Quotations: Turabian 8th Edition
We’re honing in on final papers, grammar friends! Here’s some quick tips for quotes from the Turabian 8th edition!
The Basics: You’ve got a little quote to quote.
For example, in T. H. White’s The Once and Future King the narrator writes, “The governess was always getting muddled with her astrolabe.”1
With a standard quote, you enclose it with double quotation marks. Any punctuation at the end of the quote goes inside the quotation marks. Your footnote number will follow outside the marks:
astrolabe.” 1
Seems fair, but what about parenthetical citations?
Parenthetical citations are commonly used for biblical and sacred works. Instead of a footnote, these citations occur right in line with the text:
…“Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received” (1 Pet. 4:10).
Parenthetical citations go outside the quotation marks, but inside the period: received” (1 Pet. 4:10).
I’m feeling meta. Let’s quote inside the quote!
Sometimes, part of your quote will contain a quote (the original source quoted someone else). What do you do with that?
Beowulf ’s story about his fight with Grendel according to boast stages “the inability of the sign to ‘capture’ its signified, of narrative to be one with its object.”2
When a quote occurs inside your quote, use single quotation marks to show it. This reduces confusion on whereyour quote begins and ends, while signaling to the reader that your source was also quoting someone else. Like I said, we’re gettin’ meta here!
I need to include thissssssss much of that quote!
You have a quote and there’s no way to eliminate any piece of it. It’s giving your argument the support you need, but only with the whole, many lined thing.
If your quote is 5 lines or more, then you need to block quote it:
White goes on to describe the dynamics of Kay and Arthur’s childhood lessons:
The governess was always getting muddled with her astrolabe, and when she got specially muddled she would take it out of the Wart by rapping his knuckles. She did not rap Kay’s knuckles, because when Kay grew older he would be Sir Kay, the master of the estate. The Wart was called the Wart because it more or less rhymed with Art, which was short for his real name.3
This strengthens my argument because…
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Block quotes do NOT use quotation marks! They should be single spaced with a blank line above and below the quote. The entire block quote gets indented o.5 inches (which is the same as a paragraph’s 1st line indent). Your footnote number comes after the period:
name.3
I have the quote and the rules, now how do I put it together?
Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein explain academic writing best with the statement, "You need to enter a conversation, using what others say (or might say) as a launching pad[...]"4 Writing academically isn't about living in a bubble with your own ideas. It's about interacting with your peers, professors, and research by first listening to what they say, and then responding. When you translate this into writing, Graff and Birkenstein call it the "They Say/I Say" method, which engages your voice as the framework for what others say in your paper. Every "They Say" must begin and end with your voice and response ("I Say").
The basics of They Say/I Say:
- