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By Deborah Long;
Modified by D. Owen
General Guidelines for
Quotations
Use quotations to support a point
you have made.
Avoid using too many quotations
or unnecessarily long ones.
Make sure that your quotes have
substance and give credibility to
your points.
Do Not Use Quotations that. . .
come from an unacceptable source.
Ex. According to my mother,
“Frankenstein is a wonderful horror
story.”
Ex. Cliff’s Notes say, “Frankenstein
has stirred the imagination of
generations of readers (16).”
All quotes must be introduced or
integrated.
►Introduced Quote:
Critic Richard Horne asserts, “The
monster created by Frankenstein is
also an illustration of the embodied
consequences of our actions” (261).
►Integrated Quote: More than
anything else the novel functions as
“an illustration of the embodied
consequences of our actions” (Horne
261).
Quote That Is Not Introduced
or Integrated (error)
Floating Quote
Frankenstein shows what happens when man
forgets his responsibility to his fellow
man. “The monster created by
Frankenstein is also an illustration of the
embodied consequences of our actions”
(Horne 261).
Incorrect use of the quote—not introduced or
integrated.
Introducing Quotes--1
You may introduce a quote with a verb
such as “says,” but you should also look
for other verbs that add variety (i. e.
“comments,” “notes,” “asserts,” “claims”).
Example:
Robert Walton claims, “I had rather die
than return shamefully,--my purpose
unfulfilled” (Shelley 160).
Note: If you introduce with a verb, you must
put a comma after the verb.
Introducing Quotes--2
You may also introduce a quote with a
sentence and a colon.
Example:
The character Robert Walton reveals his
unbridled ambition when he discusses the
prospect of abandoning his journey: “I had
rather die than return shamefully,--my
purpose unfulfilled” (Shelley 160).
Caution: Do not use a colon unless the
words before it constitute a complete
sentence and the quote is a logical
support for that sentence.
Capitalization Rules for
Introducing Quotes
☀ Capitalization rules require that all introduced
quotes begin with a capital letter. If your
quote already begins with a capital letter, you
do not have to change anything.
☀ If your quote does not begin with a capital
letter and you are introducing it, you must
change lower case to upper case. Anytime
you make any changes to a direct quotation,
you must use brackets [ ] to show that you
have made a change. (See examples on next
slide)
EXAMPLES
Elizabeth Nitchie observes, “The monster
himself is the earliest creation of Mary’s and
is probably her best, most subtle, most
perceptive characterization” (275). (Quote began
with a capital letter.)
Elizabeth Nitchie observes, “[T]he earliest
creation of Mary’s . . . is probably her best,
most subtle, most perceptive
characterization” (275).
• Note: We will discuss the ellipses later in the presentation.
Integrating Quotes
Integrating the quote means making the
quoted material part of your own writing.
The integration must not compromise the
grammatical structure of the sentence.
Integrated quotes are preferred over
introduced quotes for 11th and 12th grade.
Example: The novel illustrates “the
embodied consequences of our
actions” in the form of the monster
himself (Horne 261).
Mechanics for Integrating
Quotes
When you integrate a quote, you are
making it part of your sentence; as a
result, you may have to make some
changes in the quote itself. The next
two slides show changes that are
sometimes necessary when the quote
is integrated.
1. Capitalization
Integrated quotes may require that a capital letter be
put in lower case.
Example: He evokes our sympathy because
“[t]he monster has the perception and desire
of goodness, but . . . is delivered over to evil”
(Birkhead 266).
Note: The position of “the” in the sentence does not
require a capital letter, but it was capitalized in the
original quote.
2. Change in Verb Tense or
in Person
Because the integrated quote is part of your own
sentence, you may have to change verb tenses
and/or person in order to maintain
consistency.
Quote: “The forms of the beloved dead flit
before me, and I hasten to their arms” (Shelley
162).
Integrated: Victor confides to Walton that “[t]he
forms of the beloved dead flit before [him],
and [he] hasten[s] to their arms” (Shelley
162).
Parenthetical Documentation
• If the author of the quote is not identified in the text, place
author and page number of the quote in parenthesis after
the sentence but before the period.
He evokes our sympathy because “[t]he monster has
the perception and desire of goodness, but . . . is
delivered over to evil” (Birkhead 266).
• If the author is identified in the text, put only the number of
the page on which you found the quote.
He evokes our sympathy because, according to
Birkhead, [t]he monster has the perception and desire
of goodness, but . . . is delivered over to evil” (266).
No Author? No Page
Number?
• You MUST always give parenthetical documentation
for every source even if no author is given.
