Incorporating Direct Quotations

1. Incorporating Direct Quotations

2. Signals/Signal Phrases • You should include a phrase that introduces the direct quote and (sometimes) names the author or source to place the material in a meaningful context. This lets your readers know where the information came from.

3. Author Nick Hornby emphasizes this when he has Rob say, “. . .” As Hornby notes, “. .” Rob Fleming argues that “. . .” We see this most clearly when Will Freeman insists that “. . .” British author Nick Hornby implies that “. . .” The reader discovers this when Marcus observes that “. . .” “. . .,” reasons Fiona, who goes on to assert that “. . .” According to contemporary British author Nick Hornby, “ . . .” Nick Hornby, winner of the Booker Prize, suggests that “. . .” Examples of Signals

4. Separate or Incorporated • The whole sentence, from the signal phrase to the end of the direct quote, must be grammatically correct: • 1. You can separate your signal from the direct quote by a comma or colon. • 2. You can integrate your signal into the direct quotation with no comma or colon.

5. 1. Separate • A comma or colon precedes the direct quotation. For example: Robert Frost wrote, “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall.”

6. 2. Incorporated • No punctuation separates the signal phrase from the direct quotation. For example: Most people remember, unfortunately, that Frost’s poem also said that “good fences make good neighbors.”

7. Separate: Robert Frost wrote, “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall.” Most people remember, unfortunately, that Frost’s poem also said, “Good fences make good neighbors.” Incorporated: Robert Frost wrote that “something there is that doesn’t love a wall.” Most people remember, unfortunately, that Frost’s poem also said that “good fences make good neighbors.” A Comparison

8. Some Signal Verbs

9. Summary • Use a signal phrase to move your readers smoothly from your ideas to a direct quotation. • Vary your signal verbs and signal phrases. • Either separate or incorporate the direct quotation. • Make sure the whole sentence is grammatically correct.