Resources - Integrating Quotations

Integrating Direct Quotations
(from The University Writing Centre of Central Florida, 2004 http://www.uwc.ucf.edu/Writing%20Resources/Handouts/integrating_quotations.htm)

After carefully choosing your quotations, you must integrate them as smoothly as possible into your essays. That means you have to attribute the quotations to someone so your readers know who is "speaking." Citing a source at the end of a sentence is not enough; readers need a clear indication of who is saying what. Always avoid constructions such as the following:

Your sentence. "Direct quotation from a text" (source). Your sentence.

Ineffective writers insert quotations throughout their essays without properly setting them up. Including in-text citations is not enough. Readers become confused and frustrated by this series of disjointed "voices." Quotations must be introduced. Here are some examples of well-integrated quotations:

Introduce the speaker before including the quotation:
Professor Mahmoud Aziz asserts that Hemingway's reputation "is in large part dependent upon the real-word exploits of the author" (23).

Provide attribution to the speaker in the middle of the quotation:
"Education without attention to the arts, " explains theorist Elliot Eisner, "would be an impoverished enterprise" (1).

Provide attribution to the speaker immediately after the quotation:
"They can run, but they can't hide," warned President Bush during a recent press conference.

Punctuation for Introducing Quotations

Use a comma after a verb that introduces a quotation.
Smith states, "The solution is elusive; years of research are still required"(32).

Use a colon after a complete sentence that introduces a quotation.
Smith implies that the answer will not come quickly: "The solution is elusive; years of research are still required" (32).

Use no punctuation if the introductory phrase ends with "that."
Smith emphasizes the need for patience, noting that "... years of research are still required" (32).

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