In most cases, quotations will only need one set of double quotation marks (an opening double quotation mark at the start of your quotation, and a second double quotation mark at the end of your quotation). Sometimes, however, a character will quote another character, or there will be an otherwise "sub-quoted" word or phrase. In most cases, you can simply punctuate the quotation similarly to the original author, but here are some examples of how to make sure your quotation marks line up correctly.
Here's another example from To Kill a Mockingbird. In this instance, Jem is talking to Scout and Dill about childhood superstitions, and what to do if someone walks through a "Hot Steam" (a ghost or spirit). Here is the text as printed in the novel:
"You can’t," said Jem. “Sometimes they stretch all the way across the road, but if you hafta go through one you say, 'Angel-bright, life-in-death; get off the road, don’t suck my breath.' That keeps ‘em from wrapping around you—"
Our first step will be to make a quick revision to the quotation, to remove Scout's narration. That way, all of the words will be said by Jem. Like this:
"You can’t […] Sometimes they stretch all the way across the road, but if you hafta go through one you say, 'Angel-bright, life-in-death; get off the road, don’t suck my breath.' That keeps ‘em from wrapping around you—"
Now that made this edit to the quotation, it could be included in an essay with some quote weaving. Notice how there is a pair of double quotation marks (one opening, one closing) at the beginning and end of the words said by Jem, and there is also a pair of single quotes (again, one opening, and one closing) at the start of the rhyme that Jem recites within the quotation. If we included quote weaving, the whole passage might look like this:
Shortly after meeting Dill for the first time, Scout and Jem start to talk about local superstitions; Jem discusses Hot Steams, and when Dill asks how they can be avoided, Jem explains, "You can’t […] Sometimes they stretch all the way across the road, but if you hafta go through one you say, 'Angel-bright, life-in-death; get off the road, don’t suck my breath.' That keeps ‘em from wrapping around you—"
For our last change to the passage, we would need to add a citation. Remember that when we add a citation, we also add a period, so the dash at the end of the quotation should also be deleted:
Shortly after meeting Dill for the first time, Scout and Jem start to talk about local superstitions; Jem discusses Hot Steams, and when Dill asks how they can be avoided, Jem explains, "You can’t […] Sometimes they stretch all the way across the road, but if you hafta go through one you say, 'Angel-bright, life-in-death; get off the road, don’t suck my breath.' That keeps ‘em from wrapping around you" (Lee ).