Quoting Prose

1. Quoting Prose “Everyday Use” character analysis essay

2. #1 All quotations from the story are placed in quotation marks. “and” • #2 Page numbers are provided, in parentheses after each quotation from the story. • EX. The character of Mama is a foil to Dee in that she lacks confidence, for example she says “who can even imagine me looking a strange white man in the eye,” whereas Dee could “always look anyone in the eye” (109).

3. #3 If your sentence ends with a quote, a period is the last piece of punctuation provided. The quotation mark, followed by the page number in parentheses with the period last-this is your order! • THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT (a skill you will need to remember for post secondary).

4. #4 If you want to indicate that you’ve skipped a portion of a quote, use ellipses… • The use of ellipses indicates and omission and when using you need to make sure the quote is constructed in a way that still makes sense. • EXAMPLE: • In “Everyday Use,” the reader immediately realizes that there is a distinction between Maggie who “will be nervous until after her sister goes…eyeing her sister with a mixture of envy and awe,” and her sister Dee (108).

5. If your quote is integrated in the middle of a sentence, you will still use quotation marks and write the page number in parentheses but you will also use the appropriate punctuation, such as comma. • In “Everyday Use” Walker uses indirect presentation of Maggie’s character more prominently because she is not as vocal as Dee. The moment where Mama describes, “ I heard something fall in the kitchen,” indirectly told the reader how upset Maggie was about Dee wanting the grandmother’s quilts (114).

6. If you need to, you may change the text within a quote by using brackets [ and ]. • EX • The reader realizes that “Maggie [can] appreciate the quilts” (115).