HOW TO USE YOUR SOURCES ASSIGNMENT 3: ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

WHETHER TO QUOTE OR SUMMARIZE QUOTE TEXT WHEN: The wording is worth repeating (e.g. vivid or technical language) The author makes a point so well that no rewording will do it justice You want to cite the exact words of a known authority on a topic The author’s opinions challenge or disagree with those of others

ELLIPSES Indicate any omissions from a quotation with an ellipsis (3 spaced dots). You may sometimes delete words from your quotation that are unnecessary for your point. Be careful not to distort the source’s meaning.

EXAMPLES Mark Twain writes, “I have never taken any exercise... and I never intend to take any.” Sir William Osler states, “A well-trained sensible family doctor is one of the most valuable assets in a community.... Few men live lives of more devoted self-sacrifice.”

BRACKETS Indicate an addition or alteration to a quotation with brackets. Sometimes you’ll need to change or add words in a quote to make the quote fit grammatically in you sentence.

EXAMPLES I tried to make the dish mild enough for everyone, but my idea of “add[ing] Cayenne pepper to taste” was not the same as my friend’s idea. In Thomas Jefferson’s time there was definitely a notion that “a little rebellion now and then [was] a good thing.”

Punctuating quotations Put periods and commas inside the quotation marks, except when you have a parenthetical citation at the end, in which case you put the period after the parentheses. Semicolons, colons, and dashes are generally placed outside the terminal quotation marks.

EXAMPLE “Country music,” Sam says, “is a crucial and vital part of the American identity” (23). George wrote that “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”; today, we are in danger of forgetting the lessons of history.

? & ! These go inside closing quotation marks if they are part of the quoted material but outside when they are not. If there’s a parenthetical citation at the end, it immediately follows the closing quotation mark, and any punctuation that’s part of your sentence comes after.

EXAMPLE Speaking at a Fourth of July celebration, Frederick Douglass asked, “What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence?” (34). Who can argue with W. Charisse Goodman’s observation that media images persuade women that “thinness equals happiness and fulfillment” (43)?

Signal Phrases You need to introduce quotations and summaries clearly. Let the reader know who the author is and if need be something about his credentials. It makes clear that everything between the signal phrase and the citation comes from that source.

EXAMPLE Professor and textbook author Elaine Tyler May argues that many high school history books are too bland to interest young readers (531). A champion of civil liberties, Robert Ingersoll insists, “I am the inferior of any man whose rights I trample underfoot.”