How do you cite a word in a quote?

This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial. We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

In general, use direct quotations only if you have a good reason. Sometime you may decide to use a direct quote but want to avoid including a lengthy passage when the essential meaning that you want to include is much shorter. To replace unnecessary words in a quoted sentence, you may use an ellipses – a series of three periods followed by introducing quotes words the remainder of the quotation. Set off a quotation of more than 50 words of prose or 3 lines of poetry by beginning a new line and indenting the body of the quotation one inch in from the left margin of your text (a “block quotation”). Block quotations are double spaced like the rest of your essay and not surrounded by quotation marks.

How do you quote a word in a quote?

You can also use a colon after the greeting in business letters and memos. As in the example above, a comma is used before quotation marks to introduce a direct quote. If the description of the quote’s speaker is placed after the quotation, a comma is always placed within the quotation marks. Notice that the writer has not only “borrowed” Chase’s material with no acknowledgment, but has also largely maintained the author’s method of expression and sentence structure. The phrases in red are directly copied from the source or changed only slightly in form. Field-specific common knowledge is “common” only within a particular field or specialty.

Sometimes you need to add a word or words to a quote in order for your reader to understand it. This can help you explain pronouns used in the direct quote or further explain what a quote is referencing. Brackets allow you to add or replace words, as long as you don’t change the meaning of the text. Introduce a long direct quote, then set it off in a block. A long quote is anything that’s longer than 4 typed lines.

Explaining Quotations

The reader’s understanding of the Writing Center’s mission to serve the UNC community is not affected by omitting the information about its location. When Hamlet tells Rosencrantz that he “could be bounded in a nutshell and count self a king of infinite space” (Hamlet 2.2), he implies that thwarted ambition did not cause his depression. Hamlet denies Rosencrantz’s claim that thwarted ambition caused his depression. He states, “I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a king of infinite space” (Hamlet 2.2). “I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a king of infinite space” (Hamlet 2.2). If you’re looking up the definition of orthography, you’re probably either a language buff like… Put a period before the ellipsis if you skip one or more sentences.

The right way to cite the quote will depend on whether you’re using MLA, APA, or Chicago Style formatting. For instance, you may prefer to use a long block quote to present a passage from a literary work that demonstrates the author’s style. However, let’s say you were using a journal article to provide a critic’s perspective on an author’s work. You may not need to directly quote an entire paragraph word-for-word to get their point across. The reader will recognize that the material is a direct quote because it’s set off from the rest of the text.

Introduce a quotation and have subsequent sentences that expand on the relevance

However, you should use block quotations only when you fear that omitting any words will destroy the integrity of the passage. If that passage exceeds four lines , then set it off as a block quotation. To introduce a quote in an essay, don’t forget to include author’s last name and page number or author, date, and page number in your citation. Shown below are some possible ways to introduce quotations. Use a colon to introduce an example or to further explain an idea presented in the first part of a sentence. The first part of the sentence must always be an independent clause; that is, it must stand alone as a complete thought with a subject and verb.

• Interrupt the quote with an attribution to the speaker.
• Introduce quotation with a comma, unless the word that follows the signal verb .
• Explain the significance…Tell the reader why they bothered to read your essay.
• In the second example, the exclamation mark remains within the quotation mark because it is indicating the excited tone in which the coach yelled the command.

Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices. This technique also applies to multiple phrases or clauses. Introductions are an essential part of life, they mark the beginning of new relationships, journeys and experiences. Things such as remembering your audience, gaining their interest, stating your intent, and establishing credibility are all excellent ways to start a new dialogue, address a crowd or meet someone new.

How to Quote a Source

Then, look away from the original and rewrite the text in your own words. These materials will help you avoid plagiarism by teaching you how to properly integrate information from published sources into your own writing. Long Quotesare put in a block indented from the remaining text and have no quotation marks. Whether you are writing an essay, meeting someone for the first time or addressing an audience, there are some general rules you can follow to make for pleasant and memorable introductions. If you enjoy this article, check out our most popular quote article, a list of short inspirational quotes for daily motivation. You can use a full sentence followed by a colon to introduce a quotation. In the example above, the writer first provides his own idea about employee-supervisor relationships.

Interrupt the quote with an attribution to the speaker. Again, you will need to use a comma after the verb, as well as a comma leading into the attribution.

Leading With an Introductory Phrase or Verb

If the character in the story did not say the words you’re quoting, then you can’t quote them. That would be an unauthorized reworking of the original you are citing. If a character didn’t die in the original story, you likewise can’t say that the character essay on why america is great died. To create the assertion, try putting the quote in your own words. Relate it back to your thesis statement or to an overarching theme or idea in the paper. Write a short assertion that is no longer than one line or eight to ten words long.

• A writer uses signal phrases to avoid dropped quotations, smoothly leading the reader into the source’s ideas.
• Authoritative language – use quotation to add the authority of experts and prominent figures.
• I would like to extend a special thank you to my friend and fellow grammar enthusiast Lisa for contributing to this post.
• But, be careful as each of those conveys its own connotation, so you might find it tricky to pick the right word.
• Although they have stopped short of admitting that smoking causes cancer in humans, tobacco companies have admitted that “smoking causes cancer in laboratory rats” (p. ##).

The primary function of quotation marks is to set off and represent exact language that has come from somebody else. The quotation mark is also used to designate speech acts in fiction and sometimes poetry. If you add a word of your own in the middle of a quotation for clarity, then put square brackets around it. If you leave out a word or phrase, then indicate what you have done by putting an ellipsis … where the word or phrase was. Introduce a quotation with a phrase followed either by a comma or a colon. When reading a passage, try first to understand it as a whole, rather than pausing to write down specific ideas or phrases.

Sample Quotes

This can undermine your argument and make you lose credibility with your reader. Try not to use more than 1 direct quote in a paragraph. Instead, use a paraphrase or a summary to support your ideas. Provide commentary after a quote to explain how it supports your ideas. A block quote requires more commentary than a short quote.

If it does, you could be accused of plagiarism, which is the stealing of others’ ideas. Also, just as when you include a quotation, you must tell your reader whose ideas you are paraphrasing. After you provide a quotation, explain how the quotation supports your idea and/or add commentary about what the quotation expresses. Doing this will help your writing flow smoothly and make you seem credible as a writer. Using brackets when integrating a quote actually helps improve clarity while writing. Otherwise, if you integrate a quote directly without adjusting it through the use of brackets, the sentence can be confusing to readers. Do your students struggle with embedding & citing quotations?

Integrating Quotationsinto Sentences

S. Eliot’s poem, “The Waste Land.” If so, you should identify the source as a poem, so that reader won’t mistake the reference for an academic article. In a similar way, if your paper mainly cites poets, you might need to identify somebody else as an editor or literary critic. Or, perhaps you feel that a particular author’s nationality, ethnicity, gender, age, or education level may affect the relevance of a particular point raised by the author. Using a lot of direct quotes will take away from your own ideas.

Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Erin Wright with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. I would like to extend a special thank you to my friend and fellow grammar enthusiast Lisa for contributing to this post. In a future post, I will discuss block quotations, which are longer quotations that stand apart from the surrounding text. Vary the placement of your signal phrases and use a variety of signal verbs.