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Last updated 2 August, 2004

 

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Quote Integration Guidelines

Our goal: To learn how to integrate supporting quotes into your essays so that the quotes flow smoothly out of your own words. That way, the quotes are given a context, they become part of your argument, and they do not distract the reader from your ideas.

Some guidelines: 

• Do not leave your quotes "naked." Make sure they are clearly connected to the argument you are trying to make.

NO: After June's humiliating piano recital, Waverly adds insult to injury. "You aren't a genius like me" (Tan 151). YES: After June's humiliating piano recital, Waverly adds insult to injury by declaring, "You aren't a genius like me" (Tan 151).

• Use brackets ([ ]) and ellipses (. . .) to change verbs or other parts of the original quotes when necessary. This technique is especially useful for maintaining present tense in your paper. P.S. Know the difference between using (. . .) and (. . . .).

NO: 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). YES: 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).

• If you're quoting poetry, make sure you use a slash (/) to indicate where each line ends. That way, you are staying true to the text, and the reader will know that you are quoting poetry, instead of prose.

Ex.: When Duncan asks for an update on the battle, the captain describes the struggling armies as "two spent swimmers that do cling together/And choke their art" (Macbeth 1.2.10-11).

• At the end of the quote, use the QUO-PAR-PUNC Rule: Quotation marks-Parentheses-Punctuation (Special thanks to Sally Wallace of the Brentwood School for teaching me this rule!). Within the parentheses, you usually write the author's last name and the page number. If you are only quoting from one book throughout your paper, then you only have to put the page number. If you are quoting Shakespeare, then you need to cite the play, act, scene, and line numbers.

NO: 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)" YES: 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).

Note: If a quote ends with a question mark or exclamation point, then put that punctuation before the quotation marks, to make sure the intended emotion is retained.

Ex.: 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).

• If there is a quote within the quote you are using, then use single quotation marks to set off the inner quote.

Ex.: When Lena shows Ying-Ying around her new house, Ying-Ying complains that "the slant of the floor makes her feel as if she is 'running down'" (Tan 163).

• When your quote is longer than four lines, "block it off" from the rest of your paragraph. In this case, you don't use quotation marks (except for lines of dialogue), and the QUO-PAR-PUNC rule does not apply. (Note: Avoid using very long quotes--they sometimes bog the paper down.)

Ex.: Lady Macbeth calls on supernatural powers so that she can assist in Duncan's murder: . . . Come you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full Of direst cruelty. Make thick my blood. Stop up th'access and passage to remorse, That no compunctious visitings of nature Shake my fell purpose . . . . (Macbeth 1.5.47-53) Lady Macbeth thus reveals the all-consuming nature of her ambition: she is even willing to give up her identity as a woman to get what she wants. (And the paper goes on from there.)

• Last but not least, always remember to cite your quotes! Do not risk plagiarizing the author's words!
  

A Quote Integration Worksheet for Extra Practice

See How to use Transitions between Quotes or Examples

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