What is Answerbag?

Ask questions and share your knowledge with the world here on Answerbag. Get the best answers where there are no duplicate questions and questions are always open - our community of over 1,140,000 will find your answer!

Join For Free!
 

How to Write a Quote in an Essay

Sunday, June 28, 2009
Related Tags: quotations | essay | marks | paraphrased | superscript
 

Instructions

  • Step 1:
    Select your quotations carefully and don't use more than you need. Use quotations when accuracy or exact wording is important or when the quotation makes a powerful point. Introduce the quotations in your own words and make sure they fit smoothly into the flow of your essay.
  • Step 2:
    Use double quotation marks around a quotation when you use a direct quotation that is less than four lines long. Don't use quotation marks around paraphrased material (material summarized in your own words).
  • Step 3:
    Indent a quotation if it is more than four lines long. Do not use quotation marks around indented quotations.
  • Step 4:
    Capitalize the first letter of a quote if it is a complete sentence but not if it is a fragment. Put periods and commas inside quotation marks. Put colons and semicolons outside. Put question marks and exclamation points inside the quotation marks if they are part of the quotation, but put them outside the quotation marks if they refer to the sentence as a whole.
  • Step 5:
    Footnote every quotation, even paraphrased quotations. Place a raised number (superscript) at the end of each quotation after the period. At the bottom of the page (or at the end of the essay, if you are using endnotes) type the number and the citation.

Tips & Warnings

  • There are different styles for citing sources and formatting your essay. Check with your teacher to find out which formatting style your should use.

Resources


How to Write a Quote in an Essay Provided by eHow.com
Related Content
How to Use Quotation Marks Correctly
Quotation marks are some of the most commonly misused punctuation marks in formal writing. Due to their uses in quotations, dialogue and titles, it is often unclear how to use them correctly. There...
How to Use a Quotation
A quotation is the exact words of a person, either written or spoken. When we use someone else’s precise words without giving them credit we are committing plagiarism. It is not uncommon for...
Turabian Guidelines
Style guides are something you have worked with since the first grade when your teacher told you to put your "name in the upper-left corner and the date on the right." That was her style sheet. As...
Help With MLA Writing Style
The Modern Language Association (MLA) has a set of guidelines that dictates how term papers and essays are formatted. The guidelines dictate everything from how to format your outline to how you...