QUOTE of a QUOTE

  • Sometimes your source will quote another source, and you want to use this quote of a quote in your paper:
  • In other words, the author quotes someone else
  • and you see “ ” around material within your source article.
  • In that case, you need to signal this quote of a quote to your readers:
  • Because you cannot attribute the idea to the author of your source; s/he did not originate the idea and you have to give credit to the proper person.
  • What to do:

(1) Make it clear in a lead-in expression:

  • Professor Jayne Smith, as quoted by Douglas Jones in his Web article “Political Science,” asserts, “‘…’” (par.5).

Or at least make it clear in the parenthetical citation:

  • According to Professor Jayne Smith of the Bioethics Forum at RiceUniversity, “‘…’” (qtd. by Jones par.5).

(2) Then, place single quotes within double quotes

  • When you quote a source ordinarily (no quote of a quote), you place double quotes around the entirety of the material.
  • Do the SAME here, with a quote of a quote; place double quotation marks around everything.
  • THEN you need to turn the double quotes that appear in your source into single quotes; whatever the author placed double quotes around in your source (a word, phrase, clause, or complete sentence/s), you will put single quotes around.
  • Baseball Analogy: a single within a double – you have to touch first base before you go to second
  • TYPING NOTE:
  • Typing in these single quotes in Word can be tricky.
  • No space exists between the double quote and the single quote, but when you type the first quotes, the single quotes gets reversed.
  • To rectify this when you are typing in the first single quote, put a space between the double quote and the single quote (so the single quote will face in the proper direction – the same direction as the initial double quote) and then backspace the quotation marks together.
  • Shift + Double Quotation Mark, Space Bar, Single Quotation Mark, and then delete that space you placed between the double and single marks. (“‘)

EXAMPLES

  • From a student’s paper:
  • In his article “Unhappy People Watch TV, Happy People Read/Socialize,” Neil Tickner quotes John P. Robinson, a sociologist from the University of Maryland and co-author of a recent study on television-viewing: “‘From our 2008 study we concluded that unhappy people are prone to watch more television, while people who describe themselves as “very happy” spend more time reading and socializing’” (Tickner par.1). In this instance, we have double quotes within single quotes within double quotes!

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  • As it appears in the student’s source:
  • “TV doesn't really seem to satisfy people over the long haul the way that social involvement or reading a newspaper does,” says University of Maryland sociologist John P. Robinson, the study co-author and a pioneer in time use studies. “It's more passive and may provide escape - especially when the news is as depressing as the economy itself. The data suggest to us that the TV habit may offer short-run pleasure at the expense of long-term malaise.”
  • As it appears in the student’s paper:
  • Quoted by Tickner, Robinson asserts, “‘TV doesn't really seem to satisfy people over the long haul the way that social involvement or reading a newspaper does. It's more passive and may provide escape - especially when the news is as depressing as the economy itself. The data suggest to us that the TV habit may offer short-run pleasure at the expense of long-term malaise’” (par. 3).

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  • As it appears in the student’s source:
  • Martin likens the short, temporary pleasure of television to addiction: “Addictive activities produce momentary pleasure and long-term misery and regret,” he says. “People most vulnerable to addiction tend to be socially or personally disadvantaged. For this kind of person, TV can become a kind of opiate in a way. It's habitual, and tuning in can be an easy way of tuning out.”
  • As it appears in the student’s paper:
  • Tickner also quotes Steven Martin, Robinson’s co-author of the study published in December’s issue of Social Indicators Research, who “likens the short, temporary pleasure of television to addiction: ‘Addictive activities produce momentary pleasure and long-term misery and regret. People most vulnerable to addiction tend to be socially or personally disadvantaged. For this kind of person, TV can become a kind of opiate in a way. It's habitual, and tuning in can be an easy way of tuning out’” (“An Addict’s Fix”).

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  • As it appears in your source:
  • When I interviewed Poet Laureate Simone von Frische, she admitted that she “prefers rough drafting with a No.2 pencil and a legal pad.”
  • As it appears in your paper:
  • Poetry Anthologist Jean-Sebastian Gillette notes, “When I interviewed Poet Laureate Simone von Frische, she admitted that she ‘prefers rough drafting with a No.2 pencil and a legal pad’” (6).