Handling Quotations

The catchphrase for using quotations is introduce and integrate. In order to be fully understood and appreciated by the reader, a quotation needs to come fitted with a context. Once the context has been established, your reader can understand how a quotation is meant to support the point under discussion. Though it appears obvious to you how a given quotation fits with your discussion, remember this: whenever you use a quotation it must be properly set up or introduced.

An effective writer uses a variety of ways to introduce quotations. The illustrative sentences below are taken from A Keen Soldier (Knopf 2002), Andrew Clark's story of Private Harold Pringle, the only Canadian soldier to be executed by Canadian forces during World War Two.

A brief introductory phrase

Later on he told me, "It would be best if those involved were dead when this story gets out" (7).

A comma follows an introductory phrase that announces a quotation. Verbs such as tells, reports, observes, says, notes, admits, asserts, explains, emphasizes, and comments signal that a quotation is about to follow. The verb you use is of course dependent on the nature of the quotation. But work to find fit alternatives to use occasionally in place of the familiar says and writes, which can become tiresome if overused.

A formal introductory sentence or passage

Tony spent two days in Flinton trying to work up the courage to see William Pringle, but he never managed it: "I went right to the house and stood outside, but I never went in. I couldn't do it. I lost my nerve" (54).

When a complete sentence is used to introduce a quotation, it must end in a colon. A formal introductory sentence like this both establishes a context for the quotation and effectively introduces it. In the example, the quotation illustrates the point of the preceding sentence by elaborating on how Tony's courage failed him. Note that a quotation appearing after a colon is always a complete sentence. Be mindful not to overuse the colon in this way, however, since it brings your prose to an abrupt stop.

A signal phrase embedded in the quotation

"The army should have straightened Harold Pringle out," the article read, "but it failed to do so" (8).

Quotations presented in this fashion are nicely integrated into the discussion. This method gives a story-like quality to the text, and creates an interestingly structured sentence for the reader.

A tag phrase at the end of the quotation:

"Mother and Father never did recover from it," Theresa told me (15).

This is the familiar style of the fiction writer or journalist. Perhaps because it is so journalistic, this method of identifying a quotation is seldom used in formal writing. Use this method on occasion to create variety in a piece that makes frequent use of quotations.

Integrate the quotation into the structure of the sentence

Harold wrote to his mother saying that he had "almost been married three times" during his time abroad (36).

Seamlessly joining a quotation with the rest of the sentence is the most effective way to use a short quotation in an essay or article. Selectively quoting only the part of a sentence or paragraph that you need and integrating it into your sentence maintains the flow in your writing. It also forces you to evaluate your source material carefully and use only what is most necessary as evidence to support your argument or discussion. When you quote in this way, however, you need to ensure that the quotation fits with the grammar of your sentence: that verbs are in the right tenses and pronouns in the right cases.

Block Quotations

On the whole, be sparing with block quotations in your essays. They intrude visually into your text and can also hijack your authority as writer of the piece. Professors are also disinclined to be generous to essays that contain long passages of quoted material. Your words, your thoughts are what the professor wants to read. While you may have discovered something interesting in your research that you want to share at length with your reader, it is best to work a combination of paraphrase and quotation, to use your own voice as much as possible in your essay.

If you do use a block quotation, you should do something with it. The justification for quoting at length is that the passage contains details and ideas you intend to comment on. In history and English papers, for example, it is expected that you will analyse and comment on lengthy passages drawn from primary sources. The quoted passage does not speak for itself.

Punctuating with Quotations

1. A comma follows an introductory phrase that precedes a quotation

Commenting on the human cost of the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition, Roy MacLaren notes, "of the 708 recruits who sailed from Zanzibar in February 1887, only 210 returned in December 1889."

2. When a quoted phrase is integrated into the structure of a sentence, it is not preceded by a comma

Sherston discovers that the social elite "talk and write in support of the War with complete confidence" based on their first-hand experience of war, consisting only of "a dinner at G.H.Q. and a motor drive in the direction of the trenches."

3. Use a colon after an introductory clause (a full sentence) that sets up a quotation:

Stairs's diary entry on 24 December 1887 exemplifies his internal conflict: "every now and then I am horrified at myself and almost driven crazy as I in a frenzy cut a man's head open with a stick."

4. Use a colon after a sentence that introduces a block quotation

Proud speeches by the Mayor and Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia recognized Stairs as a hero of the same stature as those of the Crimean War:

The pages of history are filled with the names of Nova Scotians who have distinguished themselves in the fields of literature and war. The monument to the heroes of the Crimea speaks for itself. The house in which he resided had been the abode of the defender of Kings; and now we can add the name Stairs to the glorious list.

5. Periods and commas always appear inside the closing quotation mark, unless the sentence ends in parenthetical documentation (see below)

Sherston, ever the hero, remains steadfast and his initial fears are "soon mitigated by a glowing sense of martyrdom."

When faced with what he describes as "the most difficult thing I have ever done in my life," his steely resolve is transformed into a thin, brittle shell.

6. Colons and semicolons always appear outside the closing quotation mark:

His thoughts become "powerless against unhappiness so huge"; he feels that "a second lieutenant could attempt nothing."

7. A question mark or an exclamation point appears inside the closing quotation mark if it is part of the original quotation.

Then Sherston asks rhetorically, "Why should I remember that and forget so much else?" (55).
[Appropriate punctuation for the whole sentence must be supplied if a parenthetical page reference is included. This is not the case if no page reference is required or if footnote documentation is used. The question mark in the example would then stand as the end punctuation for the sentence.]

8. If it is not part of the original quotation but the sentence requires it, a question mark or exclamation point appears outside the closing quotation mark.

Is it surprising that Stairs would sign a contract placing him in the employ of a king whose policies and enterprises in Africa he considered "one huge mistake"?