1. Q UOTATION M ARKS

2. H OW CAN I USE A Q UOTATION M ARK ? Use quotation marks to enclose a direct quotation. “Please return these books to the library,” said Mrs. Lowe David shouted at his brother, “Why can’t you return my stuff after you borrow it?”

3. U SE Q UOTATION M ARKS TO ENCLOSE EACH PART OF AN INTERRUPTED Q UOTE “Spiders,” explained Sean, “have eight legs.” “I’m tired,” confessed Julie, “because I stayed up late looking at the pictures my friends had posted online.

4. C OMMA USAGE R EMINDER Use commas to set off an explanatory phrase, such as he said, from the quotation itself. Place commas inside closing quotation marks. “Dogs,” explained Jo, “are man’s best friend.” What is wrong with this sentence: “Next week” warned Mrs. Hughes “students will take our big test.”

5. P LACE A PERIOD INSIDE CLOSING QUOTATION M ARKS Toby said, “My aunt Susan received her degree in June.” “This week,” said Mrs. Reeves, “we will study the civilization of ancient Egypt”. (wrong) “This week,” said Mrs. Reeves, “we will study the civilization of ancient Egypt.”

6. Q UESTION M ARKS AND Q UOTATIONS Place a question mark or an exclamation point inside closing quotation marks if it’s part of the question. Beth asked, “Have you ever visited Florida?” Place a question mark or an exclamation point outside closing quotation marks if it’s part of the entire sentence but not part of the quotation. Did Jerry say, “Spiders have ten legs”?

7. Q UESTION M ARKS AND Q UOTATIONS When both a sentence and direct quotation are questions (or exclamations), use only one. Place the mark inside the quotation marks. Did Beth ask, “Have you ever visited Florida?” Not either of these Did Beth ask, “Have you ever visited Florida”? Did Beth ask, “Have you ever visited Florida?”?

8. Q UOTATIONS IN A C ONVERSATION When writing conversation, begin a new paragraph each time the speaker changes. “You’re kidding!” I exclaimed. “That sounds unbelievable. Did she really say that?” “Indeed she did,” Kara insisted.

9. R ULES FOR WRITING THE TITLE OF W ORKS Use quotation marks for titles of shorter pieces of works Short stories “The Tell-Tale Heart” Essays Poems “The Raven” Songs “Jingle Bells” Articles Book chapters One episode of a TV show

10. I TALICS AND U NDERLINING Use these for titles of longer works Book Sounder or The Hunger Games CD Title Fame TV Show Spongebob A play The Diary of Anne Frank A magazine Jet A newspaper The New York Times A painting or sculpture Mona Lisa A ship, airplane, or spacecraft Titanic

11. Q UOTATION M ARKS IN C ITED D IALOGUE Jones argues that “politics are the devil’s work” (190). “Voters,” he contends, “often don’t pick a candidates based on their policies, but how they look” (Jones 190). “Many politicians use mudslinging as a main way to get the popular vote,” the author claims (Jones 190). Note that these are cited, as if they would exist in your paper. The citations are in MLA format. Also note where commas are (and are not) placed in each example. Lastly, note where (and what) punctuation is being used. Source of this slide: www.lexington1.net/technology/instruct/ppts/.../ quotationmarks 1