Quoting

Quoting rules in the Keables Guide are based on those in the MLA Handbook.

MQ: never misquote the text.

Check quotations for details, even punctuation.

QD: documentation.

Place the page or line number in a parenthesis after the quotation.

Any time you quote a literary work, you must provide documentation: information to help readers trace quotations to their sources. The easiest method is parenthetical citation. If your teacher marks “QLD,” identify the exact error you made:

1. Do not omit documentation.

WRONG: Jane Eyre gives her master a bold warning: “You are human and fallible.”

RIGHT: Jane Eyre gives her master a bold warning: “You are human and fallible” (129).

2. Use correct form.

Punctuation goes outside the parenthesis. Use no abbreviations such as “p.” or “pp.” Leave one blank space between the quotation marks and the parenthesis:

WRONG: Jane gives her master a bold warning: “You are human and fallible.” (129)

WRONG: Jane gives her master a bold warning: “You are human and fallible” (p. 129).

WRONG: Jane gives her master a bold warning: “You are human and fallible (129)”.

WRONG: Jane gives her master a bold warning: “You are human and fallible”(129).

RIGHT: Jane gives her master a bold warning: “You are human and fallible” (129).

The rule applies not only to end punctuation, but to internal punctuation (commas, semicolons, colons, dashes):

She calls him “human and fallible” (129), surprising him with her boldness.

If a quotation ends in a question mark or exclamation point, you should include it but still add a period after the parenthesis:

An inner voice urges Jane, “Depart!” (300).

Usually the citation belongs immediately after the quotation, even if the sentence continues:

WRONG: Joe makes remarks like “lies is lies” that are circular and ungrammatical yet wise (69).

RIGHT: Joe makes remarks like “lies is lies” (69) that are circular and ungrammatical yet wise.

3. Two or more consecutive quotations from the same page need only one citation:

The rule applies if you use them in the same sentence or only a few sentences apart, with no quotation from another page between them:

Redundant: Karenin feels both a “good spiritual force” (382) and a “coarse power” (382).

Better: Karenin feels both a “good spiritual force” and a “coarse power” (382).

When you quote poetry, you may use a single citation to cover multiple quotations from the same brief passage, as in the following quotation from Shakespeare’s Hamlet:

UNNECESSARY: Giving symbolic meaning to each flower, Ophelia says that “rosemary” is “for remembrance” (4.5.174) and “pansies” (4.5.175) are “for thoughts” (4.5.176).

BETTER: Giving symbolic meaning to each flower, Ophelia says that “rosemary” is “for remembrance” and “pansies” are “for thoughts” (4.5.174-76).

4. Identify different editions.

If you use a different print edition than the rest of the class, page numbers will probably differ; identify your edition briefly in the first citation, using no comma before the page number. In all later citations write only the page numbers.

Different edition: No longer deceived by the light of expectations, Pip finds that “the candles were wasted out” (Penguin edition 342).

If you use a different edition (whether print or electronic) of a translated work, identify the translator in the first citation, using no comma before the page number:

Different translation: He taunts Raskolnikov with a double-edged remark: “I am staying very near you” (Bantam Classic ed., trans. Constance Garnett 254).

QEB: citing e-books and other electronic texts.

An electronic text (whether from the web or an e-book) may be unpaginated, or its pagination may vary. If the text is a play or poem with numbered lines, cite it just as you would cite a print edition (see QN below). For other electronic texts, cite the chapter number, using the abbreviation “ch.”:

Electronic text: To the naïve Huck, Emmeline Grangerford’s ode is “very good poetry” (ch. 17).

Some teachers may ask you to identify the text in your first citation:

To the naïve Huck, Emmeline’s ode is “very good poetry” (Dover Thrift e-book, ch. 17).

To the naïve Huck, Emmeline’s ode is “very good poetry” (Kindle file, ch. 17).

To the naïve Huck, Emmeline’s ode is “very good poetry” (Project Gutenberg e-book, ch. 17).

If you do identify the text in your first citation, list only chapter numbers in later citations.

QN: enumeration.

In a range of numbers, only the last two digits should repeat:

WRONG: 57-8

RIGHT: 57-58

WRONG: 127-131

RIGHT: 127-31

There are obvious exceptions to the rule: 299-301. In giving a range of years, write both in full unless they are in the same century: 1558-1603, 1608-74.

QNP: short and long poems.

Short poems (under 100 lines) need no citation; use line numbers for longer poems.

There is no absolute rule, but 100 lines is a reasonable cut-off point. With short poems, readers can find the quoted lines at a glance. For longer poems, line numbers, which stay the same from edition to edition, are better than page numbers, which vary. If lines are not numbered, cite pages. Some long poems have separately numbered divisions, such as cantos or books. Book 9, line 781 of Paradise Lost can be cited (9.781) or (IX.781).

