Writing for the Public

Using Quotations

Introduce All Quotations

Writers always introduce their quotations; they do not let quotations stand alone. If they do not introduce them, readers might be confused as to where the quotation is coming from and where the writer is going with it. Thus, you want to avoid placing complete quotations into your text without signaling to your reader the quote’s origin.

There are a variety of ways to introduce a quotation.

Example #1:

In A Natural History of Love, Diane Ackerman writes, “Love is a demanding sport involving all the muscle groups, including the brain.”

Here, the writer uses an attributive phrase to introduce the writer’s words (Ackerman writes). For your profiles, you might use constructions like “she claims,” “argues,” “points out,” “explains,” “remembers,” “said,” “recalled,” “exclaimed,” etc. Use your thesaurus for variety.

 

Example #2:

You might also create variety by placing the attributive phrase at the end of the quotation. Or, you may place it in the middle of the quotation.

“The Tempest was my most difficult production,” she recalled.

 “The Tempest,” she recalled, “was my most difficult production.”           

 

Example #3:

According to Dr. Leon R. Kass, in The Ethics of Human Cloning, the actual process of cloning is simple: “The nucleus of a mature but unfertilized egg is removed…”

 In this example the writer uses an attribute phrase (according to). In addition, he also uses a colon (:) to introduce the quotation. The colon is used to join two independent clauses (clauses that can stand alone). The second clause explains or elaborates the first.

 Clause #1: “According to Dr. Leon R. Kass, in The Ethics of Human Cloning, the actual process of cloning is simple.”

Clause #2: “The nucleus of a mature but unfertilized egg is removed…” (an elaboration on how the cloning process happens).

 

Example #4:

Engineers are also improving runways, lighting, communications, storage and housing at bases in Uzbekistan and Pakistan where American forces are stationed, signaling a long term commitment, or at least the ability to redeploy forces quickly.  “The job is still not done,” said Rear Adm. Craig R. Quigley, senior spokesman at the United States Central Command in Tampa, Fla.  “There is great value, for instance, in continuing to build airfields in variety of locations on the perimeter of Afghanistan that over time can do a variety of functions, like combat operations, medical evacuation and delivering humanitarian assistance.”

 The first quotation is attributed to Quigley. Since the second quotation follows so closely to the first, readers should also deduce that these words are Quigley’s as well.

 

Example #5

He recalls an awakening in his life when everything became “crystal clear,” and he knew exactly “how his life should go.”

Here, the quotations complete the message of the sentence. There is no move to step back and designate who is saying what. There is no attributive phrase. Given the content of the sentence, readers know that these quotations come from the “he” in the sentence. When writers do not use attributive phrases (he said, he claims) to introduce the quote directly, they need to be sure readers will understand the quote’s origin. 

 

Punctuation

 When writers use attributive phrases such as “said,” “writes,” “comments,” there should be a comma after this attributive phrase. Commas and periods are placed inside quotation marks:

 “Amanda,” she said, “We need to talk.”

 “I don’t know why my CD player does not work,” she said.

 

If the quotation completes a thought and is not attributing the quote to the speaker directly, then a comma is not needed to introduce the quotation:

She spoke of “the gothic tale.”

She remembered a time of “restlessness” when she could not decide what to do with her life.

He recalls an awakening in his life when everything became “crystal clear,” and he knew exactly “how his life should go.”

 

Semicolons and colons are placed outside of quotations marks:

She spoke of “the gothic tale”; I immediately thought of the “The Dunwich Horror”: H.P. Lovecraft’s masterpiece is the epitome of “gothic.”