Learn the Norms of Quoting Dialogue

When writing an essay, there are times when you cannot find the right words to describe your thoughts. However, many quotes are suitable for the right moment. Of course, you can convey the meaning of the phrase in your own words, and this is called reported speech.

However, direct speech should be used to create credible text and variety. Your task is to insert an existing phrase into the text without changing it. If you are afraid that this will be plagiarism, you simply do not yet know the rules of citation. The correct use of other people’s words can help you gain the confidence of the reader.

The Advantages of Using Quotes

You have the opportunity to reinforce your point of view. Especially using the words of famous personalities who have extensive experience in the right field, you increase the strength of your words. The reader, in turn, will be happy to read about this topic from a credible source.
This shows that you have a decent experience in working with texts. When a person views an essay, visual elements that stand out from common phrases catch his eye. Thus, you are interested in the reader, showing their skills.
You put in your essay links to the source, which opens a new window for the reader. When retelling, you can make a mistake or inaccuracy, and then the meaning of the phrase will deteriorate or disappear. However, quoting, you allow the person to explore the topic in detail.

Typical Mistakes Related to Quoting

When working with quotes, it is worth remembering the norms of their use. Without knowing the features of this element, you cannot decorate your text with it, and this will lower the quality of the essay. Pay attention to these points and avoid them:

Quotation in each paragraph or item.

Even if you want to submit original information and decorate your essay with it, do not add too much. In this case, the reader will begin to doubt whether to read your work at all, if you constantly rely on other people’s words.

Thinking about the beauty of the utterance in the first place.

First of all, you should insert information that matches the text. Of course, you might like some of the quotes for your sound, but make sure that they fit the topic.

Not following the sequence of thoughts.

Follow the logic in each paragraph. Note that the same quote may look perfect at the beginning of a paragraph, but be inappropriate in the middle or at the end. Therefore, always re-read each passage of the essay before proceeding further.

Use of voluminous quotes.

You can assume that the larger the quote, the better its meaning is revealed. However, in reality, things are different: faced with a big-sized phrase, the reader will simply lose sight of the thought you wanted to convey. Thus, it is optimal to use short phrases that only emphasize meaning.

A Way to Paste a Quote in Your Essay

The method of citation directly depends on the size of the quote and the type of dialogue. Usually, there are two options: citing text up to four lines and working with a full phrase or dialogue.

In the first case, you send the full phrase in quotation marks, adding a source after it, enclosing it in parentheses. Pay attention to an example:

Douglas was sure that there is a way to get rid of all the problems: “You just need to get enough sleep, or sob for ten minutes, or eat a whole pint of chocolate ice cream, or even all this together – you cannot imagine the better medicine” (R. Bradbury “Dandelion Wine”).

If you decide to share a full dialogue or phrase, you still do not need to insert it completely. It is enough for you to rely on the source and indicate the pages on which the desired dialogue is posted.

Dagny did not realize that she had found what she was looking for while running away from it (Ayn Rand “Atlas Shrugged Book 3”, p. 36).

Rules and standards of quoting

No matter how good the example may be, your main task is to present it correctly. First of all, pay attention to the formats that allow you to work with quotes. Those several ways are easy to execute:

Tell about the dialogue using a short description. Typically, this method is used if you have a large volume dialog. This way you don’t complicate the text, but add the desired quote.

Dorian suggested he would never marry someone (Oscar Wilde “Portrait of Dorian Gray,” Chapter 4).

When inserting an entire phrase, add double quotation marks on both sides, so that the reader sees that you are referring to this phrase, and not passing it off as your own. If there are phrases of dialogue participants inside the quotation, use single quotes to make replicas.

“Girls were a little bit shocked. Tom shouted ‘You are not allowed to think bad about this task before you try it yourself’”.

When inserting a dialog, you can place each replica on a different line. After the text, add in parentheses the source of the dialogue that you rely on. Thus, you will not get lost in the rules.

People like you don’t commit crimes, Dorian. However, tell me honestly, like a good boy, what are your actual relations with Sibyl Vane?

Harry! Sibyl Vane is sacred!

It is only the sacred things that are worth touching, Dorian. I suppose she will belong to you someday. You know her, at any rate, I suppose?

Of course, I know her. On the first night, I was at the theatre, the horrid old Jew came round to the box after the performance was over and offered to take me behind the scenes and introduce me to her.

I am not surprised.

(Harry, Dorian, “The picture of Dorian Gray”)

Train on Examples of Other Authors

Even having learned this guide by heart, you are unlikely can apply knowledge in the best possible way. While you do not have enough experience, it is recommended to rely on the experience of other authors. To develop our horizons, we recommend that you look through news publications, newspaper interviews, read books with a large number of heroes. This way you will naturally find examples for each type of citation.

You can practice with examples and ask a friend or teacher to rate your work. Do not be afraid to experiment, use different types of quotes to diversify your skills.

The advantages of reading examples

In addition to practicing the eyes with different examples, there are several advantages associated with the analysis of existing examples:

You improve your knowledge of grammar and punctuation. Pay attention only to credible sources to see quality text. Sometimes even a short phrase takes a lot of time because you don’t know how to place signs. When practicing with examples, you will learn in practice the rules of punctuation and hyphenation in problematic cases.
You can note for yourself some tricks that professional writers use when working with quotes. Sometimes you want to experiment with the format, but it’s hard to find a suitable example. Therefore, browse through as many materials as possible, and you will surely find something outstanding.
Examples are easier to remember than theory. Therefore, if it is difficult for you to apply the instruction without peeking into the synopsis, write down a few striking examples for each method. Gradually, you will be able to develop memory and apply new methods in practice.

Last Words

With instructions on hand, you have every chance of creating a quality essay with quotes. Start with simple examples and you will gradually broaden your horizons. Remember that professionalism comes with experience, so be patient.

First, Tutoriage advises you to practice working with already written essays. So you can understand the principles of citation and see how the phrase fits into the text. On other pages of the site, you can find tips for writing different types of essays.