LONG POEM: The Wedding Guest becomes “A sadder and a wiser man” (624).

POEM IN BOOKS: Homer begins with an invocation: “Sing in me, Muse” (1.1).

QND: citing drama.

For plays like Shakespeare’s, written largely in poetry and divided into acts and scenes, indicate act, scene and line numbers, respectively:

Hamlet contemplates two options: “To be or not to be” (3.1.56).

Periods with no spacing follow act and scene numbers. If you are typing a citation near the right margin, you may divide it after either period. The traditional form of citation, seldom used nowadays, indicates acts with capital Roman numerals, scenes with lower case Roman numerals, and lines with Arabic numerals: (III.i.56).

If a play does not have numbered lines, cite it by page number.

QLQ: long quotations.

For a quotation longer than four lines (longer than three for poetry), indent one inch, using double-spacing and no quotation marks.

Indented quotations are called “block quotations” or “extracted quotations.” The most common error is not indenting one inch. Use the Indent command, not Tab; the default setting of tab stops is 0.5", which is too narrow. (Most examples in the Keables Guide use narrower indentation and single spacing, for the sake of saving space.) Indent from the left only. Do not indent more for the start of a paragraph unless your quotation covers more than one paragraph; if it does, indent paragraph beginnings an extra 0.25". Extracted quotations from poetry have additional rules; see section 4 below. Use extracted quotations sparingly. Parenthetical citation for extracted quotations goes after the period and one blank space.

Like other quotations, long quotations should be introduced into a sentence of your own. The best way to introduce long quotations is with a colon. See Q.Col. If you go on to comment on the long quoted passage, do not indent and start a new paragraph of your own; treat the long quotation as part of your paragraph of commentary, just as you would if the quotation were too short to extract.

QP: quoting poetry.

1. Quotations up to three lines long: use quotation marks with slashes to indicate line breaks. One blank space goes before and after each slash. Reproduce capitalization and punctuation as they appear in the poem (often the first word of each line is capitalized).

Macbeth now sees life as a mere “tale / Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, / Signifying nothing” (5.5.26-28).

If a poem you quote uses capitals, italics, or other unusual typographical features, reproduce them as closely as you can, as in the following quotation from Elizabeth Bishop’s “One Art”:

She urges herself to express her pain “Though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.”

2. Quotations longer than three lines: indent one inch and double space. Use extracted quotations (see QLQ above). Use no slashes. Copy indentation as closely as possible. Many poems are indented according to their pattern of rhyme and meter. With modern free verse which follows no consistent rule of indentation, just imitate the way the poem looks in print. If lines are very long, you may use a margin of less than one inch. If only one or two lines are too long, run them over into the next lines, indenting half an inch beyond the widest indentation. The following example is spaced and indented as it would appear in an essay:

Extracted quotation from poetry:

Note 1: The first line has extra indentation because the quotation begins in the middle of a line; in such a case, indent enough to make the line end near where the other lines end.

Note 2: Parenthetical citation for extracted quotations goes after the period and one blank space.

3. Do not mistake prose for poetry. Shakespeare uses some prose in all his plays, often in the same scene with poetry. It is incorrect to break quotations from prose at the ends of lines. Quote it just as you would quote a novel or short story.

In the lines below from A Midsummer Night’s Dream (3.1.149-54), Titania is speaking in verse and Bottom is speaking in prose.

4. Follow the conventions for untitled poems. Refer to an untitled poem by its first line and/or its number in a sequence. Delete any end punctuation except a question mark or exclamation point:

In “Because I could not stop for Death,” Emily Dickinson makes startling contrasts.

In sonnet 18, “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” Shakespeare addresses a young friend.

In some cases it is appropriate to use part of the line as a title. John Donne’s poem beginning “Death be not proud, though some have called thee” is usually called “Death be not proud.” John Keats’s poem beginning “Bright star, would I were steadfast as thou art” is usually called (with inconsistent capitalization) “Bright Star.”

Even though you treat the first line as a title, reproduce the capitalization in the poem:

He addresses “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” to a young friend.

However, if the title or subtitle of your essay includes the poem’s first line, you should apply the rules for capitalizing your title (MFT.4):

Beauty Immortalized: Shakespeare’s “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?”

Q.Ell: omissions from quotations.

An ellipsis (the plural, “ellipses,” is pronounced to rhyme with “Gypsies”) marks omissions from a quotation. Ellipses and brackets make your page ugly; use them only when there is no better alternative.

1. One space goes before and after each period:

WRONG: “Time’s ... chariot.”

WRONG: “Time’s. . .chariot.”

RIGHT: “Time’s . . . chariot.”

2. Never divide an ellipsis between lines.

All the periods should either end one line or begin the next line.

