How to format your citation
In the second half of his instructions to the
flash mob volunteers, the narrator
anticipates that after singing and raising
signs to win her back, “Deborah will break
[his] heart yet again” (Monks 18).
NO Period
SPACE
Period goes
AFTER the
parenthetical
SPACE
AUTHOR’S
LAST NAME
Page Number
(NEVER write p./pg./page)
How to format your citation
Ironically, at the very end of his
instructions, the narrator insists that
“things are really starting to look
up for [him],” even though he’s just
predicted that his plan to win Deborah
back will fail (Monks 18).
Notice that the page citation ALWAYS goes at the
END of the sentence, even if the quote comes early
in the sentence.
When does a citation NOT go at
the end of the sentence?
Big Foot believes he will “never be the
same again” (Green 45) unless he is
reunited with Sheila, his first sasquatch
love, because she always made him feel
like more than just “some horrible, hairy
beast” (68).
Notice this sentence weaves direct
quote details from TWO different page
numbers.
HANDY TOOLS to help you
weave details with ease
1.) BRACKETS [ ]
Brackets can be used to make alterations to
quotes for the following reasons:
A) to change a verb’s tense in a quote so
that it is consistent with your sentence
B) to change a pronoun so that it matches
the POV you are writing with
C) to change a pronoun so the subject or
character’s name is clear to the reader
D) to change a capital letter to lowercase if
the detail starts a sentence in the original
text
A) BRACKETS CAN HELP YOU KEEP VERB
TENSE CONSISTENT
Original Quote:
“I’ll be curled up and crying by the
rhododendron bush.”
Brackets come in handy because when we write about literature,
we want to use the PRESENT TENSE!
Tense change using Brackets:
Even before his plan to reunite with Deborah
begins, in his instructions, the narrator predicts
that he may need to “[curl] up and [cry] by
the rhododendron bush” (Monks 18).
B) USING BRACKETS TO CHANGE A
PRONOUN TO MAKE IT THIRD PERSON POV
Original Quote:
“Really hot-looking women are encouraged
to walk with me, hold my hand, and act like
I’m their new boyfriend.”
Pronoun Change Using Brackets:
When the narrator instructs attractive
women to “walk with [him], hold [his] hand,
and act like [he’s] their new boyfriend,” it
reveals how truly desperate and insecure he
feels (Monks 17).
C) USING BRACKETS TO CHANGE OR
CLARIFY A PRONOUN FOR THE READER
• The pitcher told the reporter, "It's
quite simple—they played a better
game, scored more runs, and that's
why we lost.”
Unless the antecedent of
this “they” is mentioned in
an earlier sentence, this
pronoun could be unclear
to the reader. Who is
they?
C) USING BRACKETS TO CLARIFY A
PRONOUN FOR THE READER
• The pitcher told the reporter, "It's
quite simple—[the LTHS Cavaliers]
played a better game, scored more
runs, and that's why we lost.”
What’s in the brackets replaces
the confusing pronoun “they”
BRACKET GUIDELINES
• NEVER use a bracket to change an author’s
meaning or intent. You can only clarify the
grammar or pronoun of what’s already on the
page.
• Frustrated by his recent dating experiences,
Robert turns to the TransWorld Dating Agency and
is set up on a date with Glena, a Neanderthal
woman who is “barrel-chested [and] not much
taller than a stack of tree stumps” (Galef 19).
We can’t do this. The author didn’t write
the word “and” in the text.
BRACKET GUIDELINES
• NEVER use a bracket to change an author’s
meaning or intent. You can only clarify the
grammar or pronoun of what’s already on the
page.
• Frustrated by his recent dating experiences,
Robert turns to the TransWorld Dating Agency and
is set up on a date with Glena, a Neanderthal
woman who is “barrel-chested” and “not much
taller than a stack of tree stumps” (Galef 19).
We can do this! Use your own words to
make a bridge between two direct quotes.
