Techniques for Integrating Quotations in Academic Writing

Make an assertion and follow with a complete sentence quote

Remember the three basic techniques of quotation integration:

   1. Make an assertion of your own, add a colon, and follow it with a quotation in a complete sentence.

   2. Create an introductory or closing phrase or clause, and attach a quotation to it with a comma.

   3. Work some brief excerpts of quoted material into an assertion of your own.

Instructions: Bearing these three principles in mind, read the ten examples of quotations listed below, all of which are full of various mistakes. Identify the mistakes in each sentence and correct them. You need not reword or change the entire sentence; just fix the mistakes. Please also pay close attention to the punctuation of these quotations before and after they appear in the sentences.

1.  J.K. Rowling’s initial description of her hero Harry Potter is anything but heroic; in the first book of the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Rowling describes Harry’s odd appearance in great detail to emphasize his uniqueness.  “Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair, and bright green eyes.  He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Scotch tape because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose.  The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead that was shaped like a lightning bolt.” (Rowling 20)