Quotations

Quotation Integration: Guidelines

Strong essays about literature incorporate frequent, well-chosen quotations from the texts they examine. These quotations need to be blended correctly and fluently with your own language in order to support, rather than detract from, your ideas.

The most important rule to remember when integrating quotations is that, if the quotation marks were removed, the logic and grammar of your sentences should remain intact. For instance, the following quotation isn’t properly integrated because of the logic of the personal pronouns:

**Later in the chapter, when Harmony realizes she hasn’t been chosen by the director of the program, “I was stunned. I couldn’t move, even to close my mouth.”**

To correct this, begin the quote later, and / or use brackets to change the pronouns: **Later in the chapter, when Harmony realizes she hasn’t been chosen by the director of the program, she “was stunned. [She] couldn’t move, even to close [her] mouth.”**

Sometimes integration doesn’t work simply because insufficient information is given to link the quote to the sentence: **Martin is a complex character, “he was asking her to heal him” and later “staring vacantly into space.”**

To fix this, fill in the gap between your statement and the quote with more information: **Martin is a complex character, which is made evident by his bizarre statements and behavior. When he finds Carla after 10 years, “he was asking her to heal him” and seemed to be able to communicate, but when she asks him about his past, he responds by “staring vacantly into space.”**

**Common errors with integrating quotations:** **1.** **The floating quotation:** don’t leave your quotes floating separate from your own sentences.

**INCORRECT:** After June's humiliating piano recital, Waverly adds insult to injury. "You aren't a genius like me" (Tan 151).

**CORRECT:** After June's humiliating piano recital, Waverly adds insult to injury by declaring, "You aren't a genius like me" (Tan 151).

**2.** **Omitted punctuation leading into a quotation:** if your quotation is introduced by a verb like //says//, //states, asks, wonders, worries, shouts, replies,// etc., you should always include a comma between the verb and the quotation. If, however, the word //that// separates the verb from the quotation, omit the comma. //(In general, it’s best to proceed directly from the verb to the quote with a comma – reserve **__that__** for the rare occasion in which this may sound awkward.)//

**INCORRECT:** Jamie attacks Richard, screaming “How could you do this?”

**CORRECT:** Jamie attacks Richard, screaming, “How could you do this?”

**INCORRECT:** Throughout this section of the book, Christina worries that, “Michael is growing distant.”

**CORRECT:** Throughout this section of the book, Christina worries that “Michael is growing distant.”

**3.** **Quotations that don’t agree with the preceding language**

**INCORRECT:** Dwight is a bully who takes out his anger and insecurity on those who are weaker than he is. "This made him furious; on the way back to the car he would kill anything he saw. He killed chipmunks, squirrels, blue jays, and robins"(Wolff 171).

**CORRECT:** Dwight is a bully who takes out his anger and insecurity on those who are weaker than he is. While hunting, he boosts his ego by "kill[ing] anything he [sees]. He kill[s] chipmunks, squirrels, blue jays, and robins" (Wolff 171).

**4.** **Incorrect punctuation following the quotation:** for quotations ending with periods or commas, use the QUO-PAR-PUNC rule – first, quotation marks; then your parenthetical citation with only author’s name and page number; then your period or comma. //If the quotation ends with a question mark or exclamation point, include this punctuation within the quotation, but still add the period or comma after the parenthetical citation.//

**INCORRECT:** When Waverly accuses her mother of showing off, Lindo's eyes turn "into dangerous black slits. She ha[s] no words for [Waverly], just sharp silence. (Tan 102)"

**CORRECT:** When Waverly accuses her mother of showing off, Lindo's eyes turn "into dangerous black slits. She ha[s] no words for [Waverly], just sharp silence" (Tan 102).

**CORRECT:** During their phone conversation, Toby's father tries to win Toby over by saying, "I've made some mistakes . . . . We all have. But that's behind us. Right, Tober?" (211).

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