Integrating Quotes Into Your Essay

Since college level writing means entering into an existing conversation -- you are not the first person to write about the purpose of college, capital punishment, internet privacy, etc. -- it's important to learn how to smoothly incorporate those other voices into your essay.

Below you'll find instructions, student examples, and lists of words and phrases you can use to make sure that, among the many other voices in your essay, your own voice comes though loud and clear.

While similar instructions are spread throughout the course as they're needed, because it's such an important part of college writing, it's convenient to additional suggestions in one place. You can also consult the citing sources section of our composition textbook.

The video below works in tandem with this page: once you're familiar with the concept as shown in the video, use the instructions to smoothly incorporate quotes and summaries into your work.

Integrating Quotations video (Links to an external site.)DavidVHennessy. (2008, July 23). Integrating Source in MLA Style [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BJAqOeQjAo

Verb List and Signal Phrases

Use these words in a signal phrase to set up a quote. See them in action below.

add
agree
analyze
answer
argue
believe
charge
claim
comment
conclude
consider

criticize
declare
describe
define
discover
emphasize
explain
feels
illustrate
imply
indicate

list
maintain
mention
note
observe
object
offer
point out
reinforce
report

reply
respond
reveal
think
write
show
stress
suggest
support

Sample Signal Phrases

Notice how the word "that" is often used to smooth out the transition between the signal phrase and the quote.

Colby et. al, believe that college can develop "our democratic principles" such as "tolerance and respect for others" (196).
Both writers suggest that
The writers point out that
Former Barnard president Judith Shapiro reinforces college's role in creating a thoughtful mindset, writing ""You want the inside of your head to be an interesting place to spend the rest of your life" (qtd. in Delbanco 33).
Carolyn Martin, President of Amherst College, explains how college prepares students for the challenges of living in a complex world where people need to apply "rigorous analyses of its problems and synthetic approaches to solving them" (qtd. in "What").

Three Steps to Integrating a Quote

Introduce quote, stating name of writer (or speaker) and establishing his or her credentials/credibility;

Insert quote with documentation;
Explain/argue how the quote illustrates the point you're making. Try "requoting" a word.

1 Introduce quote:
Delbanco, Columbia professor of American Studies, argues that college teaches people to see through propaganda by showing them

2 Insert Quote
"the difference between demagoguery and responsible arguments" (29).

3 Explain Quote
Delbanco suggests that college's emphasis on critical thinking -- debating ideas with reason and evidence -- is central to the idea of democracy. It provides citizens with the intellectual depth that allows them to see the fear mongering and scapegoating of demagogues as propaganda, and instead of reacting to it without thinking, to look for more "responsible reasoning." He believes that the work of democracy needs to be decided with the head instead of the heart.

All Together Now
Delbanco, Columbia professor of American Studies, argues that college teaches people to see through propaganda by showing them "the difference between demagoguery and responsible arguments" (29). Delbanco suggests that college's emphasis on critical thinking -- debating ideas with reason and evidence -- is central to the idea of democracy. It provides citizens with the intellectual depth that allows them to see the fear mongering and scapegoating of demagogues as propaganda, and instead of reacting to it without thinking, to look for more "responsible arguments." He believes that the work of democracy needs to be decided with the head instead of the heart.

Direct Quotes - Print

Sarcasm can be used effectively to make an argument. When documentary filmaker and social activist Michael Moore writes "Who cares if 70 percent of those who graduate from America's colleges are not required to learn a foreign language? Isn't the rest of the world speaking English now?" (157), he saracastically exposes the ignorance of our views both of other countries and our education system.
Michael Moore, a documentary filmaker and social activist, laments the misguided priorities of our elected officials when it comes to education. He notes that

the political leaders -- and the people who vote for them -- have decided it's a bigger priority to build another bomber than to educate our children. They would rather hold hearings about eh depravity of a television show called Jackass than about their own depravity in neglecting our schools and children and maintaining our title as Dumbest Country on Earth. (156)

This misguided use of money and intellect is part of the problem with the education system in this country.

Block indent for quotes which take up four lines or more on your page.

Note ellipsis dots and square brackets for excluded words

For our political system to function, our electorate needs a basic understanding of the underpinnings of democracy. Daniel L. Marsh, former president of Boston College , argues that Americans "must have an intelligent comprehension of the ideas and ideals that underlie our [. . .] democracy" (18). His emphasis on "intelligent comprehension" supports the view that ____

Note ellipsis dots and square brackets for excluded words

In their examination of the Anita Hill and Clarence Thomas controversy, Newsweek reporters Timothy Phelps and Helen Winternitz come to the ominous conclusion that either "a Supreme Court justice had committed perjury to get himself on the bench or Hill and his opponents had engaged in an unprecedented criminal conspiracy in an attempt to defeat him" (441). From the evidence in their book, it seems that someone has committed perjury.
After analyzing current sitcoms, New York Times movie critic Caryn James discovers that "they have come to resemble melodrama and soap opera more than they reflect comic versions of real life" (1). James believes that sitcoms are supposed to be "real life" . . . .
Former Labor Secretary Linda Chavez, at the end of her union bashing screed, states "I know unions are corrupt" (qtd. in Lopez). What's missing in this essay on the influence of union money in political campaigns is any mention of corporate influence on the political process. In the world that Lopez and Chavez inhabit, big, bad unions are the evil forces -- are "corrupt" -- and corporation are big, benevolent, and beloved by mainstream of America. But if it wasn't for labor unions, and the combined money they can bring to the political arena, would any politicians pay (no pun intended) attention to labor concerns? That's a question that Lopez and her fellow writers at The National Review are not prepared to answer -- though they're more than ready to scare workers away from unions.