Quote Integration Quick Sheet

Step 1:

Select a quotation you would like to integrate into your writing.

“by degrees—very gradually—I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever.”

Step 2:

Select a word, or several words, from that quotation that are significant. You can use *ellipses to omit unimportant words if necessary and *brackets to add words that are necessary for clarification.

Most style guides don't call for an ellipsis when you omit something at the beginning or end of a quotation, but occasionally you need one. For example, if you leave out something at the beginning of a sentence, but your remaining quotation starts with a capital letter, you need an ellipsis to show the reader that the quotation is beginning in the middle of the original sentence.

Step 3:

Compose a sentence that includes those words and the point you want to make. There are several ways to do this:

  1. Introductory Phrase - Write a statement followed by a comma to introduce the quote.

The narrator calmly explains, “I made up my mind to take the life of the old man.”

  1. Embed the quote -Insert short quotations into your own sentence. (Use the author’s words as if they are your own.)

Poe uses dashes to emphasize how the narrator “very gradually” decides to kill the old man.

  1. Write a statement ending in that to introduce the quote.

The narrator reveals his madness and cold-bloodedness when he tells the reader that “[He] made up [his] mind to take the life of the old man.”

  1. *Tell & Show - Write a complete sentence and use a colonto introduce the quote.

The narrator’s internal monologue reveals that he is a paranoid man: “Was it possible they heard not? Almighty God! --no, no! They heard! --they suspected! --they knew! --they were making a mockery of my horror … I felt that I must scream or die!”*Use this technique sparingly.

See reverse.

Step 4:

In-Text Parenthetical Citations

Modern Language Association (MLA) parenthetical citations are used to give credit to sources. This method involves placing relevant source information in parentheses after a quote or a paraphrase.

Short Stories, Novels, and Essays

  1. If the author’s name is not mentioned in the sentence:
  1. If the author’s name is mentioned in the sentence:

Poetry

Poemsare cited by line number rather than by page number. When you are quoting three lines or fewer from a poem, you may incorporate the quotation into the body of your paragraph.

Tips for quoting up to three lines of poetry:

  • Use slashes (/) to indicate line breaks within the poem.
  • Keep all punctuation intact as it appears in the poem.
  • Use quotation marks to denote the beginning and end of the quotation.
  1. If the author’s name is not mentioned in the sentence:
  1. If the author’s name is mentioned in the sentence:

Note: Punctuation goes inside the quotes when a parenthetical citation is not used.

See reverse.

DO NOT…

  • drop quotes. You must smoothly integrate quotes into your writing. See step 3.
  • use the Quote – Explanation, Quote – Explanation, Quote - Explanationformula. The ideas in your paper should not be written around the quotes you choose. Instead, use the evidence in your papers to support your ideas. Remember to give your ideas context.
  • Forget to give credit to your sources with a parenthetical citation. See step 4.

For a literary essay, you might want to consider the following format.