Quoting exactly, clearly, and effectively is a balancing act: one the one
hand you must sharply distinguish the quotation from your own writing, but
on the other hand you must lock the quotation firmly into the grammatical
structure of your sentence. And above all you must never let the reader lose
sight of why you are quoting these words or that they are quoted.
How to distinguish
quotations from your own writing
Quotation marks (or indentation, for longer quotations) set apart both the quoted
words and the ideas they express:
|
O'Keefe maintains that drug testing can be construed as "a litmus
test"(81). |
Citation of the author or
speaker, usually by name, helps the reader to evaluate the quotation:
| In
The Aims of Argument: A Brief Rhetoric, Timothy W. Crusius and Carolyn
E. Channell claim that "no method for analyzing arguments is perfect,
and no method can guarantee that everyone using it will assess an argument
the same way" (41). |
Parenthetical documentation identifies the source of the quotation so that the reader can easily check its accuracy or its context:
|
Teachers of writing feel that students should resist the desire "to
want to be done with a paper" once it is turned in for a grade
(Crusius and Channell 14). |
The parenthetical reference can be put wherever you feel it sounds best, but it always comes after the quotation and before any punctuation that may be required:
|
Rosie seems accustomed to being called "selfish and ungrateful"
(5), and her mother doesn't let her forget how much "she owes"
her (2) |
Integrating
quotations into the grammar of your sentence
The colon
The most formal (and rudimentary) way of connecting a quotation to your sentence
is the colon, a sort of equals sign equating the idea expressed in the quotation
to the idea immediately preceding the colon:
|
The duke says that he is above taking offense at being undervalued by
his wife: "Who'd stoop to blame / This sort of trifling?"
(34-35). |
A colon does not follow
grammatically incomplete structures; it goes, like the semi-colon, only where
a period might go. It indicates that the sentence is grammatically over bit
that you're not quite done yet: you want to say something over again or spell
out something more fully.
Closer grammatical ties
For variety, as well as for more integrated sentences you can regard a quoted
sentence as the direct object of your own verb:
|
So far from taking offense, the duke actually asks, "Who'd stoop
to blame /This sort of trifling?" (34-35). |
The quotation may supply
the entire predicate of your sentence:
|
Sadie and Anna "couldn't live without Rosie" (1). |
The quotation may, in
fact, supply any or even all of the grammatical parts of the sentence:
|
A: "There are," according to the summary of the facts, "no
children" (8). |
|
B: The count's "fair daughter's self," if we can believe the
duke, "is [his] object" (52-53). |
Notice that a comma is
used before the quotation only when grammatically necessary. The comma is
not automatic.
How to clarify
the significance of the quotation
Make sure that your reader can readily see why you are quoting these words. Sometimes rather lengthy introductions are necessary, and sometimes further remarks after the quotation are required:
|
Harman T. Right perceives marriage as little less than the cornerstone
of the social structure. It is, he says, "society's way of promoting
and even enforcing " mutual support (2) and "self-sacrifice"
(3)- In short, in Right's view, marriage is primarily a contract - providing
benefits and obligations for both partners. |
Conclusion
Successful use of quotations requires consideration for the reader, The reader needs to know what words are being quoted, where they come from, and why they are being quoted. Just do what your instincts tell you the reader needs to understand what you are trying to present.