2. Quotations Types of quotations: Direct = one in which you record precisely the language of someone else. Indirect = one in which you report what someone has said without repeating the words exactly as spoken (or written).
3. Direct / Indirect examples Direct quotation: Franklin D. Roosevelt said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Indirect quotation: Franklin D. Roosevelt said that we have nothing to fear but fear itself.
4. Direct and Indirect Quotations For both direct and indirect quotations you must credit your sources!
5. When to quote? Use quotations when another writer’s language is particularly memorable and will add interest and liveliness to your paper. Use quotations when another writer’s language is so clear and economical that to make the same point in your own words would, by comparison, be ineffective. Use quotations when you want the solid reputation of a source to lend authority and credibility to your own writing.
6. Notes on Quotes When you quote too much, you risk losing ownership of your work. More easily than you think, your voice can be drowned out by the voices of those you’ve quoted. Use quotation sparingly, as you would a pungent spice.
7. Notes on Quotes Don’t over quote. It is your paper. The majority of the paper comes from your ideas. Balance quotations with paraphrases and summaries.
8. Notes on Quotes Quote only the part of a sentence of paragraph that you need and work the material into your paper in a natural and fluid manner. Avoid freestanding quotations – even when properly cited, they can be jarring to a reader.
9. Notes on Quotes Connect the quote with your paper. Use a transition phrase, transition word, etc. E.g. Historian John Doe has argued that in 1941 "almost all Americans assumed the war would end quickly" (Doe 223). (http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/quotations.html)
10. Notes on Quotes Whenever you quote a sentence but delete words from it, indicate this deletion to the reader with three spaced periods – called ellipsis – in the sentence at the point of deletion. Make sure, if you delete part of a quote, that you don’t change the author’s meaning! Original: “To read well, that is to read true books in a true spirit, is a noble exercise, and one that will task the reader more than any exercise which the customs of the day esteem.” – Henry David Thoreau, Walden With ellipsis: Henry David Thoreau writes, “To read well . . . is a noble exercise, and one that will task the reader more than any exercise which the customs of the day esteem.”
11. Notes on Quotes Use brackets to add or substitute words in a quoted sentence. Original: “After the fire they did not return to the station house for three hours.” (unclear, in this quote, who “they” refers to) With brackets: An official from City Hall said, “After the fire [the officers] did not return to the station house for three hours.” (note that our quote now has a source, and the added words do not change the meaning of the original quote but only make it more clear)
12. Using Published Sources When to summarize, paraphrase and quote? Summarize: To present main points of a lengthy passage To condense non-main points necessary to discussion Paraphrase: To clarify a short passage To emphasize main points Quote: To capture another writer’s particularly memorable language To capture another writer’s clearly and economically stated language To lend authority and credibility to your own writing
