Using Quotes in an Essay: Ultimate Beginner's Guide.

Using examples from a source text correctly in your essay is important for supporting your points. Learn how to punctuate quotations in an essay with BBC Bitesize KS3 English.

The quote must be integrated grammatically into your own writing. Where the quotation is short (for example, less than one line) you can continue on the same line, enclosing the quotation in single quotation marks, and of course, providing the reference. If the quotation is more than one line, start a new line and indent the whole quotation.

In these two examples, observe the forms of punctuation used to introduce the quotations. When you introduce a quotation with a full sentence, you should always place a colon at the end of the introductory sentence. When you introduce a quotation with an incomplete sentence, you usually place a comma after the introductory phrase.

Definition and Examples of Quotation in English Grammar A quotation is the reproduction of the words of a speaker or writer. In a direct quotation, the words are reprinted exactly and placed in quotation marks. In an indirect quotation, the words are paraphrased and not put in quotation marks.

How you will cite a quote depends largely on the citation method or style that you’ve been instructed to use. For example, under MLA (Modern Language Association) citation style, you will cite the full name of the writer and also the page number every time you include a quote in your essay.

Introducing Quotations and Paraphrases The work you produce at university usually involves the important ideas, writings and discoveries of experts in your field of study. These contributions are always acknowledged by referencing, and there will be times when you introduce other people's views into your work and want to name them in the text.

For example, if you are inserting a direct quote into your writing, it is important to ensure that the reader understands that those words are not yours. In a story that includes conversations among the characters, quotation marks distinguish their words from those of the author.

Quotation marks are used for components, such as chapter titles in a book, individual episodes of a TV series, songs from a Broadway show or a music album, titles of articles or essays in print or online, and shorter works such as short stories and poems.

How to memorise quotes for your closed book English exam If you've got a closed book English exam coming up this summer you're probably daunted by the need to memorise quotes. No doubt there are loads of quotes you've underlined in the text as being really important and it just seems too much for your poor brain to take.

Any handbook used in Rhetoric or English courses will give you an acceptable format for incorporating quotations into your writing and punctuating them correctly. The MLA and APA handbooks provide guidance as well. Punctuating quotations is simple, but the rules change slightly, depending on whether the quotation is documented or not.

While most of you have already had experience of essay writing, it is important to realise that essay writing at University level may be different from the practices you have so far encountered. The aim of this tutorial is to discuss what is required of an English Literature essay at University level, including: 1.