Using Short Quotes
Direct quotes are "voices from other writers" that illustrate your ideas. These quotes are considered
detail for or proof of your points. Quotes usually come after you have made a point in order to
clarify or illustrate that point. There are three different ways to use short direct quotes; study the
variations closely, including the punctuation and remember these three rules:
•Connect all quotes to a person/speaker; do not have them floating in air:
Correct:
Rodriquez said, "...lines of text were dizzying." He didn’t like reading.
Correct:
Rodriquez didn't enjoy reading: "...lines of text were dizzying."
Correct:
Rodriquez didn't enjoy reading. He said, "...lines of text were dizzying."
Incorrect:
Rodriquez didn't enjoy reading. "Lines of text were dizzying."
•Be sure your quote actually illustrates/proves the point you’re making.
Use only the parts of the quote that directly connect to your idea.
•Format quotes correctly.
Quotes three lines or under are part of regular formatting, i.e. written as regular sentences with
regular margins; quotes over three lines are separated from regular text; they are indented and single
spaced (see below).
1. THE "HAMBURGER" QUOTE:
Any direct quote you use must be thought of as needing three parts: who is speaking (one bun), the
quote itself (the burger), and an interpretation of the quote (the other bun). The order of these is
flexible and the three parts can be combined in various ways.
Richard Rodriquez says, "Reading was, at best, only a chore" (4). These words show how negative he felt
about reading.
"Reading was, at best, only a chore" (4), says Rodriquez about his unhappy times in early school.
Leo goes on to say, "they [women] are much more likely to make a phone call when they have
nothing special to say" (21). From this we see a difference in how men and women use conversation.
• Notice the different ways the three parts can be assembled.
• Notice the use of commas in all three examples.
• Notice the inserted word women in brackets; this is your word inserted to clarify the pronoun they;
all "editorial" comments are put in [ ]
•Notice that the page number that the quote was taken from is given in parentheses; this
information will be referenced on a Works Cited page when you write a formal essay.
2. QUOTES INTEGRATED INTO YOUR OWN SENTENCES.
You can slip another writer's words into your own sentence if you do it smoothly and clearly. The
"hamburger" analogy is still applied; each quote has the person speaking (in the sentence or at the
end), the quote, and an interpretation of the quote. Give the source either within the sentence or at
the end inside parentheses.
According to Leo, use of conversation appears to be a major difference between men and women. Women "use the
phone to work at friendship" whereas men are "brief, almost abrupt on the phone" (21) and just get
out the facts.
Use of conversation appears to be a major difference between men and women in that women "use the phone to
work at friendship" whereas men are "brief, almost abrupt on the phone" (Leo 21) and just get out the
facts.
•The two quotes are words lifted directly from the text but integrated into your own grammatical
structure and, therefore, need no comma.
•Notice how the author name and page number are referenced.
3. QUOTES AS EXPLANATIONS AFTER COMPLETE SENTENCE WITH COLONS
If you write a sentence that interprets (sets up) a quote, you can add the quote at the end. A colon (:)
is used to separate your sentence from the writer’s words. The "hamburger" analogy still applies;
each quote has the person speaking (in the sentence or at the end), the quote, and an interpretation
of the quote (words being illustrated are underlined).
Richard Rodriquez found reading to be unpleasant: "Lines of type were dizzying. . . . What most
bothered me, however, was the isolation reading required" (4).
Another communication difference between men and women deals with the number of interruptions that occur; it seems
that men don't interrupt other men but only women: "when two men ... are talking, interruptions are
about equal. But when a man talks to a woman, he makes 96% of the interruptions" (Leo 21).
•The quotation is an explanation/illustration of certain words in the sentence, and so is set off with a
colon at the end of the sentence (never use a colon in the middle of a sentence).
•The ellipsis (...) inside the quotes indicates you have left out some words; the reader assumes these
are unimportant/unrelated to your point. Lift out of the text only the words that support your idea
•Notice how author name and page number are referred to.