Integrating Quotes Into Your Writing

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
 These phrases tell the reader that a quote follows
 If the author is neutral…
“ The author…”
Comments Points out

Describes Records
Explains Relates
Reports
Illustrates Says
Notes Sees
Observes Thinks
writes
Signal phrases
 The author infers or suggests…
Proposes
Analyzes
Asks Reveals
Addresses Shows
Concludes
Speculates
Finds
Predicts Suggests
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).

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Integrating Quotes into your

 Don’ t use more evidence than your own

 Introduce EACH author on first mention.

 Nationality? Time period? Context?

EXAMPLE: Acclaimed 1920s American novelist F.

EXAMPLE: Literary critic Junie B. Jones

 Cordelia, the banished daughter who seeks solace in

You get the idea.

Comments Points out

 The author agrees…

 Vary the way you introduce quotes in order not to bore

 Practice both to vary the position

 Use present-tense when writing about other

 Some good points about the Internet, Truss points out,

 In Lynne Truss’s opinion, typing messages “ doesn’t

Here are two bad examples without any introductory material.

 Bad Example #1: There are many examples of self-analysis in

 BETTER Example: Plato thinks people should analyze their own

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