Presentation of Quotes within Text
(for Assignments with only One Source)

1. 1. Make sure the author and the story title have been identified in the paper.
   
   A. If the paper is only one paragraph, this should come in the thesis statement/controlling idea. If the paper is more than one paragraph, this should come in the first paragraph.
   
   
2. Make sure all spelling, words, and punctuation are correct.


3. Quotes are always followed by the page number in parentheses. End punctuation usually goes after the parentheses.
   A. Only the page number goes in the parentheses -- no words or letters.


4. If no dialogue, use double (regular) quotes around text.
   
   A. “She grieved incessantly, feeling that she had been born for all the little niceties and luxuries of living” (221).


5. If narration and dialogue or just dialogue, start with double quotes, but put single quotes around the dialogue. Double quotes are used to bring it to an end.
   
   A. “She gave him an irritated glance and burst out impatiently, ‘What do you think I have to go in?’” (222).


6. If not starting the quote at the beginning of a sentence, start with ellipses after the quotation marks. If not ending where a sentence ends, use ellipses before end quotation marks.
   
   A. “… her husband came home proudly holding out a large envelope” (222).
   B. “She had a well-to-do friend, a classmate of convent-school days …” (222).


7. All quotes need to be introduced/set up in your writing.
   
   A. Make sure it is clear how each quote fits into your paper.
   B. Make sure each quote is relevant and means something.
   C. Make sure each quote is long enough to be significant, but do not go overboard.


8. Double check all quotes for accuracy after they have been written into the paper.


9. No works cited page is needed when using only one source.


10. When using multiple sources in a work, your presentation will be different. The last name of the work’s author will be included with the page number -- see the “MLA at a Glance” sheet.