BRACKET GUIDELINES
• If it seems like you’re using a lot of
brackets:
• Rethink your quote choice. Would this
information be easier to paraphrase in
your own words?
• Use only the portion of the quote detail
that you don’t need to change.
Let’s say we were using this quote detail:
Original Quote from “Us and Them”:
“This was one of the things you were supposed
to learn simply by being alive, and it angered me
that the Tomkeys did not understand it.”
This quote weave has some issues that need solving.
Weave Without Brackets:
David harshly judges the family for trick-ortreating on November first and even admits that
it “angered me that the Tomkeys did not
understand it” (Sedaris 2).
Your Turn – Rewrite this quote weave using
brackets to fix the following:
1) a verb that needs to change tense
2) a pronoun that needs a POV change
3) a pronoun that needs to be clarified
What needs fixing?
Weave Without Brackets:
David harshly judges the family for trick-ortreating on November first and even admits that
it “angered me that the Tomkeys did not
understand it” (Sedaris 2).
We want to write about
literature in the PRESENT
tense but the text uses
PAST tense
What needs fixing?
Weave Without Brackets:
David harshly judges the family for trick-ortreating on November first and even admits that
it “angered me that the Tomkeys did not
understand it” (Sedaris 2).
We want to write about
literature in THIRD
person POV but the text
uses FIRST person POV
What needs fixing?
Weave Without Brackets:
David harshly judges the family for trick-ortreating on November first and even admits that
it “angered me that the Tomkeys did not
understand it” (Sedaris 2).
It could be unclear to the
reader what the pronoun “it”
refers to
FIXED USING BRACKETS
David harshly judges the family for trick-ortreating on November first and even
admits that it “anger[s] [him] that the
Tomkeys did not understand [the
traditional date]” (Sedaris 2).
2.) ELLIPSIS . . .
• An ellipsis is three dots …
• It tells reader that you have skipped some
unnecessary parts of the detail you are quoting.
• An ellipsis is not needed when you quote words
or phrases from a longer sentence.
• It’s mainly used when:
– You skip unnecessary information from the MIDDLE
of a quote
USE AN ELLIPSIS WHEN YOU WANT TO SKIP
THE MIDDLE OF A LONGER QUOTE
Original Quote
"The red car came to a screeching halt that was heard
by nearby pedestrians, but no one was hurt.”
With Ellipses
"The red car came to a screeching halt…,but no one
was hurt.“
Notice that losing this information does not change or
interfere with the meaning of the quote
ELLIPSES GUIDELINES
1. You should never use the ellipsis to
delete or change information that is
essential to understanding the
writer’s intent.
Original movie reviewer quote
“While full of action and explosions, Transformers II is
a roller coaster ride that leaves you feeling bored and
tired.”
Quote used in TV ad
“…full of action and explosions, Transformers II is a
roller coaster ride…!”
DON’T USE AN ELLIPSES TO CHANGE A
QUOTE’S MEANING/WRITER’S INTENT
Original quote from “Group Mobilization”
“If I find that a better-looking-than-me guy in a
sad clown mask is still better-looking than me, I
will ask him to leave.”
Use of Ellipses that CHANGES the meaning
“If I find…a better-looking-than-me guy…, I will
ask him to leave.”
ELLIPSES GUIDELINES
2. You don’t need an ellipsis if using
only words or phrases from a longer
quote detail.
The narrator warns that attractive men who
attempt to “…take advantage of the
situation…” as a way to get close to
Deborah will not be tolerated (18).
These … are not necessary because
it’s a short phrase.
ELLIPSES GUIDELINES
3. You can’t use an ellipsis to combine
quotes from different sentences or
paragraphs. But you can do this:
The narrator’s inner conflict can even be seen in
how he describes Deborah in his instructions.
One moment he’s complimenting her
“magnificent emerald green eyes” while the
next he’s warning that “her ugly side will soon
be on display for all to see” (18).
Use your own words (ELABORATION) to bridge quote details from
different sentences together.