Quotations
Long quotations
You learned in a previous lesson how to punctuate short quotations. Enclose the quote in
quotation marks, and place ending punctuation inside the end quote mark.
John F. Kennedy said, “Things do not happen. Things are made to happen.”
If the quoted material is longer than a couple of lines, however, you should set the quote off
in a block. Note that you do not use quotation marks if you use a block quote.
John F. Kennedy said:
We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign
ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its
people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of
its people.
Kennedy was the 35th president of the United States. He served for only two years, from
1961 until he was assassinated in Dallas, Texas on Nov. 22, 1963.
Added or deleted words
If want to shorten a quote by removing words from the middle, you must let the reader
know that you have deleted words. You indicate this by using ellipses.
John F. Kennedy said, “We are not afraid to entrust the American people…a nation that is
afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is
afraid of its people.”
If you want to add words to a quote to clarify the meaning, you must let the reader know
that you have added words. You do this by using brackets.
John F. Kennedy said, “Things to not happen, Things [accomplishments] are made to
happen.”
Errors
If you are quoting someone who has made a grammatical, spelling, or word choice error, you
should indicate to the reader that the error was made by the person you are quoting and not
by you. You do this by using the term sic. Sic means intentionally written.
The author wrote, “If we loose (sic) the big game, we got (sic) to admit that they are a better
team.”
When you reprint or point out errors in quoted material, your reader might think you’re
making fun of the person you’re quoting. Unless it’s essential to the point you’re trying to
make, it’s often best to paraphrase and clean up the grammar.