Inserting Quotes into Essays (Humanities Faculty)

An extract from an essay on Mary Stewart's The Hollow Hills would look like this:

Stewart's skill as a storyteller allows the reader to empathise with Merlin as he relives the pain of prophecy:

This last, which men call prophecy,... is like being struck through the entrail by that whip of God that we call lightning. But even as my flesh winced from it I welcomed it as a woman welcomes the final pang of childbirth. (p. 302)

However, the text avoids becoming morose when Stewart brings us back to the present with Merlin asking Emrys "Now, what about those dried figs?" (p. 303). This change to a more prosaic tone adroitly transfers the reader from one world to another and from the future to the present.

Comments

• Indent long quotes

• Font should be formal; e.g. Times New Roman or Arial. Quotes are in italics.

• Size should be readable; e.g nothing smaller than 12, although quotes may be in a slightly smaller size.

• Quotes are used to support or prove what you are saying, not just to repeat it.

• Too many quotes interrupt the flow of your essay, but each new point requires proof.

• You can refer to an incident without quoting.

• Avoid such expressions as: Merlin is attacked on page 32.

• Long quotes (avoid too long - say limit to 5 lines) should be indented and single spaced but still within the paragraph. Short quotes should run on in the sentence. (The above short quote has inverted commas only because it is conversation.)

• The quote must make sense, so don't shorten it too much.

• At the end of the quote, put the page number. At the end of your essay put your bibliography which will include the edition of the text you are using.

• The word limit does not include quotes.