Name: _______________________________
Practice Integrating Quotes
Using the Colon
Study the technique below:
When his father tries to patch up their relationship, Christopher’s reaction reveals a
continuing lack of trust: “And then he held up his right hand and his fingers out in a fan
so that I could touch his fingers, but I didn’t because I was frightened”(197).
Notice that first is the complete sentence explaining the significance of the quote. Next is the colon.
Then, after the colon, is the quote, which is also a complete sentence. The quote should prove the
statement.
When using a colon, remember this formula —
Complete sentence explanation + : + “Quote in a complete sentence”+ analysis + (citation).
Directions: Practice integrating each of the following quotes. Use your knowledge of The Curious
Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time to determine the significance of each quote. Write a sentence
based on that, follow it with a colon, and end with the actual quote. Be sure to place the page number
outside the quotation marks.
1. “And then I knew it wasn’t a joke, and I was really frightened”(122).
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2. “This meant that Mr. Shears was my Prime Suspect”(42).
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Using Ellipses
What if the sentence that you want to quote is too long? If you can cut out some of the words but leave
enough so that what is left is still a complete sentence, then use ellipses. Ellipses are three dots (…)
that show that something has been omitted. They can be used at the beginning, middle, or end of a
sentence. You must be careful, however. After you cut away, what is left must still be significant,
make sense, and remain true to the author’s original intent.
Original quote: “And this is like me, too, because if I get really interested in something, like
practicing maths, or reading a book about the Apollo missions, or great white sharks, I don’t notice
anything else, and Father can be calling me in to come and eat my supper and I won’t hear him”(73).
Incorrect use of ellipses: “And this is like me, too…I won’t hear him”(73).
Correct use of ellipses: “And this is like me, too, because if I get really interested in something…
Father can be calling me in to come and eat my supper and I won’t hear him”(73).
Correct use of ellipses: “And this is like me, too, because if I get really interested in something, like
practicing maths, or reading a book about the Apollo missions, or great white sharks, I don’t notice
anything else…”(73).
Directions: Use ellipses to remove a piece from the following quote. Be sure that what is left is a
grammatically correct sentence which is clear and makes sense. A good trick is to pretend that the
ellipses area not even there—what is written should make sense, ellipses or not.
“I am almost in, there is a rising screech, I bound, I run like a deer, sweep round the wall, fragments
clatter against the concrete, I tumble down the cellar steps, my elbows are skinned, but I have not lost a
single pancake, nor even upset the plate”(236).
1. Use ellipses in the middle:
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2. Use ellipses at the end:
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Using part of a quote in your own sentence
Study the technique below. Unlike the colon method, this technique uses only a piece of a quote
instead of a complete quote. In other words, what is between the quotation marks is not a complete
sentence. It is up to you to supply the rest of the sentence.
Example: Christopher uses the Marilyn vos Savant example to show that “intuition can sometimes get
things wrong”(65).
Directions: Practice integrating each of the following partial quotes into an original sentence. Be sure
to read each sentence (with the quote in it) back to yourself to make sure that what you have written is
smooth, clear, and grammatically correct. A good trick is to pretend that quotation marks are not even
there. What is written should make sense, quotation marks or not.
1. “wouldn’t be homesick at all” (51)
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2. “the corridor outside the room smelled like gravy”(216)
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