How to Include Quotations in Your Essays

Focus on Body Paragraphs

Why is it important?

• Provides textual evidence for thesis

• Validates facts, statistics

• Credibility

• Proves you have researched or are knowledgeable

• Strengthens argument

Basic Structure of a Body Paragraph with Quotation

• Topic Sentence– Focus on one point or argument (your quotation

should support this)– Example: In the opening chapters of the novel,

Reverend Dimmesdale has a reputation of being an honorable man.

• Context of Quotation– Where and when in the story? – What is the situation?– Example: After Hester is released from prison

and makes her way to the scaffold, many of the townspeople gossip about her selected punishment. Although some desire a more severe penalty for her, many are content with the fact that Reverend Dimmesdale is going to handle it.

• Introduction– Who says it to whom? – About what are they speaking (if not self-explanatory)– Use comma before quotation– Quotations CANNOT stand alone as a sentence– Example: One such townsperson comments,

• Quotation- followed by (Author Page #)– Author not necessary if it has been made clear within essay

already– Example: “’Reverend Master Dimmesdale, her godly pastor,

takes it very grievously to heart that such a scandal should have come upon his congregation’” (49).

• Explanation and Analysis– Why is it important? – How does it relate to thesis? – Be specific, thorough and logical.– There should be at least twice as many of your words

explaining/analyzing quotation as there are in the quotation itself.– Example: The significance of this quotation is twofold. First, it

illustrates that Dimmesdale’s opinions are taken seriously by the townspeople, and that he is a person they can trust. He is in agreement with the rest of the people of Boston, and therefore shows his credibility to the masses. Second, he has taken Hester’s sin “grievously to heart,” which portrays his sense of holiness and morality. If he is upset about Hester’s affair, it can be assumed that his morals are honorable.

Quoting Dialogue

• Use single quotation marks inside double quotation marks

– Example: “’Reverend Master Dimmesdale, her godly pastor, takes it very grievously to heart that such a scandal should have come upon his congregation’” (49).

Make it Smooth

• Introduce the quotation with your own words and integrate it grammatically into the sentence

• Example: According to one of the townspeople, Reverend Dimmesdale takes the news of Hester’s affair “very grievously to heart” (49).

How to quote a play

Miller establishes the Proctors’ icy relationship in the beginning of Act II, showing that the couple lives in a house of tension and unspoken sentiments. The couples’ exchange of dialogue is short, uncomfortable, and more is to be read between the lines than what is actually being said:

PROCTOR: I think you’re sad again. Are you?

ELIZABETH: (she doesn’t want friction, and yet she must). You  come so late I thought you’d gone to Salem this afternoon. (56)

This dialogue expresses Elizabeth’s suspicions in John’s behavior…

Don’t plagiarize or change words• Reproduce the exact wording, punctuation, spelling of the

original quotation

• NO:“’Reverend Master Dimmesdale, her godly pastor, took it very grievously to heart that such a scandal should have come upon his congregation’” (49).

• YES: “’Reverend Master Dimmesdale, her godly pastor, takes it very grievously to heart that such a scandal should have come upon his congregation’” (49).

Final thoughts

• Your ideas and analysis are the focus of the essay

• Quotations should act as tools or support, but your words should be insightful.