 …makes your argument more credible or believable  …adds to the fluidity of your response  …shows your command of language  …demonstrates a higher level of thinking to your reader  …demonstrates your ability to converse with the text

…..language is especially vivid or expressive …..exact wording is needed …..it is important to let the debaters of an issue explain their positions in their own words ……the words of an important authority lend weight to an argument ……the language of a source is the topic of your discussion (as in an analysis or interpretation) …….direct evidence is necessary to support your response

 When you are using brief quotations, you must integrate them.  There are various ways to work them smoothly into your sentences. You can introduce them (formally or informally) or blend them.

 To avoid confusing your readers, punctuate quotations correctly, and work them smoothly into your writing.  Punctuation shows your readers: -which words are yours -which words you have quoted

INTRODUCING QUOTES:  To introduce quoted material, use a colon, a comma, or no punctuation at all.  Your choice depends upon which is most appropriate in context.

Punctuation is Important If a quotation has been formally introduced, a colon is appropriate. A formal introduction is a full independent clause, not just an expression such as he said or she writes. Example: According to Evslin, Poseidon gets the sea: “He had always wanted it; it’s the best place for adventures” (Evslin 15).

If a quotation is introduced informally, or followed by an expression such as he said or she writes, use a comma. In an effort to trick Poseidon, Demeter says, “Give me a gift. You have made creatures for the sea; now make me a land animal” (Evslin 17).

BLENDING A QUOTATION When you blend a quotation into your own sentence, use either a comma or no punctuation, depending on the way the quotation fits into your sentence structure. Examples: Demeter and Poseidon’s union produces “a wild horse, Arion, and the nymph named Despoena” (18). The gods were very powerful and, as a result, they “reigned for some [3] thousand years” (Evslin 6). Again, notice how my words lead into the quote.

BRACKETS You should use brackets when… ….you are inserting your own words into a quote in order to make the meaning of the quote clearer ….when you are modifying the capitalization of letters ….when you are modifying words to adjust voice …..when you are modifying words by changing tenses to suit your prose …..when there is an error in the original quote – use [sic]

Use brackets to enclose any words or phrases inserted into an otherwise word-for-word quotation. Example: Hades’ dark and scary home is “a great palace [Erebus] made of black rock” (20). Use brackets when you are inserting your own words into a quote in order to make the meaning of the quote more clear. In this case, “Erebus,” the title of Hades’ home, does not appear in the original quote.

If you are trying to blend a sentence which starts with a capital letter, depending on your structure, brackets may be necessary. Example: Hades is a violent god and “[h]is most dramatic hour” occurs when he captures the daughter of Demeter (21). In the book, Evslin writes, “His most dramatic hour was when he kidnaped Persephone...” (21). In our sentence above, we cannot have a capital “H” in the middle of the sentence. So, we use brackets to modify it.

When you are trying to blend a sentence into your prose and the voice is not consistent with your writing, use brackets to modify. Example: After Katniss falls, “[t]he impact with the hard-packed earth of the plain knocks the wind out of [her]” (Collins 222). In The Hunger Games, this sentence reads: “The impact with the hard-packed earth of the plain knocks the wind out of me” (222). In order to fit in with our third-person description, we have to modify “me” to “her” or “Katniss.”

When you are trying to blend a sentence into your prose and the tense is not consistent with your writing, use brackets to modify. Example: After Demeter discovers Persephone’s paintpot, she “lift[s] her head to the sky and howl[s] like a she-wolf” (24). In our book, this sentence reads: “She lifted her head to the sky and howled like a she-wolf” (24). When we write about books, we use the literary present tense. In this case, we need to change “lifted” to “lifts” and “howled” to “howls.”

The Latin word [sic] indicates that an error or an intentional form of the word in a quoted sentence appears in the original source. Example: To show that Hades is no stranger to darkness, Evslin writes the following description of him: “[Hades’] most dramatic hour was when he kidnaped [sic] Persephone and made her his queen...” (21). Many people spell “kidnaped” as “kidnapped.” In order to avoid your readers questioning your integrity as a writer, indicate the strange spelling with [sic]. This way, your readers know you did not make an error, but you are quoting the text exactly as it appears.

ELLIPSIS MARK Use an ellipsis mark, three spaced periods, to indicate that you have deleted material from an otherwise word- for-word quotation. Example: Because Demeter makes the soil “hard and cracked... a great wailing and lamentation” arises from the people (25). In the book there were several sentences between “cracked” and “a great…” that have been taken out in the sentence above.

If your quote begins with a full sentence and you are omitting others in between, keep the previous punctuation mark before the three ellipsis dots. Example: Hermes is unaware that Persephone has eaten the fruit: “Haven’t eaten anything here, I hope. No?... Let’s be on our way” (29).

Now you are a quote expert!