tom’s got some woman in New York” (15), which shows that Tom is cheating on Daisy with Myrtle. It is obvious that Jordan knows about the affair.

IF THE QUOTE ENDS THE SENTENCE… WITH A PERIOD, THEN THE PERIOD SHOULD GO OUTSIDE OF THE PARENTHESES: Sam said that her students were “intelligent” (187).

IF THE QUOTE ENDS THE SENTENCE… WITH A QUESTION MARK OR EXCLAMATION MARK, THEN IT GOES INSIDE THE QUOTATION MARKS AND A PERIOD GOES OUTSIDE THE PARENTHESES:  Sam inquired, “Are my students reading the text?” (177).  Tom yelled at Jim, “Get on home!” (16).

IF THE QUOTE IS IN THE MIDDLE OF YOUR SENTENCE… THEN YOU NEED TO USE A PARENTHETICAL CITATION INSIDE THE SENTENCE:  According to some, dreams express "profound aspects of personality" (184), though others disagree.  Daisy takes the blame, claiming that it was her fault for marrying a “great, big, hulking” (12) man.

Fix the following quotations/citations: Daisy agrees with him wholeheartedly, adding that, “we’ve got to beat them down (13).” Daisy claims it was her fault for marrying a “great, big, hulking (12)” man.

Fix the following quotations/citations: Gatsby claims that he inherited his money from his family, but Nick reveals that he earned all of this money himself. “His parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people- his imagination had never really accepted them as his parents at all” (98). Daisy asked, “Have you met her” (11)? After Myrtle ignored Tom’s warning to stop, he “broke her nose with his open hand.” (37)