Evaluating Your Sources

Quoting

By quoting another author, you add their words to your words in such a way that the reader hears two voices speaking together, yours plus the other author. It is best to choose your quotations carefully to make certain that the other writer's words complement yours. It is important to indicate another writer's words by using quotation marks for shorter quotations woven into your text or indenting longer quotes (more than three lines of text in your paper). Follow the quotation marks with a parenthetical citation recognizing the source. The reader should be able to locate your source in your list of Works Cited and follow your research.

Quotes in the Text

When the quotation is incorporated into your text, it is most effective. Readers will "hear" two voices speaking in unison through your entwined words. You don't have to quote complete sentences, but you should be careful to separate your words from another writer's exact words using quotation marks. To emphasize another author's use of a particular word, you can even put a single word in quotes. End the sentence which contains the quote with parenthetical documentation which directs your reader to the work on your Works Cited list. If you are tempted to repeatedly quote the same author in a single passage, consider paraphrasing instead. Be careful to match your tense and referents to those in the quote, like this:

Contrary to the conclusions of Hill-Miller, however, K. W. Bridges' investigation of the life of Mary Shelley reveals a child who "was treated as a unique individual with remarkable parents. High expectations were placed on her potential and she was treated as if she were born beneath a lucky star" (Bridges).

Block Quotes

Longer quotes should be indented without quotation marks. A longer quote can disrupt the flow of your text, so make sure the entire quotation is relevant and necessary. Be certain that quotes of three lines or more really enhance your meaning. If not, it might be preferable to summarize or paraphrase the ideas.

In her investigation of the father-daughter relationship between William Godwin and Mary Shelley, Hill-Miller contends,

William Godwin's influence on Mary Shelley pervades her novels, especially in the figure of the father. Her first two novels, Frankenstein and Mathilda, are both energized by the question of father-daughter incest. In Frankenstein, the spurned, abandoned monster can be viewed as a figure for a child made loathsome by the father's incestuous desire. Mary Shelley uses Frankenstein to chart the way a daughter can vent her rage on the figure of the father and eventually gain control over him. (qtd in Liu)

Secondary Sources

Sometimes, one writer quotes another writer and you would like to quote that writer, too. This is called a secondary source. You have two options: you can trace the source of the information in order to quote the source directly, or you can quote both authors at once, like this:

In an abstract of the text, My Hideous Progeny, Katherine Hill-Miller describes Mary Shelley as "brought up…to be a thinker and writer…. Unusual for the times, he trained her in literature, history, and the power of the rational mind" (qtd in Liu).

© 1999 by Addison Wesley Longman A division of Pearson Education