Integrating Quotes into your writing

Using Quotes Don’t use more evidence than your own writing Your evidence should just support your own writing Use ellipsis marks to omit words and phrases … Use brackets to add words or phrases to make the meaning of a quote clearer to the reader [ ]

Changing a quote Sometimes changing a quote is necessary to make the quote fit into your own writing EX: Truss informs readers that “Bill Gates has personally assured the Spanish Academy that he will never allow [the upside-down question mark] to disappear from Microsoft word- processing programs” (143). --the information in brackets replaces “it” --makes information clearer

When using textual evidence Us the author’s last name in the parenthetical citation IF you are only discussing a single work by that author. Example: Narrator Nick Carraway came to see Gatsby’s pursuit of Daisy as contaminated with “foul dust [that]floated in the wake of his dreams” (Fitzgerald 21). If discussing more than one title by the same author, use the title instead. Narrator Nick Carraway came to see Gatsby’s pursuit of Daisy as contaminated with “foul dust [that]floated in the wake of his dreams” (The Great Gatsby 21).

Remember! Introduce EACH author on first mention. Nationality? Time period? Context? EXAMPLE: Acclaimed 1920s American novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald… Introduce EACH critic as well. EXAMPLE: Literary critic Junie B. Jones

Introduce characters, too! Cordelia, the banished daughter who seeks solace in her new husband’s country… Regan, the malicious sister who doesn’t even pretend to mourn her husband’s death…. You get the idea.

Signal phrases Comments Describes Explains Illustrates Notes Observes These phrases tell the reader that a quote follows If the author is neutral… “The author…” Comments Describes Explains Illustrates Notes Observes Points out Records Relates Reports Says Sees Thinks writes

Signal phrases The author infers or suggests… Proposes Analyzes Reveals Shows Speculates Suggests Analyzes Asks Addresses Concludes Finds Predicts

Signal phrases The author argues… Claims Contends Defends Disagrees Holds Insists maintains

Signal phrases The author agrees… Admits Agrees Concedes Concurs grants

Signal phrases The author is uneasy or disparaging… Belittles Bemoans Complains Condemns Deplores Deprecates Derides Laments warns

Other tips Vary the way you introduce quotes in order not to bore your reader Signal phrases can go before or after the quote Practice both to vary the position

Other tips Use present-tense when writing about other works Can introduce a quote with the author’s name and credentials Then you don’t need to include author’s name in parentheses at the end of the sentence (because you’ve already cited that person)

Example Good: Grammar expert Lynne Truss notes that “italics should be used sparingly for the purposes of emphasis” (147). NOT: Lynne Truss notes that “italics should be used sparingly for the purposes of emphasis” (Truss 147).

Examples Some good points about the Internet, Truss points out, are “that it is not controlled by anyone, cannot be used as an instrument of oppression and is endlessly inclusive” (190).

Examples In Lynne Truss’s opinion, typing messages “doesn’t even qualify as typing either: it’s just sending” (192). The English language is “a language full of ambiguities” (Truss 201).

Always introduce quotations before they appear in your paper. No quotation should stand by itself as a separate sentence. Here are two bad examples without any introductory material. Bad Example #1: There are many examples of self-analysis in Plato's philosophy. "The unexamined life is not worth living" (Plato 45). Bad Example #2: Plato thinks people should analyze their own lives. "The unexamined life is not worth living" (Plato 45). BETTER Example: Plato thinks people should analyze their own lives: "The unexamined life is not worth living" (Plato 45).