Lectures Notes: Integrating Quotations in Compositions

Notes on Lectures: Integrating Quotations in Compositions
Goal: Integrate short quotations smoothly into sentences/compositions to make and support a point.

• A quotation is any sentence/paragraph/phrase/words taken word for word from the novel (or other books, magazines, article)
• It does NOT mean only things in a novel which are said by a character.....
• There are at least four ways to integrate quotations
• 1. Introduce the quotation with a complete sentence and a colon (common in research papers).
• Example for #1: Thoreau ends his essay with a metaphor: "Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in."
• An easy rule to remember: if you use a complete sentence to introduce a quotation, you need a colon after the sentence
• Be careful not to confuse a colon (:) with a semicolon (;). Using a comma in this situation will most likely create a comma splice, one of the serious sentence-boundary errors.
• 2. Use an introdutory or explanatory phrase, but not a complete sentence, separated from the quotation with a comma (common in literary analysis).
• Example for #2: According to Thoreau, "We do not ride on the railroad; it rides upon us."
• Remember to use a comma to separate your own words from the quotation when your introductory or explanorty phrase ends with a verb such as "says," "said," "thinks," "believes," "pondered," "recalls," "questions," and "asks," (and many more).
• You should also use a comma when you introduce a quotation with a phrase such as "According to Thoreau."
• 3. Make the quotation a part of your own sentence without any punctuation between your own words and the words you are quoting (common in ).
• Example for #3: Thoreau argues that "sham and delusions are esteemed for soundest truths, while reality is fabulous."
• Reminder: Notice that the word "that" is used in three of the example above, and when it is used as it is in the examples, "that" replaces the comma which would be necessary without "that" in the sentence.
• 4. Use short quotations - only a few words - as part of your own sentence (common in ).
• Example for #4: Although Thoreau "drinks at" the stream of Time, he can "detect how shallow it is."
• Remember: When you integrate quotations in this way, you do not use any special punctuation. Instead, you should punctuate the sentence just as you would if all of the words were your own. No punctuation is needed in the sentences above in part because the sentences do not follow the pattern explained under #1 and 2 above: there is not a complete sentence in front of the quotations, and a word such as "says," "said," or "asks," does not appear directly in fron of the quoted words.
• All of the methods above for integrating quotations are correct, but you should avoid relying too much on just one method. You should instead use a variety of methods.
• Notice the there are only two punctuation marks that are used to introduce questions: the comma and the colon
• Note: A semicolon (;) is not used to introduce quotations.