This document provides guidance on incorporating quotes into an essay in 3 main ways:
1. Choosing the most relevant excerpt and weaving it into your own writing. An example is provided.
2. Citing the quote properly with the author's last name (or title if unknown) and page number in parentheses.
3. Altering quotes slightly so they fit grammatically by using ellipses and brackets. Examples of each technique are demonstrated.
2. Incorporating (“Weaving”) Quotes
1. Choose only the most relevant passage from a
sentence or sentences.
2. “Weave” them into your own writing.
3. Example
Beowulf and his men receive a warm welcome in
Heorot. This is made clear when when Hrothgar’s
men give their seats to the Geats.
“Then Hrothgar’s men gave places to the Geats,
Yielded benches to the brave visitors
And led them to the feast.” (Beowulf 23)
4. Example (cont.)
I incorporated just the piece of
the passage I needed, and I
“wove” it into my own
sentence.
Put citation after quote (or at end of sentence if quote is within
sentence). Citation should include author’s last name and page
number in parentheses with the period AFTER the parentheses.
HOWEVER, if the author is unknown (as with Beowulf), use the
title instead of the author’s name. Always italicize titles when
typing; underline them when hand writing: Beowulf OR
Beowulf
Beowulf and his men receive a warm welcome in
Heorot. This is made clear when when “Hrothgar’s
men gave places to the Geats, Yielded benches to
the brave visitors” (Beowulf 23).
5. Altering Quotes So They Fit Your
Essay
1. Use ellipses (…) to indicate that something has
been omitted from the quote.
2. Use brackets ([ ]) to replace a word/phrase and add
a word/phrase to a quote.
6. Beowulf and his men receive a warm welcome in
Heorot. This is made clear when when “Hrothgar’s
men gave places to the Geats, [y]ielded benches to
the brave visitors” (Beowulf 23).
Example (cont.)
To make the capitalization appropriate, I changed the
capital “Y” to a lower case “y” and put it in brackets.
The same technique can and should be used when you
need to make verb tense, pronouns, etc. consistent
