Direct Quotation
Knowing how to quote correctly is key to
avoiding plagiarism. Words that are an exact copy of the original should
always be identified by quotation marks or, for longer quotes, set-off in an
indented paragraph. The requirement to put quotation marks around material
that has been exactly copied is the form of acknowledgement with which most
people are familiar. However, while proper quotation will avoid plagiarism,
it does not necessarily result in a good paper.
Students are told to use direct quotes when
they feel the original author’s phrasing expresses the idea so well that no
better expression can be found. This is good advice. Unfortunately,
students who are uncomfortable with their own writing style are often
inclined to over-use quotes on the theory that they cannot improve on the
original author. The result can be a ‘Frankenstein’ paper that is little more than a string
of quotes sewn together by a few transition sentences. Even if every quote is adequately cited, the
overall paper will feel plagiarized since the student has not written
anything new.
Most quotes should be very short. A short quote
is usually consider to be under two lines in length with the fewer the words
the better. Even longer quotes should be as brief as possible. In general, the
use of quotes should be kept to a minimum.
Short quote example
Remember that using quotes does not relieve you
of the responsibility of expressing the ideas for yourself. Usually, a
longer direct quote — one set off in an indented paragraph — should be
accompanied by your own paraphrase of the quoted passage. This shows your
reader how you interpret the passage and draws out the points that you think
are worth emphasizing. Shorter direct quotes — those under two lines
in length — do not usually need to be paraphrased, but may be used
effectively as part of a paraphrase. Since you need to paraphrase anyway,
there is no point using long direct quotes unless:
- the point is so important that it is
worth saying twice (once by you and once by the original author),
- you need to document that the original
author really does say what you claim she says, (since it is a
surprising or out of character thing for this author to say), or
- the original author’s turn of phrase is
so clever or so apt at expressing the idea in question that you cannot
resist sharing it with your reader.
Long quote example
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