In an essay, there are several things to consider when writing a quote. You should use quotation marks for quotes, make sure to cite sources, and avoid writing a lengthy quote as the first sentence of your essay. Also, keep in mind that a teacher may view your quote as an attempt to pad out the essay, so use it sparingly. To make your essay more compelling, use a quote that evokes a feeling in your readers.

Using quotation marks

If you want to cite a passage in your essay, use quotation marks. These marks are a simple way to reference a passage from another source. However, there are certain rules that must be followed. First, you need to know what they are and how to use them in your paper. You can use single or double quotation marks, depending on your style guide and your English dialect. When citing a passage, the US style guides generally use double quotation marks, while the UK style guide prefers single quotation marks. Secondly, you must remember that using quotation marks can create an awkward grammatical structure, so using them correctly is important.

Citing sources

There are many methods for citing sources in an essay, and the proper format for each is dependent on the source type and style. Examples of citation styles are shown below. You should include a number when citing a source, such as an issue number or a special archive number for a museum piece. The publication name is the name of the institution or person who made the source available to the public. If you’re citing a book, you should include the page number of the book, not the issue number.

Avoiding long quotations

While it is often tempting to use a lengthy quote to illustrate a point, this tactic is not recommended. Teachers often frown upon long quotes and discourage their use. A good rule of thumb is to use no more than one-sixth of the quoted material per paragraph. If a passage has irrelevant middle parts, you may want to cut them out altogether or replace them with an ellipsis.

Avoiding quotes as the first sentence in an essay

There are several reasons to avoid introducing a quote as the first sentence in an essay. For example, if the quote is a famous one, the writer might not want the reader to skip to the next paragraph and read the rest of the essay. In such a case, you might introduce the quote with a full sentence that starts with a colon. Then, you can fill in the rest of the sentence with your own words.

Using active voice

Using active voice is a good way to make a quote sound like it is a person speaking. Unlike passive voice, which implies that the person speaking is speaking, active voice uses the subject to take action. It is much clearer and easier to read than passive voice. Here are some examples of when to use active voice:

Formatting quotations

If you want to use a quotation in your essay, there are a few basic formatting rules you need to follow. First, make sure you write it in your own words, and cite the source with a colon or comma after the quote. If the quotation is longer than four lines, you should type it as a block quotation without quotation marks. It should also have a colon at the beginning, and the final punctuation mark should be a period.