Writing and Talking About History > Resources for Writing Papers > Using Quotations

Using Quotations

When to Use Quotations: Use quotations if they are a must; do not use them if they are no more special than your words.
 
How to Use Quotations:

LENGTH: Keep quotations as short as possible.

• Exploit ellipses and brackets in order to use only the portions you need. (See Ellipses and Brackets).
• Long quotations – especially if used frequently – can be distracting for readers. Such quotations are also likely to include material that is not essential to your paper. (If you would like to include a long quotation, not all of which is essential, you can put the entire quotation in an appendix and refer to this appendix in your text or you can put large parts of it in a content endnote or footnote.)

TRANSITION: Use an introduction to fit the quotation smoothly into your text and to explain why you are using it. A quotation cannot stand by itself; you must make its relevance clear.
 
Use the NAME of the author (full name if not provided earlier in text) and some IDENTIFICATION of the author (sometimes even if provided earlier). Without this information, the value of the quotation - its authority - is significantly diluted. (It matters if John Doe opposed black equality – but it matter even more if Abraham Lincoln did; it matters if John Doe, the author of a bill, made a point – but it matters in a different way if John Doe, a historian, did.)

Identifying the source of a quotation in a footnote does not tell the reader its author. And identifying the author only in the note can leave someone who reads only the text confused.

Use verbs that help explain the relationship between your ideas and those in a quotation. A change in a verb can make a significant difference in what you and the quotation are saying, e.g., someone who "notes" or "observes" is saying something quite different from someone who "complains" or "argues." See page 3 for verbs more useful than "said"; each gives a quotation – and the text around it – a different meaning.)

Do not identify someone’s words as "a quotation." People make statements, not quotations.

For example, avoid such introductions as "Someone once said in a quotation ..." and "After the war, Raeder made this quotation ...."

METHODS OF TRANSITION/INTRODUCTION: Use various methods of fitting in (and introducing) quotations, but be sure each is appropriate to content and context.

Examples of incorporated quotations:

• The president argued that his opponents were "idiots."
• According to the senator, "the president was war crazy."
• "He was a hated man," his wife argued.
• His horror at what he saw was overwhelming: "How could men do this to each other?"
• The diplomatic not pointed out that "there was no difference" in how the two countries were thinking.
• "No matter what happens," the general sighed, "the battle is lost."

Examples of block (set-off) quotations (i.e., long quotation – usually more than 4-6 lines of regular length and usually more than one sentence):

with a colon following the complete sentence containing an introductory word/phrase, e.g., following, thus, in this way.

• The following step were detailed in the treaty:

with a complete sentence that does not contain a formal introductory word.

• The general explained his ideas about the battle.

with an incomplete sentence (ending with the punctuation, if any, that would be appropriate if the statement and the quotation were run together).

• The new statute provided that
• The prime minister believed that, when nations debated a life-and-death issue,

LOCATION: While it is not an absolute rule, try not to end paragraphs with quotations. Most of the time readers need a post-quotation explanation to understand fully what they are supposed to get out of a quotation.

GRAMMAR/PUNCTUATION: Make sure your text’s verb and the quotation’s verb are compatible (in kind, tense, number, etc.). If necessary use brackets to change or add (and ellipses to delete). See handout on "Quoting—Using Ellipses and Brackets.")
 
Make sure that your omission of words from a quotation has not created an ungrammatical sentence. Your sentence – with the quotation as part of it – must be grammatically correct. (See separate handout.)

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