Quotations need to be worked into texts, but some efforts to do this actually stop essays dead in their tracks. Here a student thinks she must officially begin the quotation with a clause like He states:
ORIGINAL
REVISION
The tension builds when Brutus accuses Cassius of accepting bribes. He states, "Let me tell you, Cassius, you yourself / Are much condemned to have an itching palm, / To sell and mart your offices for gold . . ." (4.3.9-11).
The tension builds when Brutus accuses Cassius of accepting bribes: "Let me tell you, Cassius, you yourself / Are much condemned to have an itching palm, / To sell and mart your offices for gold . . ." (4.3.9-11).
Cutting He states allows a stronger, livelier bridge to the quotation.
In similar fashion, students often feel they must announce that a quotation or paraphrase serves as an example. But such careful announcements （along the lines of you've just read an example of what I'm talking about） can drag an essay down:
ORIGINAL
REVISION
The Duke, disguised as a friar, gets a woman named Mariana to take Isabel's place. This is one example of how the Duke plans just as a director would do.
The Duke, disguised as a friar, gets Mariana to take Isabel's place. Here the Duke acts like a skilled director.
The revision sweeps the original's slow phrasing （This is one example of how） into one word, Here. And notice that in the revision the writer came up with a sharper verb and tighter phrasing.
As you think about integrating quotations, keep looking for ways to be more concise and lively:
ORIGINAL
REVISION
In The Prince Machiavelli states that the general requirement of a prince is to "endeavor to avoid those things which would make him the object of hatred and contempt" (64).
In The Prince Machiavelli states that a prince should "endeavor to avoid those things which would make him the object of hatred and contempt" (64).
Make sure your quotations fit grammatically into the essay. They can't simply be stuck in anywhere. Like any other elements of writing, quotations must be presented so as to make grammatical sense. Thus a quotations that's an independent clause must not be spliced onto another independent clause:
WRONG
RIGHT
Hawking is at heart a rational empiricist, "I think there is a universe out there waiting to be investigated and understood" (44).
Hawking is at heart a rational empiricist: "I think there is a universe out there waiting to be investigated and understood" (44).
In general, introduce a quotation with a colon if the quotation consists of one or more complete sentences and the introductory sentence also stands as a complete sentence.
If the quotation is not a complete sentence, then you need to weave it into your own sentence as you would any other word, phrase, or clause:
In medieval Europe love "was not the normal basis of marriage" （Trevelyan 64）.
Fortinbras recasts Hamlet in his own image, as a "soldier" （5.2.385）.
In Chapter 2 of the Second Treatise, Locke defines the state of nature as "a state of perfect freedom . . ." （8）.
Let's look more closely at how to introduce quotations.
ORIGINAL
REVISION
The tension builds when Brutus accuses Cassius of accepting bribes. He states, "Let me tell you, Cassius, you yourself / Are much condemned to have an itching palm, / To sell and mart your offices for gold . . ." (4.3.9-11).
The tension builds when Brutus accuses Cassius of accepting bribes: "Let me tell you, Cassius, you yourself / Are much condemned to have an itching palm, / To sell and mart your offices for gold . . ." (4.3.9-11).
Cutting He states allows a stronger, livelier bridge to the quotation.
In similar fashion, students often feel they must announce that a quotation or paraphrase serves as an example. But such careful announcements （along the lines of you've just read an example of what I'm talking about） can drag an essay down:
ORIGINAL
REVISION
The Duke, disguised as a friar, gets a woman named Mariana to take Isabel's place. This is one example of how the Duke plans just as a director would do.
The Duke, disguised as a friar, gets Mariana to take Isabel's place. Here the Duke acts like a skilled director.
The revision sweeps the original's slow phrasing （This is one example of how） into one word, Here. And notice that in the revision the writer came up with a sharper verb and tighter phrasing.
As you think about integrating quotations, keep looking for ways to be more concise and lively:
ORIGINAL
REVISION
In The Prince Machiavelli states that the general requirement of a prince is to "endeavor to avoid those things which would make him the object of hatred and contempt" (64).
In The Prince Machiavelli states that a prince should "endeavor to avoid those things which would make him the object of hatred and contempt" (64).
Make sure your quotations fit grammatically into the essay. They can't simply be stuck in anywhere. Like any other elements of writing, quotations must be presented so as to make grammatical sense. Thus a quotations that's an independent clause must not be spliced onto another independent clause:
WRONG
RIGHT
Hawking is at heart a rational empiricist, "I think there is a universe out there waiting to be investigated and understood" (44).
Hawking is at heart a rational empiricist: "I think there is a universe out there waiting to be investigated and understood" (44).
In general, introduce a quotation with a colon if the quotation consists of one or more complete sentences and the introductory sentence also stands as a complete sentence.
If the quotation is not a complete sentence, then you need to weave it into your own sentence as you would any other word, phrase, or clause:
In medieval Europe love "was not the normal basis of marriage" （Trevelyan 64）.
Fortinbras recasts Hamlet in his own image, as a "soldier" （5.2.385）.
In Chapter 2 of the Second Treatise, Locke defines the state of nature as "a state of perfect freedom . . ." （8）.
Let's look more closely at how to introduce quotations.