MLA: Inserting Quotations (style)

By: Rachel Level Colton Miller Vivian Hou Courtney Redmon Kayli Silimperi

Objective: Explain how to correctly integrate quotations into your writing, while still maintaining style.

Try using more than one method.

There are many ways in which to correctly integrate a quote.

You should use quotes sparingly. It should take up no more than 20% of your paper, otherwise your essay may sound choppy.

Every writer has their own style. Quotes are written in someone else’s style. This is important to understand when using them. Make sure the quotes are relevant to your topic, and make sense where they are used.

Do not use strings of quotes.

Style

Use a complete sentence and a colon to introduce the quotation.

*remember: do not use a semi-colon or coma.

Example: Thoreau ends his essay with a metaphor: "Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in."

Use an introductory, or explanatory phrase before the quotation.

*remember: use commas to separate the quotations and phrases. Also, make sure the phrase is not a complete sentence.

Example: Thoreau asks, "Why should we live with such hurry and waste of life?"

Style

Use the quote as part of your sentence.*remember: you should keep the quotes short. Punctuate the sentence normally.Example: In "Where I Lived, and What I Lived For," Thoreau states that his retreat to the woods around Walden Pond was motivated by his desire "to live deliberately" and to face only "the essential facts of life."

Integrate the quote directly into your own sentence.*remember: you do not need any punctuation between your sentence and the quote, as long as you use “that” before the quote. Or, you can just use a comma before the quote.

Example: Thoreau argues that "shams and delusions are esteemed for soundest truths, while reality is fabulous."

Style

Bad examplesTolkien was very talented in using descriptions. "He was as noble

and as fair in the face as an elf-lord, as strong as a warrior, as wise as a wizard, as venerable as a king of dwarves, and as kind as summer“

*remember: using quotes as individual sentences is incorrect.

America is a country that built itself from the ground up; “if this self-confident nation’s manifest destiny stretched westward to the Pacific, it seemed also to stretch skyward with the great houses of industry and commerce”

*remember: even if a quotation is an independent clause it can not be connected to your sentence with just a semi-colon.

Author, Title, and Quote

When using a quote remember to INTRODUCE the author and/or work before it. This includes when you are

PARAPHRASING!!!

Ex: “The ends justify the means.” - Machiavelli

As Machiavelli once famously wrote, “The ends justify the means”

(Machiavelli).

Author, Title, and Quote

Ex: “This cat should not be here, he should not be about! He should not be here when your mother is out!” – Dr. Seuss, The Cat in the Hat

In his comical book The Cat in the Hat Dr. Seuss clarifies, “This cat should not be here, he should not be about! He should not be here when your mother is out” (Seuss, #).

Don’t forget to PEE!

PEE (Point-Example-Explanation)When writing, your objective is to state the point, list examples to back the point up, and then explain the examples.

LTQT (Lead-Transition-Quote-Transition)

Using this journalistic formula, it’s easy tointegrate quotes in any form of writing! Your topic sentence would be considered the “L” (lead), where you state your point; from there, you build off of that in your “T” (transition), where you list the example(s). You then explain with your “Q” (quote). This process continues as you state your next example with the next “T,” and so on.(Transitional examples: for example, for instance, in fact, inother words, specifically, that is, thus, to be specific, toillustrate, etc.)

Do’s & Don’ts of Stylistic QuotationsDO’s

Introduce your quotes- Use variety

Discuss your quotations- Explain

Use only what’s necessary in the quotes- Paraphrasing can be helpful

Blend quotes into your own sentences

Use transitional words, phrases, and sentences

Maintain unity PEE always

DONT’s Use quotes as

sentences- “Dropped” quote

Insert quotes without introductions or explanations

Jump from one quote to another without transitions

Works Citedhttp://www2.ivcc.edu/rambo/eng1001/quotes.htmThe Research Paperhttp://www.byui.edu/english/mlaguide/integrating

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