Specifications for Typing Quotations

1. Writer's Choice. The writer controls the quotation of materials. In other words, the writer of a paper chooses what to quote and how much to quote.

2. Indented Quotations. The length of a quotation determines how it is typed into a paper. Generally, if the quote is prose and is not over four typed lines in length, it is incorporated into the main text of the paper. If the quotation is longer, set it off by indenting the quotation ten spaces from the left margin, but type all the way to the right margin.

Quotations should be double spaced just like the rest of the paper. Note: No quotations marks are used on indented quotations unless the material is actually quoted in the original. The act of indenting serves to set the words off from the text.

3. Quotations Within Text of Paper. If the quotation is part of your paper, it should be integrated into your own sentence and it should then fit grammatically with that sentence.

Example:
Incorrect: Athena favors Odysseus because "we are, contrivers, both" (Homer 367).
The resulting sentence that includes the quotation is not grammatically correct because of the use of "we"--it doesn't make sense as a sentence.

Correct: Athena favors Odysseus because she says "we [Athena and Odysseus] are, contrivers, both" (Homer 367).-or- Athena says she and Odysseus are "contrivers, both" (Homer 367).

4. Brackets (for Additions) Within Quotations. Brackets (see "correct" example above) are used in quotations to indicate material supplied by the writer of the paper to make the quotation easier for the reader to understand. Do not use parentheses instead of brackets for this purpose.

5. Omissions Within Quotations. If you wish to leave out material from a quotation, indicate the omission by using three spaced periods (ellipsis mark). If a sentence ends within the omission, add a period in the normal place and then add three spaced periods.

Example: The instructions above say that if "a sentence ends within the omission, add a period in the normal place and then add three spaced periods. . . ."

6.Punctuation Within Quotations. Commas and periods go inside quotation marks, unless the quotation is followed by the parenthetical reference information. In this case, the comma or period goes after the parenthesis.

Example: Athena says that she and Odysseus are "contrivers, both" (Homer 367).

Semicolons, colons and dashes go outside closing quotation marks.

When question marks or exclamations points are part of a quotation, they go inside the quotation marks. If they are the writer's marks, they go outside the quotation marks. Single quotation marks indicate quotes within the quoted material.

7. Poetry Quotations Requiring a Slash. When quoting several lines of poetry within the text of the paper, indicate the breaks between lines of poetry by typing slash surrounded by spaces.

Example: In Book XIII of The Odyssey, Athena states: "`Two of a kind, we are, / contrivers, both'" (Homer 367).

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