WRONG: Mocking foolish lovers, Rosalind scoffs, “Men have died from time to time, . .

. but not for love” (4.1.101-02).

3. Use ellipses only to omit the middle of a sentence, not the beginning or end, and not a short, uninterrupted phrase.

WRONG (end of sentence): Mocking the romantic exaggerations of lovers, Rosalind scoffs, “Men have died from time to time . . .” (4.1.101-02).

RIGHT (mid-sentence): Mocking the romantic exaggerations of lovers, Rosalind scoffs, “Men have died from time to time . . . but not for love” (4.1.101-02).

WRONG (short, uninterrupted phrase): Mrs. Turpin is shocked when Mary Grace calls her an “. . . old wart hog . . .” (372).

There is one exception. If you omit the end of one sentence but continue the quotation, use an ellipsis with four periods, with no space before the first.

RIGHT: Mrs. Turpin is shocked when Mary Grace calls her an “old wart hog” (372).

RIGHT (omits end of first sentence): Johnson gives a satirical portrait of chronic idlers: “Some are always in a state of preparation. . . . These are certainly under the secret power of Idleness” (191).

4. In extracted quotations from poetry, an entire line of spaced periods is used to mark the omission of one or more lines.

Such omissions look awkward and should be avoided (especially in short papers), either by quoting the entire passage, or by using two separate quotations.

5. Most college writing manuals no longer require brackets around ellipses. Readers will assume that the omission is by you, not in the original text. Use them only if there is any danger that the reader will think the ellipsis is in the original (for example, in a work that often uses ellipses).

QEP: end punctuation.

You may alter the end punctuation of a quotation to fit your sentence.

Although William Wordsworth’s line “Where is it now, the glory and the dream?” (58) ends in a question mark, you have several options:

PERIOD: Wordsworth no longer sees “the glory and the dream” (58).

COMMA: He no longer sees “the glory and the dream” (58) of his boyhood days.

QUESTION MARK: Why can he no longer see “the glory and the dream” (58)?

NO PUNCTUATION: He no longer sees “the glory and the dream” (58), for he has lost his innocence.

Q.Br: brackets.

Use brackets to set off changes within a quotation.

You may need to clarify the reference of a pronoun or add a word to fit a quotation into your sentence:

Shakespeare: “Do not believe his vows.”

Quotation: Suspicious, Polonius warns his daughter, “Do not believe [Hamlet’s] vows” (1.3.127).

Robert Frost: “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood.”

Quotation: For Frost, the “Two roads [that] diverged in a yellow wood” are symbolic.

Avoid brackets; they are intrusive and ugly. Find a better alternative:

UGLY: Emily Dickinson paradoxically claims, “I [she] taste[s] a liquor never brewed.”

BETTER: Emily Dickinson paradoxically claims to “taste a liquor never brewed.”

Q.Ch: other changes in punctuation.

1. Include “emphasis added” in your citation if you italicize part of a quotation for emphasis:

The diction of Conrad’s opening sentence introduces the idea of uncertainty and ambiguity: “On my right hand there were lines of fishing‑stakes resembling a mysterious system of half‑submerged bamboo fences, incomprehensible in its division of the domain of tropical fishes, and crazy of aspect . . .” (19, emphasis added).

2. Use “sic” to assure readers that a quotation is accurate although it may seem wrong. “Sic” is Latin for “thus” or “so.” Place it in a parenthesis (or in brackets if it is within the quotation).

When her poems received unfavorable reviews, Julia Moore wrote, “The Editors that has spoken in a scandalous manner, have went beyond reason” (sic).

QI: introducing quotations.

If your teacher marks QI, identify which of three common errors you committed.

1. Introduce every quotation smoothly and grammatically into a statement of your own.

Do not leave the quotation hanging with no introduction, and do not violate the rules of grammar to include the quotation. The second example below is a fused sentence.

WRONG (no introduction): Macbeth has changed. “Out, out, brief candle!” (5.5.23).

WRONG (comma splice): Macbeth has changed, “Out, out, brief candle!” (5.5.23).

WRONG (fused sentence): Macbeth has changed “Out, out, brief candle!” (5.5.23).

RIGHT: A changed man, Macbeth wearily exclaims, “Out, out, brief candle!” (5.5.23).

Avoid making the wrong verb the participle. The following sentence would read more smoothly if the writer made “surprises” the participle and conjugated the verb (“stating”) that leads into the quotation:

AWKWARD: A stranger surprises the bride just before the moment she has long awaited, stating, “I declare the existence of an impediment” (317).

BETTER: Surprising the bride just before the moment she has long awaited, a stranger states, “I declare the existence of an impediment” (317).

The revision makes it easier for readers to see that the stranger, not the bride, is the speaker.

