 From now on, you are not allowed to leave your quote NAKED: ◦ Ex: I am typing along in my essay, and I come to my lead-in here. I am still providing speaker, who is being spoken to, and context, but now I am done. “Now I start my quote in its own sentence, naked” (41).  You are also NOT allowed to start your sentence with a quotation mark. ◦ Never. Ever. It puts the burden on your reader to make the connection – and they might not be able to! YOU need to do the work…lead them along until they cannot help but acknowledge your genius.

 We do need a tool called “hard brackets” on the keyboard. [ ]  These mean that the writer has made an ever-so-slight change to the data, such as ◦ changing a lowercase letter to an uppercase ◦ inserting a word for clarity that does not change meaning ◦ changing the tense of the sentence

 Used to blend the quote with introductory clause that ends in a “speaking verb” (explains, suggests, says, declares…) Describing the Nun, the narrator explains, “[S]he had little dogs she would be feeding/ With roasted flesh, or milk, or fine white bread./ And bitterly she wept if one were dead” (7).

 Used to blend the quote with lead-in that ends in something other than a “speaking verb”  Used when either side of the colon is a FULL SENTENCE The narrator describes the Nun: “[S]he had little dogs she would be feeding/ With roasted flesh, or milk, or fine white bread./ And bitterly she wept if one were dead” (7).

 Used to blend the quote with lead-in seamlessly. When you read the paper aloud, you can’t tell what is the writer’s words and what is the author’s words, in this case: The narrator explains that the Nun “ha[s] little dogs she … feed[s]/ With roasted flesh, or milk, or fine white bread./ And bitterly she [weeps] if one [is] dead” (ll ).

Notice that in SMOOTH METHOD: 1. There is no punctuation at the end of the lead-in 2. The quote should begin with a lowercase letter 3. The tense, like your writing, must be PRESENT 4. The quote, too, must be in THIRD PERSON (he/she/it) like your writing!

 You cannot use first person (I, me, we, us, my, etc)  You cannot use second person (you)  You must be in present tense ◦ (only exception: quote integrating via comma or colon method)  No “is –ing” sentences (“is telling” = tells)  You cannot use any contractions ◦ (only exception: quoted material)