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Quotation Marks

This document provides guidelines for using quotation marks, including how to format direct quotes, indirect quotes, quotes within a story, quotes from sources, long quotes over 40 words, and capitalization and punctuation related to quotes. It discusses beginning quotes with or without capital letters depending on whether the quote is a complete thought. It also covers acceptable ways to alter quotes, such as paraphrasing, using brackets, or noting errors in the original with [sic].

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85 views

Quotation Marks

This document provides guidelines for using quotation marks, including how to format direct quotes, indirect quotes, quotes within a story, quotes from sources, long quotes over 40 words, and capitalization and punctuation related to quotes. It discusses beginning quotes with or without capital letters depending on whether the quote is a complete thought. It also covers acceptable ways to alter quotes, such as paraphrasing, using brackets, or noting errors in the original with [sic].

Uploaded by

api-293218746
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Quotation Marks

Use quotation marks to indicate the exact words someone said or wrote.

Dialogue (What Someone Said)


Use quotation marks to set off the exact words someone said from the rest of the sentence.
Do you have any appointments open on Friday? Charles asked.

When you are writing a story or narrative essay, you should start a new paragraph every time the speaker
changes.
Did you remember to take out the trash this morning? Bill asked his son. You
know thats your chore on Tuesday mornings.
No, I forgot, his son replied.
Then you lose your television privileges for the evening, Bill said.

In essays, sometimes instructors want you to keep the dialogue all together in one paragraph. In that case,
you would format the dialogue like this:
When Bill got home from work, he noticed the full trash can still in the garage.
Did you remember to take out the trash this morning? Bill asked his son. No, I
forgot, his son replied. Then you lose your television privileges, Bill said,
wondering if his child would ever learn responsibility.

Indirect Quotes
If you are telling us about what someone said or wrote but are not giving us his or her exact words, do NOT
use quotation marks.
Direct quote:
Lucy said, I wonder if the instructor has graded my paper yet.

Indirect quote:
Lucy wondered if the instructor had graded her paper.

Quotes (What Someone Wrote)


When you are using the exact words from a written source in your paper, use quotation marks to show which
words you got from the source.
Full Sentence
According to Robert DiYanni (2008), Writing about a literary work encourages us
to read it attentively and notice things we might miss during a more casual reading.

Partial Sentence
Sometimes you may only want to use part of a quoted sentence. In that case, put quotes only around the part
of the sentence that has the exact words from the source.
Students should master the process of explication, a careful line-by-line or
word-by-word examination of a piece of literature (DiYanni, 2008).

Single Word
The critic Fred Wright called Samsons play atrocious and devoid of
intelligence (Sample, 1999).

Quotes over 40 Words


According to APA style, a quote that is longer than 40 words must be formatted a special way.
No quotation marks are used.
The quote is indented one half inch from the left
The quote is double spaced.
The citation goes AFTER the period.
Anyone who wonders why we should bother to learn critical thinking skills should
note the following advice:
Critical thinking is not only an essential skill for reading literature but also
a necessary one for writing about literature as well. Reading, writing, and
thinking, in fact, are interrelated skills that need to be practiced and
developed in concert rather than independently. (DiYanni, 2008)

Quote within a Quote


Sometimes we need to indicate in a quote that someone else is being quoted. To do this, we begin the quote
with double quotation marks and use single quotation marks to show the quoted material.
When Mom said, Please wash the dishes, was she talking to you or to me? Nancy
asked Fred.

Capitalization
When the quote is a complete thought that could stand alone, begin the quote with a capital letter.
Regina Ruiz ends her article with this inspiring thought: Maybe, just maybe, I
will find that life that was lost. It is out there somewhere (as cited in Langan &
Langan, 2010).
My teacher told me, Youre paper was excellent.

When the quote is NOT a complete thought, do NOT capitalize the quote unless it comes at the beginning of
the sentence.
Ben Carson (2010) said that learning about rocks was the first time the
information ever became practical to me (as cited in Langan & Langan, 2010).
Blubbering and sniffling like a frightened child, Bob left the hospital
(Sample, 2002).

Quotation Marks with other Punctuation


Commas and Periods
Commas and periods always go to the LEFT of ending quotation marks.
You can pick up your papers on the way out, the instructor said.
According to DiYanni (2008), poems use specific details that stimulate our
senses.

Colons and Semicolons


Colons and semicolons always go to the RIGHT of ending quotation mark.
The students read the poem First Death in Nova Scotia; however, many didnt
understand it.
Fred particularly enjoyed the last line of Langston Hughess poem The Weary
Blues: He slept like a rock or a man thats dead (as cited in DiYanni, 2008).

Exclamation Points and Question Marks


Usually, the exclamation point and question mark go to the LEFT of the ending quotation mark.
Watch out for that car! he screamed.
Will you be home in time for dinner tonight? Bob asked his wife.

Occasionally, though, the quote may not be a question or exclamation, so the question mark or exclamation
point would go to the RIGHT of the ending quotation mark. However, this is rare.
Did Bob really say, I hate pizza?

In this example, we put the question mark to the right of the ending quotation mark because Bob didnt ask,
I hate pizza? Bob made the statement, I hate pizza. Because we are using this quote at the end of a
sentence and the quote is not a question, the question mark goes to the right of the ending quotation mark.

Changing Quotes
As a general rule, you shouldnt change the wording of quotes you are using in your paper as this
compromises the integrity of your information. However, there are several acceptable ways to change quotes,
as long as you do so carefully.
Paraphrasing
This means that you rewrite the quoted material in your own words using completely different words than
the original. Paraphrased information does NOT use quotation marks, but you should have a citation after the
quote.
Nympholepsy means a frenzy of emotion, as for something unattainable
(nympholepsy, 2010).
The kitten exemplified nympholepsy, which is an uncontrollable excitement
directed toward an objective that cannot be reached (nympholepsy, 2010).

Brackets
Use brackets [ ] to change a single word or two in a quote. This should only be done to make the quote
clearer to the reader in the context of your paper.
Original quote:
Bob Smith said, Its a nasty job, but someone has to do it.

Rewritten using brackets:


According to employee Bob Smith, [Cleaning toilets] is a nasty job, but someone
has to do it.

Sic
Occasionally, you may use a source that has nonstandard spelling or improper grammar. You should leave
the quote exactly as it is, but after the error, write the word sic in italics and brackets. This tells the reader
that the error occurred in the source you quoted and was not a result of your poor writing skills.
When asked if her situation had improved, the tenant answered, He aint [sic]
done anything about the problem (Sample, 2002).

Additional references used in examples this paper:


DiYanni, R. (2008). Literature: Approaches to fiction, poetry, and drama (2nd ed). New York, NY: McGraw Hill.
nympholepsy. (2010). Dictionary.com. Retrieved from http://dictionary.reference.com/wordoftheday/archive/2010/10/04.html.
Michelle Rosas 10/2010

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