Quotation Rules Direct Speech

Another person’s words, whether spoken or written, must be enclosed by quotation marks The first word being quoted begins the quotation marks and the last word being quoted ends the quotation marks In dialogue with more than one speaker, begin a new paragraph to indicate a change in speaker If a single speaker’s words go onto another paragraph, introduce each paragraph with quotation marks but do not use closing quotation marks until the end of the speech.

General Punctuation with Direct Speech Commas and periods are placed inside of quotation marks if no citation follows Semi-colons and colons are placed outside of quotation marks Exclamation points and question marks are placed inside of quotation marks if the quotation is an exclamation/question; they are placed outside if the entire sentence is an exclamation/question.

Quotation within a quotation Use single quotation marks for embedded quotations:  According to Hertzberg (2002), Dahl gives the U. S. Constitution "bad marks in 'democratic fairness' and 'encouraging consensus'" (90). ◦ The phrases "democratic fairness" and "encouraging consensus" are already in quotation marks in Dahl's sentence.

Indicating change in a quotation When quoting only a part of the whole quotation Use ellipsis points (...) to indicate an omission within a quotation—but not at the beginning or end unless it's not obvious that you're quoting only a portion of the whole. Adding clarification, comment, or correction ◦Within quotations, use square brackets [ ] (not parentheses) to add your own clarification, comment, or correction.  Use [sic] (meaning "so" or "thus") to indicate that a mistake is in the source you’re quoting and is not your own.

Which quotations are documented properly? “John said, If we go to the zoo today, then it will be less busy than on Saturday”. “I was a terrible reporter,” admitted J.D. Williams. “Every piece had to be perfect so I was always late with deadlines.” “In Pastor Ryan’s sermon, he mentioned how to “improve the condition of life” by making several commitments each week,” noted Gwendolyn. “…the sun is becoming hotter at record pace.” “Originally, [Smith] said that he preferred to stay home but he eventually changed his mind and joined us for dinner.”

Which quotations are documented properly? “John said, “If we go to the zoo today, then it will be less busy than on Saturday”. ◦The quotation marks should have started with the first word that John said. “I was a terrible reporter,” admitted J.D. Williams. “Every piece had to be perfect so I was always late with deadlines.” ◦PERFECT! The comma and period are placed inside of the quotation marks and a period properly ends “admitted J.D. Williams.” “In Pastor Ryan’s sermon, he mentioned how to ‘improve the condition of life’ by making several commitments each week,” noted Gwendolyn. ◦Although the quotation marks are placed properly to indicate Gwendolyn’s words, Pastor Ryan’s words should be in single quotation marks to indicate a quotation within a quotation.

Which quotations are documented properly? “…the sun is becoming hotter at record pace.” ◦Although the ellipses was used to indicate a part of a whole quotation, for clarity it is best to place the omission in the middle of the quotation rather than the beginning.  “Even though we are unable to feel the immediate effects of global warming … the sun is becoming hotter at record pace.” “Originally, [Smith] said that he preferred to stay home but he eventually changed his mind and joined us for dinner.” ◦PERFECT! “[Smith]” was added to the quotation to add necessary clarity. Otherwise, the pronoun he would have been used twice in the quotation and could have possibly caused confusion about who “he” is in the sentence.