The document provides guidance on using quotations and quotation marks when incorporating direct quotations into writing. It discusses proper punctuation of quotations, including placing commas and periods inside or outside quotation marks depending on whether the punctuation is part of the quoted material. It also covers quoting quotations with single quotation marks and using ellipses, brackets, and block quotations. The document provides examples and explanations for direct quotations, partial quotations, lead-ins for quotes, in-text citations, and formatting titles and sources.

1. Q-Tips
(Tips on Using Quotations and Quotation Marks)
Using Quotation Marks:
 Direct Quotation: A direct quotation repeats a speaker or writer’s EXACT words
and must be indicated with quotations marks (“”).
o The comma or period following the direct quotation goes inside the quotation
mark.
o When a quotation is a sentence fragment, the comma preceding is omitted.
 Ex: Jackie said the party was “a total flop.” (Fragment)
 Ex: The placement director said, “The recruiter for Proctor and
Gamble will be on campus next Thursday to interview students for
marketing jobs.” (Complete)
o When an expression like “he said” interrupts a quoted sentence, use commas
to set off the expression. When the expression comes between two
complete quoted sentences, use a period after the expression and capitalize
the first word of the second sentence.
 Ex: “Hop in,” said Jim. “Let me give you a ride to school.”
 Ex: “I can’t remember,” said Jim, “when we’ve had a worse winter.”
 Expressions Singled Out for Special Attention: If you wish to call attention to a
word or symbol or if you are discussing the word itself, then you may use quotation
marks or italics to set it apart.
 Ex: “Bonnets” and “lifts” are British terms for car hoods and
elevators.
 Quotation Marks within Quotation Marks: When a direct quotation or the title of
a shorter work appears within a direct quotation, use single quotation marks (‘ ’).
 Ex: “I heard the boss telling the foreman, ‘Everyone will receive a
Christmas bonus,’” John said.
 Ex: The instructor told the class, “For tomorrow, read Ernest
Hemingway’s ‘The Killers.’”
 Using Semicolons, Colons, and Question Marks: Position semicolons and colons
that come at the end of quoted material after, not before, the quotation marks.
 Ex: There are two reasons why I like “Babylon Revisited”:the
characters are interesting and the writing is excellent.
o When a question mark accompanies a quotation, put it outside the quotation
marks if the whole sentence rather than the quotation asks the sentence.
 Ex: Why did Cedric suddenly shout, “This party is a big bore”?
 Ex: Whatever possessed him to ask, “What is the most shameful
thing you ever did?”

2. Using Quotations in Your Writing:
Lead-Ins:
 When working quotes into your writing, the quote must not only be set up to
support your point, but it must also be positioned naturally within a sentence.
Your goal is to create a flow from your writing, into the quote, and back to your
writing. Quotes should NEVER seem like they’ve been “dropped 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 quotations to what
surrounds it in the context of your paper.
 There are three main types of lead-ins:
1. The “somebody said” lead-in:
Ex: After he first begins to suspect Cuff’s suspicion of Miss Rachel,
Gabriel declares, “[I]t was not pleasant to find these very different
persons and things linking themselves together in this way” (Collins
131).
2. The “blended” lead-in:
This lead-in provides more flexibility as some of the quoted material is
left out, and what is retained blends in with your sentence. 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 structure of your sentence.
Ex: His childhood imagination has been dulled by maturity and he can
no longer fully identity with the natural world. Instead of being
lifted “as a wave, a leaf…a cloud,” (53) he instead, “fall[s] upon the
thorns of life!” (54).
3. The “sentence” lead-in:
This kind of lead-in is another effective technique and includes a
complete sentence introducing the quote followed followed by a colon
(:).
Ex: When Lucy visits the house with Rosanna’s letter to Mr. Franklin,
Gabriel reacts much unlike himself: “The detective-fever burnt up all
my dignity on the spot. I followed her, and tried to make her talk”
(Collins 185).
Punctuation Specifics:
 Put the author’s last name and the page number (if you have one) in parentheses
after the quote. This is known as PARENTHETICAL DOCUMENTATION or in-text
citation.
Ex: (Collins 135) Notice there is no punctuation between the author and page
number.
 Remember to put the punctuation OUTSIDE the parentheses UNLESS your quote
ends in an exclamation point or a question mark. If this is the case then you put a
period after the parentheses.
Ex: …….!” (Collins 31).

3. ……?” (Collins 31).
Additional Points to Remember:
 If you use the author’s name in the lead-in of a quote, do not repeat the author’s
name in the documentation.
Ex: Collins wants the reader to see Betteredge as a “materialistic, greedy man” (14).
 When no author is given, you can cite a work by its full title (either underlined or in
quotation marks) or you may abbreviate the title, but make sure that it is clear to
which work you are referring. If it is a website, make sure that you cite the title of
the site or the article.
Ex: …………” (“Symbolism” 31).
 If anywhere in your paper you are citing two different works by the same author,
then you must distinguish which work you are citing.
Ex: …………” (Collins, The Moonstone 5).
{FYI: Underline the titles of longer works, books, magazines, newspapers and
place quotation marks around titles of articles, poems, etc. Do not use italics.}
Ellipsis (…):
 At times you may wish to borrow only part of a sentence and combine it with your
own words. To do so, use the ellipses (…) to indicate that words are being left out.
 Make sure that by omitting words you have not significantly altered the meaning of
the source.
Ex: Gabriel acknowledges that the Sergeant’s “abominable justice.…favoured
nobody” (Collins 164).
Brackets [ ]:
 Brackets – NOT parentheses – can be used to clarify things for the reader:
Ex: Later, he describes himself as “being restless and miserable, and having no
particular room to go to,” while feeling “wretchedly old, and worn out, and unfit for
[his] place” (Collins 134).
The passage originally reads, “…and unfit for my place”. Use brackets to substitute
the pronoun my for his.
 Using brackets also helps the writer maintain consistent verb tense and make it
make sense grammatically.
Block Quoting:
 A long 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 your
punctuation at the end of the quote, space, and then write your parenthetical
documentation.

4. Ex: . Upon relaying thisnewly-foundevidence to Mr. Franklin, Gabriel isinterruptedby Cuff:
‘Mr. Betteredge,’ saysthe Sergeant, ‘you have done a very foolishthing in my absence. You have
done a little detective business on your own account. For the future, perhaps you will be so
obliging asto do your “detective businessalong withme.’ (Collins118)
Practice:
1. Some linguists think that the quintessential American ok may have
come from the African waka.
2. My favorite piece of jazz music is St. James Infirmary.
3. What did Yeats mean by the line in his famous poem The Second
Coming things fall apart, the center cannot hold?
4. Carl Thomas described the performance as extremely intense.
5. I managed to read Faulkner’s short story The Bear Jennifer
sighed but I don’t really know what to say about it in my paper
for English.
6. Why do so many student writers confuse effect with affect?
7. In response to the Great Depression, Franklin Roosevelt declared
the only thing we have to fear is fear itself; however, many
families who had lost their homes and couldn’t even earn enough
for food really did have something to fear.
8. Yiddish words like mishugana and kibitz have come to be used
outside the Jewish community.
9. In his closing argument, the defense attorney asked the jury how
would any one of us act if accused of a crime we knew we didn’t
commit?