ENG 1101 Fall 2020 OL20 (26956) Toggle navigation

Here is the proper method for internal quotes—the kind required inside a research paper.
REMEMBER: All researched quotes must have
1) a *tag (signal phrase, i. e. context, an introduction)
2) the quote, and
3) a parenthetical reference.

The writer’s name only goes in one of those places.
__________________________________________
*REGARDING THE TAG
The English department recommends using the present tense for the verbs you use in the tag:
Examples: says, states, writes, explains (NOT said, stated, and so forth).

Keep in mind, if you use an internet source, which is the most common nowadays, you often will not have a page number to put into the reference, so you are forced to use the writer’s actual last name there, at the end since you have to have something to put into the parenthesis. That means you need a common noun in the tag_____________

You can only use the writer’s name in one place, either the tag or the parentheses.

Note: you MUST have something parenthetical and since most of your research will be from internet sources that have NO PAGES, that means you must use the author or critic’s last name parenthetically. That also means—since you should not also have the name in the tag–instead you use a common noun like, for examples: One writer, critic, observer, etc. so you may put his or her last name in parenthesis.
_____________________________________________________________________________

Direct Quoting which means using exact words.

You may use one of these styles, (a) (b) or (c):

a) tag (introducer) before quote:
Joe Smith says, “Xxxxxxxxxxx xxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx” ( ). Page number goes in parenthesis before the period. ex. (18).
or
b) tag follows quote:
“ Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxx xx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx” xxxxxxx,” says Joe Smith ( ). Page number goes in parenthesis before the period.

or
c) tag interrupts quote
“Xxxxxxxxxxxx x xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxx,” says Joe Smith, “xxxxxxxxxxx xxxx xx xxxxxxxxxmsijsij xx” ( ). Page number goes in parenthesis before the period.

or Indirect Quoting (also called Paraphrasing) method (d)
where you change enough words to not need quote marks but you still must give credit to the writer.
Use NO quote marks and tag must come first. It must come first because, lacking quote marks, therer is no other way to distinguish your words from the paraphrase without the tag going first.
Use the word “that” rather than a comma: Note: that not that, (no comma because you are not using the other person’s exact words.)

Joe Blow explains that xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxx xxx xxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxx xx xxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx ( ). Page number goes in parenthesis before the period.

OR
5) BLOCKQUOTES OF FOUR OR MORE LINES
When they are more than four lines, indent and block quotes one inch from the left margin. Block quotations should be double-spaced (same as the text of your paper) but not enclosed in quotation marks.

ex.
The lengthy prayer with which Thomas Malory ends The Morte Darthur conveys
what many would call the medieval period’s central concern: This (left) is what YOU wrote
I pray you all gentlemen and gentlewomen that readeth this book of Arthur
and his knights from the beginning to the ending, pray for me while I am alive
that God send me good deliverance. And when I am dead, I pray you all pray
for my soul even as you would pray for your own. (412)

This (above) is the quote. By using extra margins—pressing tab 2X—you create a rectangular block of text, hence the name “blockquote.”

Note the following re block quotes:
• no quotation marks even though these are EXACT words
• the tag is a whole sentence long explaining what the quote says
• the period goes before the parenthesis—unlike with the other methods where the period goes last.
Do not use block quotes for direct quotes under four lines. That is incorrect.

For all five methods above, if you do not use the writer or speaker’s name in the tag, but say He or One critic or One author says… then you must put the LAST name of the writer in the parenthesis at the end of the quote with the page example: (Smith 18).

If it is a film character, you must name the character in the tag and only the film title is used parenthetically.

Ex. Tony Montana shouts, “Say hello to my li’l fren” (Scarface). Note: present tense on “shouts” and the name of the film as the source using the correct underlining or italics.

One of the challenges of a research paper is the correct presentation. Many students carelessly omit all the tags and thus lose points. Also, most students put the separating commas in the wrong place: 99% of the time, the comma goes to the left of the quote mark, whether it is the opening quote mark or the closing one.

But when you have to add a reference after the quote, the period is saved for placement to the right of the parenthesis.

We will practice the above soon. Save this document.

Also, another important research paper matter is the last page: The Works Cited page. I will explain this in another document and there will be another practice. A good Works Cited page helps your grade.