How to Set Up Quotations

1. Provide a context/situation for each quotation.

Do not rely on quotations to tell your story for you. It is your responsibility to provide your reader with a context for the quotation. The context should set the basic scene for when, possibly where, and under what circumstances the quotation was spoken or written. So, in providing a context for our above example, you might write:

General Zaroff went to great lengths to explain the boredom that had lead him to live on an island so far from civilization.

2. Attribute each quotation to its source.

Tell your reader who is speaking. Here is a good test: try reading your text aloud. Could your reader determine without looking at your paper where your quotations begin? If not, you need to attribute the quote more noticeably. Example:

General Zaroff turned to Rainsford and remarked, “Hunting tigers ceased to interest me some years ago. I exhausted their possibilities, you see. No thrill left in tigers, no real danger. I live for danger.”

Avoid getting into the "he/she said" attribution rut. There are many other ways to attribute quotes besides this construction. Here are a few alternative verbs: exclaim, state, respond, comment, argue, declare, note, reply and suggest.

3. Provide a citation for the quotation.

All quotations, just like all paraphrases, require a formal citation. In general, you should remember one rule of thumb: Place the parenthetical reference or footnote/endnote number after—not within—the closed quotation mark. Example:

General Zaroff turned to Rainsford and remarked, “Hunting tigers ceased to interest me some years ago. I exhausted their possibilities, you see. No thrill left in tigers, no real danger. I live for danger” (7).