Embedding Quotations
Adapted by K. Adams (2012) from a presentation adapted by J.
Krajeck (2007) w/thanks to Dr. C. Butler, Sandy Valley H.S.
Don’t Strand Quotations!
 S.Q.’s are quotations with NO
home….NEVER a quotation that
has no speaker or interpreted
meaning from YOU [as the writer]
 Stranded quotations are the
proverbial “fishes out of water.”
Also called “Island Quotations.”
Paraphrase or Summarize
 If the sentence is not quotation-worthy,
then use a paraphrase or summary type
sentence, e.g., George said that he
would never talk to his sister again (Poe
35).
 (It is not necessary for the audience to
know George’s exact words, only that
he will not be talking to his sister…thus,
George’s words are not “quotationworthy.)
He/ She said
 Simple sentence tag (Use of author/character
name is preferred: Hawthorne implies…)
 He said, “There is a full moon tonight”
(Hawthorn 145).
 Comma before quote
 Capitalize first word
 Period before end quote
 Use more precise terms for says: believes,
maintains, suggests, implies
Embedded sentence,Type I
 George said that “no one could
compare with the great LeBron James”
(Howard 98).
 No comma before quote
 No cap for first word of quote
Embedded Sentence, Type II
 The fact that “Elizabeth wanted a gown
more beautiful than anyone else’s”
shows how vain she is (Klein 56).
 The line “Look upon my works, ye
mighty, and despair” captures the
arrogance of the ruler.
Divided
“You are,” she said reluctantly,
“the best pitcher we have seen
yet” (Hahn 45).
Comma before end quote
Comma before second half of
quote
No cap for second half
Speaker Details
 John Smith, the author of
Chocolate Rules, believes,
“Nothing can take the place of the
simple M&M candy” (34)
 Appositive (noun or noun phrase
that renames another noun right
beside it)
 Comma on either side of appositive
Intro summary (Colon)
 Frost repeats the last line to convey
a sense of weariness: “And I have
miles to go before I sleep. / And I
have miles to go before I sleep.”
 Full sentence before the colon that
summarizes idea of quote
 Full sentence for quote
 / means a line break for a poem
List of words
“Vile,” “gritty,” “torn,” and
“shabby” all suggest the
deterioration of the world
Winston lives in.
Quotes for each word
Commas before the end quotes
Embedded Phrases
Winston needed to show a face
of “quiet optimism” to conceal
his desire for revolution (Blake
34).
No commas
No capitalization
When to dot, dot, dot and when to
not, not, not
 series of dots that usually indicate an
intentional omission of a word, sentence or
whole section from the original text being
quoted.
 used to indicate an unfinished thought or, at
the end of a sentence, a trailing off into
silence.
Dropping Words
 You use ellipses to indicate where you've
dropped words or sentences
 Reduce redundancies
 Get to the point


Original quote - “I cannot help it; reason
has nothing to do with it; I love her against
reason.”
“I cannot help it . . . I love her against
reason.”
Dropping Words Cont.
 Don’t use it to change the meaning of a
sentence!
 Don’t put it at the beginning of a sentence
 Don’t put it at the end of a sentence
Long Quotes
 More than four lines of text

12 point TNR
 Start on a new line, with the entire quote
indented one inch from the left margin
 parenthetical citation should come after the
closing punctuation mark
 When quoting verse, maintain original line
breaks
 Maintain Double Spacing
Long Quotes - Prose
Nelly Dean treats Heathcliff poorly and dehumanizes him throughout her
narration:
They entirely refused to have it in bed with them, or even in their
room, and I had no more sense, so, I put it on the landing of the
stairs, hoping it would be gone on the morrow. By chance, or else
attracted by hearing his voice, it crept to Mr. Earnshaw's door,
and there he found it on quitting his chamber. Inquiries were
made as to how it got there; I was obliged to confess, and in
recompense for my cowardice and inhumanity was sent out of
the house. (Bronte 78)
Long Quote - Poem
In his poem "My Papa's Waltz," Theodore Roethke
explores his childhood with his father:
The whiskey on your breath
Could make a small boy dizzy;
But I hung on like death:
Such waltzing was not easy.
We Romped until the pans
Slid from the kitchen shelf;
My mother's countenance
Could not unfrown itself. (Shugrue 202)
Adding Words to a Quote
 Use brackets around the word to indicate it
was not a part of the original quote.


Brackets [ ]
Parenthesis ( )
 Jan Harold Brunvand, in an essay on urban
legends, states, "some individuals [who retell
urban legends] make a point of learning every
rumor or tale" (78).
Adding Words to a Quote Pronouns
 Change the pronoun to better fit


"Reading is also a process and it also
changes you."
Margaret Atwood wants her readers to realize
that “reading is also a process and it also
changes [them]" (30).
Adding Words to a Quote Pronouns
 Change a pronoun to a noun or proper noun
to make more sense


Original Quote – “On the weekends, I took her
to the mall and tried to find her things she
might like.”
Alice remembers that “on the weekends, I took
[Mary Fred] to the mall and tried to find her
things she might like” (Bardi 72).