This document provides guidance on using quotes effectively in essays. It advises that quotes should enhance the essay by supporting ideas, showing how ideas relate, and requiring synthesis. Quotes should be relevant to the topic and analyzed or explained. Introduce quotes and provide context. Analyze quotes rather than using them alone. Introduce sources and use proper citation format.

1. NOTES ON QUOTES

2. WHY USE QUOTES?
 Quotes act as evidence for your ideas. When used
effectively, quotes add strength and support to
your topic.
 Quotes show that you understand how your ideas
relate to the ideas of another.
 Quotes require that you engage in synthesis, a
valuable skill.

3.  Avoid quoting just to have quotes in your essay;
make sure that the quoted material adds to,
illuminates, explains, or illustrates the point you
are making. Your quotes should enhance
your essay.

4.  Make sure you are using the most relevant
quotes. Your selected quotes should directly
pertain to your topic. Provide enough context so
that the reader understands your quote.

5.  Analyze, comment on, and/or explain each of your
quotes. Quotes do not speak for themselves.
Picking out quotes you will use in your essay is
only a small portion of your job. You have to
make the quotes work for your essay by
explaining their relevance to your topic.

6.  It’s difficult to end a paragraph with a quote, so
try to avoid this.

7.  Introduce all quotes. Avoid “naked” quotes (aka
“floating” quotes, “dropped-in” quotes). You must
have some of your own words around a quote and
the easiest way to do this is to use the phrase
"So-and-so says." You can vary that with "states"
as in "As Patrick Murphy states." Other often
used phrases are "According to So-and-so" or "So-
and so believes" or "feels" or "thinks" or "claims.“
 Use present tense when using quotes.

8.  The first time you use a quoted source, use the
author’s first and last name and the title of their
work. After that, you can just use the last name.

9.  If you’ve introduced the author in your
introductory phrase (According to Kingston, ….)
you do not need the last name in the
parenthetical citation; the page number is
sufficient (108).

10.  Your quotes should look like this: Gandhi states,
“The hardest metals yields to sufficient heat.
Even so the hardest heart must melt before
sufficiency of the heat of nonviolence” (190).

11.  You do not have to quote entire sections. Use
what you need. If you leave out words, phrases,
or entire lines use an ellipse (…) to signal this to
the reader.

12. WHAT’S WRONG WITH THE
FOLLOWING:
 Affluent Americans are buying super-sized
homes in older, urban residential areas. These
lots were once occupied by historic and humble
homes. “Teardowns wreck neighborhoods. They
destroy the character and livability that are a
neighborhood’s lifeblood” (Moe).

13. BETTER:
 AffluentAmericans are buying new super-
sized homes in older, urban residential areas.
These lots were once occupied by historic and
humble houses. Richard Moe, President of
the National Trust for Historic Preservation,
explains that the older houses are known as
“teardowns,” and in their place towering
“McMansions” dominate certain areas (24).
Moe maintains that “teardowns wreck
neighborhoods. They destroy the character
and livability that are a neighborhood’s
lifeblood” (27). The preservation of historic
homes is important; these homes teach us
about the past and have an aesthetic appeal
that cannot be replaced.

14. WHY THE 2ND EXAMPLE IS BETTER:
 We are given context. We are introduced to the
term “teardowns” and prepared for it when it’s
used.
 The quote is introduced and effectively
incorporated in the paragraph.
 We are told who Moe is and find that he’s
credible to speak on the topic of historic
preservation.
 The quote from Moe is clearly analyzed. We now
understand the importance of the quote.