2. Your sentence should comment on the significance of the quotation.

Do not just introduce your evidence. Just as an attorney shows a jury a forged check or murder weapon, a literary critic shows the reader evidence—a word, a series of phrases, a paragraph—to prove a point about character, theme or style. Clearly indicate the context of the quotation and the purpose it serves in your argument. Your sentence should include commentary, either before the quotation, after the quotation, or in both locations:

WRONG (no commentary): Macbeth says, “Out, out, brief candle!” (5.5.23).

RIGHT: Upon hearing that his wife has died, Macbeth can only cry, “Out, out, brief candle!” (5.5.23), for life now seems to him no more than a flame that quickly vanishes.

3. Do not use quotations only for summary or paraphrase.

WRONG (summary): After breakfast Elizabeth receives a letter from her sister that says, “I find myself very unwell this morning” (25).

BETTER: After breakfast Elizabeth receives a letter from her sister that says she is sick.

Even if there is a reason to summarize the plot, the writer would be better off doing it without a quotation. The same is true for paraphrase:

WRONG (paraphrase): Hamlet tells his companions, “Never make known what you have seen tonight” (1.5.144), asking them to keep what they saw a secret.

BETTER: Hamlet asks his companions to keep what they saw a secret.

QV: vary your handling of quotations.

Do not introduce all quotations in the same way. Aim at a variety of sentence patterns and punctuation, and a balance of short (one- or two-word), medium and long quotations. Do not rely on the mechanical “this shows that” pattern.

WEAK: Emily’s cane has “a tarnished gold head” (27). This shows that her glory has faded.

WEAK: Emily’s cane has “a tarnished gold head” (27), symbolizing that her glory has faded.

There are many ways to connect evidence to commentary without relying on “this shows that”:

BETTER: The “tarnished gold head” (27) on Emily’s cane is a symbol of faded glory.

BETTER: Like the “tarnished gold head” (27) on her cane, Emily has lost her glow.

BETTER: On Emily’s cane is a symbol of her own faded glory: “a tarnished gold head” (27).

Q.Punc: punctuation with quotations.

Quotations can be introduced in three main ways, although many students stop after learning the first way (commas).

QC: a comma.

Use a comma after verbs like “say” and “tell” to introduce a sentence.

A comma is best for quoting dialogue. It is usually not good for quoting something the author says or for quoting a lyric poem.

Use a comma whether the quotation comes before or after the verb:

With a bleak view of life, Macbeth says, “Out, out, brief candle!” (5.5.23).

“Out, out, brief candle!” (5.5.23), says Macbeth, with a bleak view of life.

Good writers would find a better verb than the dull “says” in this sentence—perhaps “cries.” Many other verbs can introduce dialogue with a comma, such as “whisper,” “claim” and “demand.”

Q.Col: a colon.

A colon acts as an “equals” sign: a mark indicating that what follows it is equivalent to what comes before it.

A colon does not require a word like “say.” It is versatile. It is not limited to dialogue, and it can introduce a sentence, several sentences, a phrase, or a series of quotations. It is the best way to introduce a long quotation. In the examples below, the highlighted phrases are equivalent to the quotations:

Macbeth reacts with an expression of despair: “Out, out, brief candle!” (5.5.23).

Various metaphors for life reveal Macbeth’s despair: “brief candle,” “walking shadow,” “poor player,” and “a tale / Told by an idiot” (5.5.23‑27).

The difference between correct and incorrect use of a colon can come down to the articles “a” and “the.”

No punctuation: To describe aging, Shakespeare uses the metaphor “thy dial’s shady stealth.”

Colon: To describe aging, Shakespeare uses a metaphor: “thy dial’s shady stealth.”

A colon can act as an arrow drawing attention to what follows it:

Macbeth wearily mocks the value of life: “Out, out brief candle!” (5.5.23).

For more information on the colon, see the section on the colon (Col) in Part Four.

Q.No: no punctuation.

A quotation can be introduced with no punctuation, as long as it fits smoothly into your sentence. No punctuation is best for two purposes:

1. Introducing a phrase rather than a complete sentence:

Grown fatalistic, he sees life as mere “sound and fury / Signifying nothing” (5.5.27‑28).

2. Introducing a sentence with “that”:

Grown fatalistic, he now believes that “Life’s but a walking shadow” (5.5.24).

Usually neither method works if the quotation includes a first- or second-person pronoun. To avoid the shift from third person to first (“he realizes that I”), rephrase the sentence:

WRONG: Grown heartless, he realizes that “I have almost forgot the taste of tears” (5.5.9).

RIGHT: Grown heartless, he realizes that he has “almost forgot the taste of tears” (5.5.9).

RIGHT: Grown hard-hearted, he admits, “I have almost forgot the taste of tears” (5.5.9).