• When no author is given, abbreviate the next piece
of information. For example, if the works cited
citation begins with a title, use an abbreviated title:
Title: “Romeo’s Quest for Love in
Romeo and Juliet.” = (“Romeo’s Quest” 13).
Note: Unless they are PDF files of printed pages,
Internet Sources DO NOT have page numbers;
therefore, you must use an author’s name or, if the
author isn’t given, an abbreviated title in the
parenthetical citation. Therefore, you cannot give
the name of the author in an introduction. In this
situation, it is better to integrate quotes than to
introduce them.
Using Ellipses
Sometimes it is desirable to leave out part of
a quote. When you do so, you must use an
ellipses to show where you have left out
the words. What remains must be
grammatically correct. Also, do not use
ellipses (or brackets) to change a quote
into a statement that the writer didn’t
intend.
“The monster . . . is also an illustration of
the embodied consequences of our
actions” (Horne 271). (See next slide for complete
sentence used here.)
More on Ellipses
“The monster created by
Frankenstein is also an
illustration of the embodied
consequences of our actions”
(Horne 261).

In the previous slide the ellipses take
the place of “created by Frankenstein,”
the words left out.
More on Ellipses
More about Ellipses
 Ellipses are typed with a space between
each period (. . .)-space before and after each
period.
 Ellipses are not used at the beginning of
the quote.
 Ellipses are necessary if you take words
out of the middle of the quote and if you
end the introduced quote before the end of
a sentence.
 If what you are leaving out includes more
than one sentence, you will use four
periods in the ellipses in addition to the
final period after the citation.
•
Note: MLA no longer requires brackets around your inserted
ellipses, but they may be used if you wish or if your teacher
requires them.
Long Quotations
Setting In
• In general you should avoid long
quotations, but if you do use a quotation
longer than 4 lines of text (on your page),
you must indent one tab.
• When you indent a quotation, you do not
use quotation marks unless the content
you are quoting is already inside quotation
marks.
Example of Long Quote
Notice that quotation
marks are not used.
Educator Bryan Goodwin explains how data should be used:
While data systems have grown more robust, a recent report by the
Data Quality Campaign (2012) suggests the focus now needs to shift
to helping schools and districts develop a culture of effective data use,
one that relies upon data to guide critical decision making within an
environment of trust, where data is used not to shame or blame, but
rather to identify opportunities for growth and continuous
improvement. (3)
Avoiding Long Quotations
Paraphrase the material: You might decide
that you want to use the ideas of the critic
but want to put the ideas in your own words.
The paraphrase is the same length or longer
than the original.
Summarize the material: You might
summarize the material when you need to
say in a sentence or two what the author has
said in a paragraph or two. The summary is
shorter than the original.
 With a paraphrase or a summary you do not use
quotation marks; however, the information must be
introduced and must have parenthetical
documentation afterwards.
Caution
Separating your sentence with a quotation
longer than three or four words confuses
your reader.
Example of Awkward Separation to Avoid
When Robert Walton says, “Great God! what
a scene has just taken place! I am yet dizzy
With the remembrance of it,” he is referring
to his first sight of Frankenstein’s creature
(Shelley 162).
Quoting Poetry
Quoting poetry is somewhat different from
quoting prose.
If you quote more than two or three lines of
poetry, you need to use a slash mark (/)
to show where the line breaks are.
Example: Lady Capulet says, “By my count, / I
was your mother much upon these years /
That thou art a maid” (1. 3. 78-80).
Punctuation is space / space.
act, scene, lines
Quoting Poetry
When you are quoting more than
three lines of poetry, you indent
one tab. When you set the lines
in, you type the poetry exactly
as it appears on the page;
therefore, you will not use the
slash marks because you are
showing the line breaks.
Long Poetry Quote
Frost ends his poem with these lines:
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. (16-20)
Note: Use line numbers. With indented quotes, the period
goes before the parenthesis.
Long Quote from Shakespearean Play
The Nurse’s crudeness is evidenced in her first conversation
with Romeo. When he asks her about Juliet’s mother, she
replies:
Marry, bachelor,
Her mother is the lady of the house.
And a good lady, and a wise and virtuous.
I nursed the daughter that you talked withal.
I tell you, he that can lay hold of her
Shall have the chinks. (1. 5. 125-130)
(Note: The extra space at the beginning is exactly like the original text.)
Final Words
Sources are used for support of points you are
making. Make sure that they do support the
points and that they are smoothly woven into your
writing. You may need to follow the source with
some explanation, but do not insult your reader
by simply repeating what your source has just
said.
Also, every situation that you might encounter
has not been explained in this PowerPoint. Use
the MLA handbook. Ask your teacher for help
only after you have looked but are unable to find
the answer for yourself.