15.6: Different Types of Quotations
- Page ID
- 223421
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)Quotations are always direct language from the source, but there are different ways to employ quotes within your paper which involve some knowledge of quote formatting.
Direct Quotes
First, with a direct quote, you simply put full quotations around the quoted material and cite the material properly. You also want to be sure the period comes all the way at the end, after the parenthetical citation. You put no comma or extra period at the end of the sentence, inside the quotes.
Additionally, be sure to always introduce a direct quote with a signal phrase. In both APA and MLA, it is generally expected that you will use a signal phrase with a direct quote; failing to include a signal phrase is a mistake commonly referred to as a “dropped quote.”
| Car describes, "One particular type of short-term memory, called working memory, plays an instrumental role in the transfer of information into long-term memory and hence in the creation of our store of knowledge” (123). |
Quotes Within Quotes
If you have quotes within a quote you are using, those turn into single quotes for clarity's sake.
| According to Carr, "The Net is the latest in a series of 'modern cultural specializations'" (119). |
If your source quotes from another source, this is called an indirect quote. To acknowledge an indirect quote, you must cited both authors (the author whose piece you read and the author they cited). Do, however, note that indirect sources are not always acceptable in writing; many times, professors would prefer that you look up the original source instead of getting the information second-hand. In science classes, for example, indirect source material is generally unacceptable.
Indirect Quotes
There are three options for citing an indirect quote.
1) Cite the original author in the signal phrase and credit the author you found the source in in the parenthetical.
| Michael Merzenich, a leading researcher in the field of neuroplasticity, argues that when we use the internet regularly, "our brains are massively remodeled by this exposure" (qtd. in Carr 120). |
2) Cite both authors in the signal phrase and make it clear that one quoted the other.
| Nicholas Carr quotes Merzenich as he examines the ramifications of this plasticity: "When culture drives changes in the ways we engage our brains, it creates DIFFERENT brains" (120). |
3) Cite both authors in the parenthetical and make it clear that one quoted the other.
| As any reader can tell, Merzenich is serious about these ramifications by his use of all capitals. But he continues by noting, again in all caps, "THEIR HEAVY USE HAS NEUROLOGICAL CONSEQUENCES" (Merzenich qtd. in Carr 120). |
Block Quotes
If a quote is over four lines long, it needs to be put in block quote format. As was noted earlier in this chapter, you should use block quotes sparingly if at all. Remember, to justify using a quote this long, you need to discuss and explicate the quote for at least the space the quote takes up. So if you have a block quote, it needs to be explicated for at least four lines, if not longer.
If you decide you can justify putting such a quote in your paper, it needs to be reformatted into block quote format. To put something in block quote format, do the following:
- Double check that it is indeed four full lines or more when typed.
- Lead into the quote with a colon, which will mean leading into it on a signal phrase that is a complete sentence.
- Start the quote on its own line and indent every line of the quote.
- Remove the quotation marks.
- If there is a parenthetical, move the period to before the parenthetical citation.
See this page from The Writing Commons with a further explanation of block quotes.
Example of a block quote
|
Carr describes one study in which the brains of individuals reading a book and those reading online were compared: Book readers have a lot of activity in the regions associated with language, memory, and visual processing, but they don't display much activity in the prefrontal regions associated with decision making and problem solving. Experienced Net users, by contrast, display extensive activity across all those brain regions when they scan and search web pages. ... [T]he extensive activity in the brains of surfers also points to show why deep reading and other acts of sustained concentration become so difficult online. (122) |
Placing End Punctuation
Generally, when you have a parenthetical citation, the period comes all the way at the end of the quote, after the parenthetical.
| Frederick Douglass concludes, "Thus, after a long, tedious effort for years, I finally succeeded in learning to read and write" (408). |
If for some reason you do not have a parenthetical, the period goes inside the quotes. In the case below, the quote is from an interview, so there is no page or paragraph number. And since the person who was interviewed is named in the signal phrase, there is no need for a parenthetical citation.
| In the interview, student Juan Perez argues, "Students should be taught to use sources in their English class because they will need to use sources in papers in most of their other college classes." |
The only exception with the period placement is if the quote ends with an exclamation point or question mark. If the quote ends with one of these two pieces of punctuation, leave the punctuation mark at the end of the quote, within the quotation marks, and put the period after the parenthetical.
| Helen Keller details the change that she felt upon learning language: "That living word awakened my soul, gave it life, hope, joy, set it free!" (93). |
Editing Quotes
You may edit quotes to help the content fit into your paper but remember to never take information out of context. If you edit a quote, be sure the language and message conveyed in your paper about the source is still true to the spirit of the source.
Omitting information
To omit information from a quote, use ellipses (...) to show that words have been left out of the quote.
| “Shelley’s miserable Creature … appears less like a symbol of technological overreach than a figure for the despised and desperate refugees crowding Switzerland’s market towns that year” (Wood 16). |
Adding information You may add words or phrases to clarify the meaning of a quote but place the added information in brackets to show they are not the author’s words.
| Dweck describes, “They [the students] knew that human qualities, such as intellectual skills, could be cultivated through effort” (120). |