Study Tips/Inspirational: Using Quotations

Using Quotations

It is surprising how many students do not know how to quote properly. Many otherwise very good literature papers are spoiled because students have not been taught - or have never learned - this technique. There is a difference between quoting poetry (including blank verse) and quoting prose.

When quoting poetry (or blank verse) you should take a new line. An example of this is as follows.

After this first murder Macbeth is still guided by the twin forces of ambition and fear. He believes that Banquo's offspring will be the future kings and he cannot bear the thought. He says (and now comes the quotation),

They hail'd him father to a line of kings:

Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown,

And put a barren sceptre in my gripe.

Note that the first letter of each word in the above is a capital. This must be retained in verse, and you must remember the exact word that starts the line.

If you cannot remember a complete quotation it is quite in order to do this:-

They hail'd him father to a line of kings:

.......................................a fruitless crown,

And put a barren sceptre in my gripe.

After the quotation a new line has to be taken before continuing in prose.

When quoting prose it is NOT necessary to take a new line. You may carry on in the same line. An example of this is as follows :

Lamb said (and now the quotation in the same line), To be sick is to enjoy monarchal prerogatives. He continues by say more about people who are getting well, and affirms that getting well is a fall from dignity, amounting to a deposition.

Sometimes you may find it is convienient to quote short sentences or phrases in the body of the essay you are writing. This device is most useful to show that you know the play well and single quotation marks or inverted commas will suffice. Here are some examples of the device in an essay on an aspect of the "Merchant of Venice":-

"Shylock is eager to have his (and now comes a small quotation) 'pound of flesh' and is pleased with Portia's assertion that a 'decree established' cannot be altered. He eagerly notes that a 'Daniel' has 'come to judgement'.

Moreover, you should remember that "close reference" is a useful device when you cannot remember a quotation exactly or if you want to give some variety to your answers. Thus if you could not remember Hamlet's speech :-

The dread of something after death,

The undiscovered country from whose bourn,

No traveller returns, puzzles the will,

And makes us rather bear the ills we have,

Than fly to others that we know not of.

(Act III, Scene I.)

it would be quite in order if you wrote:-

"Hamlet speaks of the vague terrors after death, and of that unknown land from which no traveller ever comes back. He argues that this dread impedes our decisions and thus we prefer to endure our present troubles than contemplate others unknown to us".

The examiner would have no difficulty in deciding to which speech you are referring.