"Quotation Marks"  What for?

 

Using Quotation Marks in a Research Paper

  • Use quotation marks to include material borrowed word for word from a source:

Emerson wrote that "nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm."

  • Use them to write dialogue (words directly spoken by a character):

  "I've spent my money on many causes not half as worthy," Rachel told her parents.

  • Place quotation marks around the titles of short works, such as songs, essays, magazines and newspaper articles, TV episodes, chapters in books, or short poems (longer works appear in italics.):

For class on Friday, our teacher assigned us to read the essay "Love is a Fallacy."

  • Use them to highlight (or draw attention to) specific word

 "Love" and "hate" are both four letter words.

  • Place them around words you are using  ironically, sarcastically, or derisively:

 Jessica bought her "homemade" cookies at the store.

How do I use other types of punctuation with quotation marks?

  • Double quotation marks (" ") are generally used, but single marks (' ') are used for quoted material within another quotation.

"My favorite poem is 'The Rhodora'," Matt informed the class.

  • Commas and periods are ordinarily placed inside quotation marks:

               "I found the perfect man," Lenora told her friends.

            However, when a sentence ends with a quotation and a citation, the period follows the citation:  

  Prof. Blodgett's latest book claims, "All should oppose conformity" (21).

  • Semicolons and colons are ordinarily placed outside quotation marks:

  Sterling was a "human calculator"; he did trigonometry in his head.

  • Question marks, exclamation points, and dashes can go either inside or outside quotation marks, depending on how they are intended. (Ask yourself whether the punctuation applies to the entire sentence or just to the quoted material.)

 Sharon scanned the room, muttering "Good grief!" before returning to her office.

 Who was it who said, "These are the times that try men's souls"?

  • When a quotation is broken up by an interrupting expression such as "he asked" or "she noted," place commas around the interrupter:

          "Every time I come to work," Dan said, "I get irritated."