How to Embed Quotations with in Text
Quoting from other sources, including journals, television, magazines, interviews, is
important to academic writing. This type of support lends authority to the text,
substantiating the thesis. What quotations you use is equally as important to how you use
them. I have created some guidelines below to aid you in your use of quotations. What
quotations to use:
|
The amount of information available is phenomenal. Much of it is of little
consequence; some is excellent. However you must use discretion and critical thinking to
choose what is appropriate. Some criteria to use when evaluating a document will help.
- Relevance: what's your thesis? What does the document under
consideration have to do with it? Be sure to have a focus when you sit down to research.
Relevance
also has to do with audience. Using statistics for an audience who prefers anecdotal
information is problematic.
- Currency: information on the web is not static; thus, it is constantly
being updated. If you are researching the gender issue in online computer use, don't use
data that is over six months old. There are survey sites that are updated monthly, so
using outdated material will skew your statistics.
When using the sources from other
media, including the library, let your topic inform currency. For example, up-to-date
information is a must about bio-chemistry; however, when writing about Eliot's poems,
reviews written ten or fifteen years ago would be appropriate.
- Credibility: if you find a dynamite article that you feel is really
necessary to your thesis, don't copy it and move on. Check out the author. Has she written
any more articles? What are her credentials? Where is the article located?
Also, be
aware of the difference between primary and secondary sources. Secondary sources are
comments, reviews, critiques upon another source. The primary source is the original poem,
story, article, book, or research. Most of the time you will want to use the primary
source in your research.
- Objectivity: Look at your topic in variety of ways so that you can
obtain a less subjective point-of-view. Check: encyclopedias, books, periodicals and other
media. There are literally hundreds of journals, educational sites and information
repositories just waiting for your perusal.
|
What quotations to use:
|
The second factor to consider is how to place the quotations you will use in the body
of the text.
-
| If a quotation is less than three lines long, place it within the paragraph. For an
example, click here. Make sure your punctuation
for it follows this pattern, with the notation of your source within the sentence:
"Quotation," (Author 3)--3, of course, indicating page number.
| |
If the quotation is over 3 ½ lines long, indent the whole passage five spaces from the
margin. In this case, do not use quotation marks and make sure your notation of author and
page number within parenthesis is placed outside the sentence. Click here to see an example.
Quotations should only be used to support your point-of-view; thus, write your essay
first, then go back and embed the quotation within paragraphs. This means you should
always have at least one sentence which leads into the quotation, and one leads out of it.
The point is to have another person's thoughts and ideas flow smoothly with your own.
Many verbs can be used to introduce summaries, paraphrases and quotations. Some are
comments, describes, explains, reveals, proposes, reports, thinks, writes, considers,
concludes, claims, contends, insists, admits, concedes, concurs, derides, laments,
speculates, warns, etc.
| Use the proper punctuation when citing direct and indirect quotations. Click here to see how to punctuate quotations. Pay
particular note to using "that." Doing so to indicate a quotation usually means
you are not quoting exactly from the source but paraphrasing to a certain degree.
|
Ex: Smith states that he was a loser (3).
Smith states, "He was a loser" (3). (3 indicates page number)
|
|
|
Ortega believes, "You stick to it or .... Showing again how tenacity wins"
(4).
|
|
Though using citations can be very frustrating and detailed, it is imperative that you
follow the forms mentioned, as exactness is the key to using and embedding quotations.
|
| |
|