Direct Quotation

This is when you copy down the exact words someone else wrote.  The words copied DO NOT have to be dialogue; anything an author writes or a speaker says can be copied down word-for-word.  This is ALWAYS cited. 

REMEMBER: Any time you create a citation, you also need to create a bibliography or Works Cited page.

There are several ways you can set up your in-text citations. 

You use the same basic format for both direct quotation and paraphrased ideas. 

(The type of source you use changes the information required to correctly cite the source.  For these examples, the book Pete and the Giant Cheese Ball by Mrs. Broadhurst is cited.  Click here to see how to cite information from a web page or click here to see how to cite information from a video.)

Direct Quotation Example 1 - Parenthetical Citation:

Cheese is very important to the characters of this novel.  When the main character first spots the giant cheese ball, he "began to drool in anticipation; the saliva was pouring out of his mouth" (Broadhurst 12).

This is the most common method of PARENTHETICAL CITATION.  You simply incorporate the words you wish to quote into your sentence and follow it with the author's last name and the page number of the quotation inside a set of parentheses.  NOTICE: The period is AFTER the parentheses; the sentence is not finished until the citation is given.  We can find out the name of Mrs. Broadhurst's book by checking the Works Cited section of the paper.

Direct Quotation Example 2 - Mixed:

Cheese is very important to the characters of this novel.  Mrs. Broadhurst describes the main character when he first spots the giant cheese ball by saying, "Pete began to drool in anticipation; the saliva was pouring out of his mouth" (12).

This is one way of doing parenthetical citation.  In this case, the author's last name was used in the sentence, so the parentheses only contain the number of the page on which this quote can be found.  NOTICE: The period is AFTER the parentheses; the sentence is not finished until the citation is provided.  We can find out the name of Mrs. Broadhurst's book by checking the Works Cited section of the paper.

Direct Quotation Example 3 - In-text (or non-parenthetical) citation:

Cheese is very important to the characters of this novel.  On page 12 of her novel, Mrs. Broadhurst describes the main character when he first spots the giant cheese ball by saying, "Pete began to drool in anticipation; the saliva was pouring out of his mouth."

This sample includes the page number and the author's last name.  By using both the page number and the author's last name as part of the sentence, you can avoid parenthetical citation.  We can find out the name of Mrs. Broadhurst's book by checking the Works Cited section of the paper.