QUOTATION MARKS

QUOTATION MARKS

• used to set off the exact words of a speaker• to show what a writer has “borrowed” from

another book or magazine• to set off the titles of publications• to show that certain words are used in a special

way

TO SET OFF DIRECT QUOTATIONS

• Quotation marks are placed before and after direct quotations.• Only the exact words quoted are placed within

quotation marks.

• Example:• A noted sociologist recently remarked, “You can say

goodbye to your key rings. By the turn of the century, plastic cards that open electronic locks will be commonplace.”

FOR A QUOTE WITHIN A QUOTE

• Single quotation marks are used to punctuate a quotation within a quotation.• Double and single quotation marks are then

alternated in order to distinguish a quotation within a quotation within a quotation.

• Examples:• “ I loved reading Miller’s ‘The Crucible’! exclaimed Tianna

Zondervan.• My English teacher smiled proudly and said, “Did you

hear Tianna say, ‘I loved reading Miller’s “The Crucible” ’ ? ”

FOR LONG QUOTATIONS

• If more than one paragraph is quoted (as in a report or research paper), quotation marks are placed before each paragraph and at the end of the last paragraph.• Example:

“____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

“________________________________________________________________________________________.

“____________________________________________.”

FOR LONG QUOTATIONS CONT.

• Quotations which are more than four lines on a page are usually set off from the rest of the paper by indenting ten spaces from the left. No quotation marks are placed either before or after the quoted material unless they appear in the original copy.• Example:

______________________________________________________ ________________________________________________

________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ _________________________________.______________________________________________________.

PLACEMENT OF PUNCTUATION

• Periods and commas are always placed inside quotation marks.• Example: “I don’t know,” said Albert. Albert said, “I don’t know.”

• An exclamation point or a question mark is placed inside the quotation marks when it punctuates the quotation; it is placed outside when it punctuates the main sentence. • Example: John said, “Mom, will you make me a cheeseburger?”

Did Ms. Setrum really say, “You can tour an art museum on a computer”?

• Semicolons or colons are placed outside the quotation marks.• Example: First, I will read “Heaven is for Real”; then I will read “To

Kill a Mockingbird.”

SPECIAL WORDS

• Quotation marks also may be used (1) to set apart a word which is being discussed, (2) to indicate that a word is slang, or (3) to point out that a word or phrase is being used in a special way.• Examples:• (1) New home computers will be able to store information on

an “optical disk,” which can hold 100,000 pages of text.• (2) I’d say that group was really “hip.”• (3) This electronic lure is really going to “light up” some fish’s

life.

TO PUNCTUATE TITLES

• Quotation Marks are used to punctuate titles of songs, poems, short stories, lectures, courses, episodes of radio or television programs, chapters of books, articles found in magazines, newspapers, or encyclopedias.• Examples: • “Amazing Grace”• “Max and the Three Little Bunnies”• “Two more cases of Ebola Reported”

QUOTATION MARKS: PUNCTUATING DIALOGUE

•Dialogue is always enclosed in quotation marks.

•Why do we use Dialogue?•Lets find out with a story!

EFFECTIVE DIALOGUE

• 1. Reveals the identity of the speaker.• Different people talk differently, and it is up to the writer to

make sure that all the characters in a story don’t sound alike.

• 2. Is natural to the person speaking it.• A teenager should sound like one. A person from a particular

region or country should speak in an authentic dialect.

• 3. Expresses relationships between people.• A reader should be able to tell from the way that your

characters talk to each other how they feel about each other.

• 4. Reveals the conflict that the story will address and develops that conflict.

• 5. Creates uncertainty and tension about the outcome of the conflict.

PUNCTUATING DIALOGUE

• Indenting and Paragraphing:• When writing dialogue, begin a new paragraph each time

the speaker changes. Indent the first line of each paragraph just as you would any paragraph.• Example:

“You don’t have to laugh,” Max said to him. “You don’t have to laugh at all, see?”

“All right,” said George.“So he thinks it’s all right.” Max turned to Al. “He

thinks it’s all right. That’s a good one.”

*You can add some description in your paragraphs of dialogue.“All right,” said George. He wore a drowsy smirk

and looked down at his feet.

PUNCTUATING DIALOGUE

• Capitalization:• If the dialogue tag follows the speaker’s words, then

capitalize just the first word of the sentence.• Example:

• “The clock says twenty minutes past eight,” the teacher said to her student.

PUNCTUATING DIALOGUE

• Capitalization:• If the dialogue tag precedes the speaker’s words,

capitalize the first word of the sentence as well as the first word that the speaker says. (Always capitalize the first word of a direct quote.)• Example:The teacher said to her student, “The clock says twenty five minutes past eight.”

PUNCTUATING DIALOGUE

• Capitalization:• If the dialogue tag interrupts the speaker’s words in the

middle of a sentence, capitalize only the first word of the sentence. You should NOT capitalize the first word of the continuation of the speaker’s words.• Example:

“I noticed him,” she said, “standing near the ticket booth.”

** If the dialogue tag interrupts the speaker’s words between two complete sentences, the second sentence will, of course, begin with a capital letter.

“I don’t know,” one of the men said. “What do you want to eat, Al?”