Advanced Quotation Usage

1. Advanced Quotation Usage

2. Review: The Basics • Quotes should always be preceded by a signal phrase. • A signal phrase is a short piece of your own writing that introduces the quote. • The most common example of a signal phrase is “According to X,” • Other forms of signal phrase include: • “In X’s opinion,” • “As X writes/notes/argues/claims,” • X writes/argues/notes that,” • Signal phrases such as this are going to be the most common form used in a paper.

3. Consider the Following: • Signal phrases can be overused and repetitive just like any other piece of writing. • Example: According to X, “It’s impossible to overuse signal phrases” (14). He goes on to state, “The very idea is absurd” (14). In X’s view, “Signal phrases should be used all the time, every time, forever” (14). Finally, X says, “If you aren’t using a signal phrase in your own conversations, you’re doing it wrong” (14). • Using signal phrases in this way, by always preceding a quote, makes your writing appear as if it is following a set pattern. • Therefore, you should try to vary how you use quotes the same way you should vary sentence structure in your writing.

4. Advanced Method 1: Nested Signal Phrase • Signal phrases do not have to go at the beginning of a sentence; they can also work well in the middle or end of a sentence. • Example 1: “Instructors often caution young writers against using the passive voice,” writes James D. Lester (177). • Example 2:“Variations in [American English] are not only regional,” says Stephan Gramley, ”but also strongly social” (251). • Using a signal phrase in this way makes it a non-restrictive phrase. Therefore, you should only use this nested structure if there is a break in the original quote, such as a comma or a semicolon, where you would naturally be able to place the signal phrase. • Note that we still use brackets in Example 2 as normal. We would use ellipses the same way.

5. Advanced Method 1: Nested Signal Phrase • Why should we do this? • Changes Emphasis: Altering the quote-phrase order makes the quotation more important than the source of the quotation. By placing the quote first and the signal phrase second, the reader pays more attention to the content of the quote than to who wrote it. • More Natural: Changing signal phrase placement can make quotations read in a more natural manner, as if we were reading dialogue. • Varies Sentence Pattern: Using a nest signal phrase helps you break away from the repetitive pattern already described by giving your writing style more structural variety.

6. Advanced Method 2: Colons, Not Commas • While conducting research for your literature review and your Research Argument, you may have come across articles that quoted other materials using colons. • Example: Lester goes out of his way to remind students that they have to make sure to remain detached when conducting research: “Although you may have strong personal feelings about your topic, look objectively for viable evidence” (97). • You may have tried to mimic this style of quotation yourself, and lost points for doing it incorrectly. So what’s the right way to do it?

7. Advanced Method 2: Colons, Not Commas • The difference between using a colon or a comma with a signal phrase is this: Is the signal phrase a complete or an incomplete sentence? • Consider these examples: • A: Sontag claims, “Death is now an offensively meaningless event” (8) • B: Sontag claims that we do not romanticize cancer patients because it is more difficult for industrial civilizations to cope with death: “Death is now an offensively meaningless event” (8). • Both examples are correct. We use a comma for A because “Sontag claims” isn’t a complete sentence. We use a colon for B because the much longer phrase is complete. We can place a period at the end of the phrase instead of a colon, and it would be grammatically correct.

8. Advanced Method 2: Colons, Not Commas • When should we use colons? • When our signal phrase is a complete sentence. • When our signal phrase is being used to analyze and provide context for the quote. • When should we use commas? • When our signal phrase is an incomplete sentence. • When the signal phrase isn’t providing much analysis and context at all.

9. Advanced Method 3: Quotations in Quotes • You will sometimes encounter a very useful or important statement in an article, but the author of the article didn’t write it. Instead, the author is quoting somebody else. • This poses a problem: Citing the author as the source of the quote is incorrect, and sometimes this will be very obvious. If the author of an article is Smith, and the quote is from Abraham Lincoln, this will look odd even if you use a signal phrase: • According to Lincoln, “Four score and seven years ago” (Smith 475) • How do we fix this problem?

10. Advanced Method 3: Quotations in Quotes • One method is to use the phrase “qtd in” (Quoted in) in your citation, so the reader knows you are indirectly referencing another source. • According to Lincoln, “Four score and seven years ago” (qtd in Smith 475). • Another option is to find the original source and use that as a reference, but sometimes this is impossible. • Finally, you can use single quotation marks to identify a quotation in your own quote. • Smith writes, “Lincoln is well known for having said ‘Four score and seven years ago’” (475). • Notice how it looks like there are three quotation marks at the end of the example. This is normal.

11. General Advice: Know Your Quote • Do not quote anything unless you are sure you understand the quote. • Many students quote something without understanding what it means, only to find that it doesn’t actually say what they think the quote says, either because the author is using irony or sarcasm, or because the language is too difficult for the student. • Example: In Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain shows how Huck accepts his own damnation by helping Jim when he says “All right then, I’ll go to hell!” (271). • Example:Derrida agrees with Saussure’s argument when he says that Saussure “does not question . . . the essential possibility of nonintuition” (40). • Make sure the quote actually says what you think it means!

12. General Advice: Avoid Stand-Alones • You may have seen the phrase “Quotes never stand by themselves” on your papers. This means you’ve placed a quote in your paper without using a signal phrase. These are “Stand-Alone Quotes” • Stand-Alone Quotes are used as substitutes for your own writing, and provide no analysis of your own. They don’t make it clear whether you agree or disagree with a quote, or are expanding on its claims. • Never, ever use them. Period.

13. General Advice: Don’t Oversell Credibility • Sometimes I will see new writers try to explain why an article is credible simply by saying it is. • Example: In this credible article, Smith writes . . . • This doesn’t actually tell us why the article is credible. It provides no reasons for its credibility. It’s very similar to car salesmen saying they are “trustworthy” without proof. • Here are some useful ways to show your articles are credible: • Identify the author’s job. Useful if there is only one author, but more difficult when a group has conducted research. • Identify where the research was conducted. • Identify who published the article. (If the article’s publisher isn’t very credible, like a blog, then reconsider the article!)