Transcript Quotations” - Thomas Nelson Community College

“Quotations”
By: Krystal Searcy &
James Rocker
What is a quotation mark?

As defined by www.dictionary.com a
quotation mark is, “a punctuation mark
used to attribute the enclosed text to
someone else.”
Types of Quotation Marks







Double
Single
When should you use a double vs. a single
quotation mark?
A double quotation mark is the most often used, as it establishes
another person’s ideas inside your own.
A single quotation mark is often used within an already used
double quotation mark.
Example: John said, “When Jake was talking to me he said, ‘I
will ride the bus home today.’ ”
Make sure you close both sets of quotations and separate the
two with a space.
Capitalization?
If the quoted material can be formed in a
complete sentence, or is used at the
beginning of a sentence capitalize the first
letter.
 If the quoted material is only part of a
sentence and the sentence could not
stand on its own, do not capitalize the first
letter.

“Changing Quotations?”

Two special rules:
If you are taking words or phrases out of
a direct quotation, use an ellipsis (…) to
show there was an interruption.
 If you are adding or changing part of a
quotation, make sure you include brackets
( [ ] ) to show that you modified that
section of the quote.

Quotation Marks vs. Underlining in
Literature.

Quotation marks are
used for the following
pieces of literature:





Songs
Short Stories
Essays
Short Poems
Anything shorter then
either a full book or a
one-act play

Quotation marks may
also be used for parts
of larger works such
as:
Chapters in books
 Articles in newspapers,
magazines, journals,
and other periodical
productions.
 Episodes of television
and radio shows

Quotation Marks vs. Underlining in
Literature. Continued

Use underlining or italics
for:






Books
Plays of more than one act
Newspapers, magazines,
journals, and other
periodical titles.
Films
Television series
Radio series

Do not use quotation
marks for parts of the
Bible, other religious
books, or any legal
document.
Where should you place your
punctuation?





Always introduce a quotation within a sentence with a
comma.
If the quotation mark ends mid-sentence put either a
semi-colon or a colon outside the quotation marks.
For example: I was talking, and then John interrupted,
“You know she is cool”; I wasn’t too happy with him
because of it.
Always have your ending punctuation within the
quotation mark.
For example: The local authority said, “We will watch the
event and determine what to do from there.”
Works Cited
"Quotation Marks." Online Writing Lab. 2004.
Purdue University Online Writing Lab. 15 Jun
2006
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/gramma
r/g_quote.html.
 "Quotation Mark." Dictionary.com. 2003.
Princeton University. 15 Jun 2006
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Quotatio
n%20Mark.


Who to go to?
Questions? Comments?
Feel free to contact either:
Krystal Searcy
Email: [email protected]
Or
James Rocker
Email: [email protected]