WHAT’S NOT EMBEDDED? The quotation below is NOT embedded because the context is its own sentence. The quotation is its own sentence. We don’t want this.
Rhea helps Cronus. “She took a piece of stone and shaped it into a sharp sickle” (5).
Don’t do this.
So what should you do? Here are some options:
1.
Use a colon. You can use a colon if what you quote after the colon is an example of what you say before the colon.
The crew feasts on Helios' cattle with relish: "Now six full days my gallant crew could feast / upon the prime beef they had marked for slaughter" (12.468-469).
The Grinch’s behavior with Cindy Loo Who is deceptive: “Then he patted her head her a drink and he sent her to bed
(Seuss 22).
And he got
2.
Use a dependent clause. If your quotation is a complete sentence on its own, you may use a dependent clause as part of your context to connect to your quotation. Put a comma between the dependent clause and your quoted independent clause.
Since Odysseus has a particular desire to kill Antinous, "He drew to his fist the cruel head of an arrow" (22.7).
When the Grinch hears the Whos down in Whoville singing, “the Grinch's small heart grew three sizes that day” (Seuss 47).
3.
Use a prepositional phrase, participial phrase, or introductory word (like an
adverb). Another way to embed a quotation that is a complete sentence on its own is to use one of these kinds of introductory phrases
After Odysseus’ revelation, “Salt tears / rose from the wells of longing in both men” (16.229-
230).
Living with Kalypso, “The sweet days of his life time / were running out in anguish” (5.159-160)
Silently, “Athena stood nearby to give him bulk and power” (18.75-76).

4.
Turn a quotation that isn’t a complete sentence into a complete sentence
(probably by adding a subject).
Hearing his mater’s voice, Argos “did his best / to wag his tail, nose down, with flattened ears, having no strength to move nearer” (17.343-45).
None of the children want to help Gaea because they are “terrified of their father’s power” (12).
5.
Attribute dialogue in your context. Explain who the speaker of the words is, and when appropriate, to whom he or she is speaking.
Amphínomos, the only suitor who means no ill, tells the rest of the company, “I should not like to kill Telémakhos. / It is a shivery thing to kill a prince / of royal blood” (16.439-441).
6.
Eliminate confusing words from dialogue that you are already attributing in your
context.
Original text: "
", he thought, "
."
There’s no need to go through the difficulty of quoting a quotation within a quotation simply to include “he thought.” Account for that with your embedding and use and ellipses (. . . or . . . .) to indicate that you have eliminated material.
The Grinch thinks, "
" (Seuss 49).