First-Year English FAQs
Punctuate quotation transitions correctly and punctuate quoted material correctly.
When punctuating a quotation transition, it is essential to discover if the words lead into the quotation without interruption or with interruption. If there is an interruption into the quotation, you must use either a comma or a colon to signal this interruption.
Martin Luther King said: "I have a dream" (23).
If the group of words which comprise the quotation transition is a complete sentence at the interruption point, you must use a colon because the colon in this case is used as an end mark of punctuation similar to the grammatical function of a period.
If the quotation transition moves into the quotation without any interruption, no mark of punctuation is needed. When you use an uninterrupted quotation transition and the first letter of the quoted material begins with a capital letter, you must lower-case the first letter of the quotation. You do not need to put brackets around this one editorial change.
Abraham Lincoln said that "in a larger sense we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow" this ground anymore than the men who died here (85).
Periods and Commas: Periods and commas always come inside quotation marks.
Semi-colons and Colons: Semi-colons and colons always come outside quotation marks.
Question Marks and Exclamation Points: Question marks and exclamation points come inside or outside quotation marks depending upon whether the question mark or the exclamation point applies to the quoted material only or to the entire sentence. If the question mark or the exclamation point applies only to the quoted material, these marks of punctuation come inside the quotation mark. If the question mark or exclamation point apply to the entire sentence, not just the quoted material, these marks of punctuation come outside the quotation mark.
Brackets: If you need to clarify or change a word or phrase within a direct quotation, put the clarification or change inside brackets in directly quoted material. A set of brackets signals to the reader that you are making some type of editorial change to the quoted material. For example, in the middle of your direct quotation, you may have a vague pronoun. You may clarify this vague pronoun by inserting a more specific word in brackets following the vague pronoun. Brackets should not be used in direct quotation to change the author's meaning.
As Johnson suggests, "there were many reasons why he [Martin Luther King] was murdered" (28).
Ellipses: Ellipses are a set of three spaced periods [. . . ] that are used in directly quoted material to signal to the reader that something has been left out of the direct quotation. Ellipses are used when the writer wants to remove a word, a phrase, or a sentence that may not be necessary to furthering the argument within a paper. Ellipses may be used to remove a vague pronoun from the middle of a quotation to make it read more smoothly Then a more specific word replacement may be added in brackets to replace the vague pronoun. In this case the ellipses signal to the reader that something has been removed from the original, and the brackets signal to the reader that something has been added. Ellipses should never be used to alter the meaning of a direct quote. When you add ellipses to a direct quotation, enclose them in brackets to show you have added this mark of punctuation.
As Johnson suggests, "there were many reasons why [. . . Martin Luther King] was murdered" (28).