How to Incorporate Quotations into Your Essay

Short Quotations

To indicate direct quotations of fewer than four (4) lines in your text, enclose the quotation within double quotation marks. Provide the author’s last name and specific page citation in the text, and include a complete reference in the reference list. Punctuation marks, such as periods, commas, and semicolons, should appear after the parenthetical citation.

Examples:

(Cheek & Buss 332)
(Shimamura 3)

Examples of short quotations:

§ She stated, "Students often had difficulty using MLA style," (Jones 199), but she did not offer an explanation as to why.

§ According to Jones "Students often had difficulty using APA style, especially when it was their first time" (199).

Long Quotations (block quotes)

Place direct quotations longer than four (4) lines in a free-standing block of typewritten lines, and omit quotation marks. Start the quotation on a new line, indented five (5) spaces from the left margin and type the entire quotation on the new margin, single spaced. The parenthetical citation should come after closing punctuation mark.

Example:

The study found the following:

Students often had difficulty using APA style, especially when it was their first time citing sources. This difficulty could be attributed to the fact that many students failed to purchase a style manual or to ask their teacher for help. (Jones 199)

Quotations from Drama

A reference to a play must refer to the act, scene, and line numbers, as in the following case:

In Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Titania, enchanted with Bottom, sees the world around her with romantic eyes. As she says,

The moon methinks looks with a watery eye;

And when she weeps, weeps every little flower,

Lamenting some enforced chastity. (3.1.202-04)

If it were only two lines long, it would be written in the body of the essay in the following way, using quotation marks:

In Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Titania, enchanted with Bottom, sees the world around her with romantic eyes. As she says, “And when she weeps, weeps every little flower, / Lamenting some enforced chastity” (3.1.202-04).

From the JL Ilsley English Handbook