As a way of bringing other people’s words into your own, quotations can be a powerful writing tool.
Mrs. Macken encourages parents to get books for their children, to read to them when they are “li’l,” and when they start school to make certain they attend regularly. She holds herself up as an example of “a millhand’s daughter who wanted to be a schoolteacher and did it through sheer hard work.
” – Shirley Brice Heath, Ways with Words
The writer lets her subject speak for herself—and lets readers hear Mrs. Macken’s voice.
FOR MULTILINGUAL WRITERS
Remember that the way you mark quotations in American English (“ ”) may not be the same as in other languages. In French, for example, quotations are marked with guillemets (« »), while in German, quotations take split-level marks (“ “). Writers of British English use single quotation marks first and, when necessary, double quotation marks for quotations within quotations. If you are writing for an American audience, be careful to follow the U.S. conventions governing quotation marks.
AT A GLANCE
Periods and commas should be inside the quotation marks.
Colons, semicolons, and footnote numbers should be outside.
Question marks, exclamation points, and dashes should be inside if they are part of the quoted material, outside if they are not.