Quotation Punctuation Rules:
When you introduce a quotation:
- Make it a part of the sentence:
- Both sides claimed to act “in strict accordance with the will of God” ( ).
- Use a comma for short introductions that identify who said/wrote the quotation:
- According to Stifler, “The great Lincoln was nurtured on the Bible as few men ever have been” ( ).
- Use a colon for longer introductions that give an interpretation of the quotation:
- Lincoln’s actions on slavery, as on all important issues, were governed by his creed: “What doth the Lord require of thee, but do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” ().
- Use a comma to interrupt quotations:
- “Take away the Bible,” William Lloyd Garrison said, “and our war-fare with oppression…is removed” ( ).
- Use a comma to identify who said the quotation at the end
- The prophets were particularly outspoken on the subject. “Woe unto him…who useth his neighbor’s services without wages,” Jeremiah wrote.
As for quoting in literature….
WAYS TO INTRODUCE QUOTATIONS INTO YOUR TEXT: Make sure, if you quote from a text, that you have an introduction tag that connects your own writing to the quote. Here are a few examples:
1. Subject + verb: “She states” “He remarks” (subjects: he and she; verbs: states and remarks)
Aeneas states, “I who had never flinched at the hurtling spears or swarming Greek assaults–now every stir of wind, every whisper of sound alarms me, anxious both for the child beside me and the burden on my back” (Book 2, lines 902-906).
When Kreon claims, “The brave deserve better than the vile ,“ Antigone responds, “Who knows what matters to the dead?” (lines 564-565).
- Note that, with dialogue, this is the form you should use: simply listing lines on the page often takes up too much room in the paper and then does not give you enough room, as a writer, to develop your analysis.
When called before Kreon, Antigone declares, “It wasn’t Zeus who issued me/This order“ (lines lines 487-488). She further claims, “Justice–who lives below–/was not involved. They’d never condone it!” (488-489).
As Arjuna prepares to enter battle against his family members, he questions, “O Krishna, what good is kingship?/What good even life and pleasure?” (Chapter 1, verse 32).
According to Enkidu, his introduction to the city and civilization ruins him. He tells Shamhat, ”May your purple finery be expropriated…Because you diminished me, an innocent,/ Yes me, an innocent, you wronged me in my steppe” (lines 83, 85-6).
2. According to….
According to The Hymn to Aten, “When [the sun sets] in western lightland/Earth is in darkness as if in death” (lines 13-14).
According to Enkidu, “he who falls quickly in battle dies glorious” (Tablet VII, line 171).
3. Full sentence + quote
Although Aeneas’ actions towards Dido appear cold and cruel, he demonstrates his love and his duty to his son, Ascanius: “My son Ascanius…I feel the wrong I do/to one so dear, robbing him of his kingdom…his fields decreed by fate” (Book IV, lines 442-444).
Gilgamesh’s repetition of his friend Enkidu’s name and titles after Enkidu dies highlights and emphasizes his grief: “How can I be silent? How can I hold my peace? My friend whom I loved is turned into clay,/Enkidu, my friend whom I loved, is turned into clay!” (Tablet X, lines 58-60).
Krsna, as he defends the justness of the war Arjuna is about to partake in, affirms the importance of acting without being attached, or affected by, the consequences: “He whose mind controls his senses/ who undertakes the discipline/ of action by the action-organs/ without attachment, is renowned” (Chapter 3, verse 7)
Dido’s overwhelming love for Aeneas undermines her ability to properly rule her city: “The towers of Carthage, half built, rise no more,/and the young men quit their combat drills in arms” (Book 4, lines 107-108)