Do not rely too heavily on the direct quotation. Too often student papers become little more than a series of disconnected direct quotations. Excessive quoting indicates that the writer has not been able to assimilate and integrate material that he has read. Do use relevant quotations to lend credibility and support to your assertions, but be selective.
The following guidelines should help you with the special considerations that arise with quoted passages:
Lead-Ins: Somebody Said, Blended, and Sentence
Alteration of Quoted Material: Ellipsis, Interpolation, Sic, Block Quoting,
Quotations from Literary Works, Punctuation Reminders
LEAD-IN
All quotations must have a lead-in. Never drop a quotation into a sentence or paragraph without a proper lead-in. The lead-in links the quotation to what surrounds it in the context of your paper.
Not this: There has been a de-emphasis in the importance of grammar instruction in the modern classroom. "Many teachers seem to believe rules stifle spontaneity" (Agee 10).
But this: Because "many teachers seem to believe rules stifle spontaneity," there has been a de-emphasis in the importance of grammar instruction in the modern classroom (Agee 10).
Example: Jane M. Agee comments, "Many students who would not have attempted college seven years ago are now coming into state universities through junior colleges . . . " (10).
The "blended" lead provides more flexibility. In this kind of lead-in, some of the quoted material is left out, and what is retained blends in with your sentence. A comma before the quotation is not needed unless the structure of the sentence normally calls for one. The sentence must, however, read as a complete statement, without being awkward. Capitalization and punctuation of the original quotation may be changed to fit the grammatical construction of your sentence.
Example: According to Jane M. Agee, state universities are serving a broader student population than ever before by admitting students from junior colleges and through "special remedial programs where students who do not meet entrance requirements are admitted on probation" (10).
Example: Agee insists that English instruction on the college level will not be improved until educators examine the situation realistically: "Public school teachers, professors of English and English Education, students, and state leaders need to sit down together and evaluate the current realities before any real progress can be made" (10).
Do not use the author's name as a possessive and then make reference with a personal pronoun.
Not this: In Steinbeck's novel, he says, "There grew up governments in the worlds, with leaders, with elders" (266).
But this: In The Grapes of Wrath Steinbeck comments, "There grew up governments in the worlds, with leaders, with elders" (266).
ALTERATION OF QUOTED MATERIAL
An ellipsis permits alteration of quoted material. It is used when you wish to omit some of the quoted information. Be sure that the omission does not alter the meaning of the original passage. Within a sentence, an ellipsis is indicated by using three periods with a space before and after each period.
The
following rules apply to use of the ellipsis.
If omitting part of the original passage leaves a quotation that
appears to be a complete sentence, use an ellipsis to indicate that
something has been omitted.
Original quote: "Robert Frost created something like an academic clichˇ when he once said that writing free verse is like playing tennis with the net down."
Quotation with ellipsis: "Robert Frost . . . once said that writing free verse is like playing tennis with the net down."
If the ellipsis falls at the end of the sentence, use four spaced periods with no space before the first period.
Original quote: "Robert Frost is regarded as a poet of New England, even though he was born in San Francisco."
Quotation with ellipsis: "Robert Frost is regarded as a poet of New England. . . ."
Example: In The Grapes of Wrath Steinbeck comments, "There grew up governments in the worlds, with leaders . . . " (266).
Example: "More than any other Romantic, he [Byron] believed in freedom."
Example: "He was referred to as Heminway [sic] in his speech."
"In his speech, he was referred to as Heminway" (sic).
BLOCK
QUOTING
Prose
A long prose quotation of more than four typewritten lines
should be blocked. To do so, set it off from the text by beginning
a new line, indenting one inch from the left margin, and typing
it double-spaced without quotation marks. Place the parenthetical
reference two spaces after the final punctuation mark.
work divided into cantos
The ominous inscription on the gate to the underworld, "Abandon every hope, you who enter here" (Dante 3.9), foreshadows the suffering souls which the two are about to encounter in hell. Note: The "3" refers to the canto, while the "9" refers to the line number.play
Four or more lines should be blocked. Early in the play, Othello is characterized by Iago: The Moor is of a free and open nature, That thinks men honest that but seem to be so, And will as tenderly be led by the nose As asses are. (Shakespeare, Othello, I.iii.405-08) Note: Subsequent references to this play, provided it is the only play being quoted, would omit both author's name and title. "I" refers to the act number; "iii" refers to scene number; 405-08 refers to line numbers.
One to three lines may be incorporated into the text using a slash (/) indicating a line change.
In Shakespeare's Macbeth, Lady Macbeth says of her husband: "Yet I do fear thy nature; / It is too full o' the milk of human kindness / To catch the nearest way" (I.v.14-16).
novel with chapters
The mythological motif which has permeated the whole of James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man becomes solidly aligned with the theme when Stephen addresses his mythological father: "Old father, old artificer, stand me now . . . in good stead" (253;ch. 5). Note: The author's name is not necessary in the documentation because it appears in the text; "253" refers to the page number; "ch. 5" refers to the chapter number. Use a semi-colon between page number and chapter number.poem
Incorporate two to three lines this way. Use a slash (/) with a space on each side to designate the end of a line of poetry. When making reference to poetry which is not divided into cantos, sections, or parts, simply cite line numbers. The first parenthetical reference should use the word line or lines, but subsequent references do not require anything but line numbers. Do not use the abbreviation l. or ll. which can be confused with numerals.Example: In "Acquainted With the Night," nature often appears as something apart from man, an adjunct to his environment. Frost comments: "One luminary clock against the sky / Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right" (lines 12-13). Similarly, nature stands apart from the speaker in "Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening" as he observes "the darkest evening of the year" (8). Note: If the individual poem is not identified within your text, it is necessary to include the poem title in the parenthetical reference. If the verse quotation contains four or more lines, block quote it. (See "Block Quoting.")
Punctuation
Reminders
Check your handbook for rules regarding the proper punctuation of
direct quotations. Commas and periods always go inside quotation
marks. Semicolons and colons go outside quotation marks. Question
marks and exclamation marks go inside or outside quotation marks,
depending on their use in the sentence. Use single quotation marks
for a quotation within a quotation.
Example: "A few years later the term 'country people' had changed."
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