Quotations

In your papers, you will present two types of quotations: direct and indirect. 

 

Direct Quotations

Direct quotations are quotations that present verbatim what someone has either said or written. You should enclose these quotations in quotation marks unless you set them off from the text by using block quotes. 

Note Remember to cite your sources when using direct and indirect quotations.

 

Examples

Quotation
Arthur Plotnik counsels: “Even with the drama provided by full-stop pauses, fragments soon run out of energy.”

Block Quote
In Spunk and Bite, Arthur Plotnik unravels Strunk’s and White’s The Elements of Style.  Plotnik comments:

Therein lies the whitewash.  Both Strunk and White knew well that bending the rules—judiciously breaking them—can give writing its distinction, its edge, its very style.  Bending the rules can spring writers from ruts—get them out of themselves, out of the ordinary, and into prose that comes alive, gets noticed, gets published.…Writing is risk taking.

I agree with him because…

Note Consult your instructor or style guide for indentation size on block quotes.

 

Indirect Quotations

Indirect quotations are paraphrased quotations.  In other words, they are what someone has either said or written, but unlike direct quotations, you are restating them by using different words.  You should not enclose these quotations in quotation marks and should not set them off from the text with block quotes.

 

Example

Arthur Plotnik counsels that fragments can pack a lot of heat, but he also warns that they can’t shoot very far.

 

Exercises

Determine whether each of the following quotations is direct or indirect.  Add quotation marks when they are necessary.

1. Were she a more civil person perhaps I’d have been less of an advocate, writes McCarthy.

2. In the beginning of the chapter, the authors explain that children will develop both a cultural identity and self-esteem that will allow them to function in the mainstream culture.

3. DeLillo disagrees with this statement when he says: A cell is the basic state.

4. Sethe believes that a child’s life is too precious to waste on a bad life.

5. She writes about K-W-L charts, explaining, K-W-L charts help students identify what they already know about the subject and to help them gain more information.

6. Shugg Avery believes that God made the color purple so that we could enjoy it.

7. Stop being silly, Maxine Hong Kingston writes.  You Americans don’t take life seriously.

 

 

Answers

1. “Were she a more civil person perhaps I’d have been less of an advocate,” writes McCarthy.  Direct.

2. In the beginning of the chapter, the authors explain that children will develop both a cultural identity and self-esteem that will allow them to function in the mainstream culture.  Indirect.

3. DeLillo disagrees with this statement when he says: “A cell is the basic state.”  Direct.

4. Sethe believes that a child’s life is too precious to waste on a bad life. Indirect.

5. She writes about K-W-L charts, explaining, “K-W-L charts help students identify what they already know about the subject and to help them gain more information.” Direct.

6. Shugg Avery believes that God made the color purple so that we could enjoy it.  Indirect.

7. “Stop being silly,” Maxine Hong Kingston writes.  “You Americans don’t take life seriously.”  Direct.

 

 

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