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Tips on Quoting

Some good reasons to include a quote are:
  • You want to support or add credibility to your arguments
  • The original is difficult to rephrase
  • The original is soooo good that you want to preserve the language
Quoting is good, but stringing a bunch of quotes together without analysis and well-crafted transitions is bad. Also, random quotes will just look like you are trying to make the page requirements of the assignment.

Always include a citation and use "quotation marks" to signal that you are using someone else's words when you quote.

Here's an example of a quote in Josephine's paper using MLA:

Original

Buffy, a small, delicate-looking blonde of superhuman strength, relies on Giles not only for adult support and coaching, but also for the research necessary to do that for which the Vampire Slayer has been chosen.
Quote in Paper (MLA)

According to DeCandido, Buffy "relies on Giles not only for adult support and coaching, but also for the research necessary to do that for which the Vampire Slayer has been chosen" (44).



This complete citation appears in Josie's "Works Cited" list.

DeCandido, Graceanne A. "Bibliographic Good vs. Evil in Buffy the Vampire Slayer." American Libraries Sept. 1999: 44-47. Print.




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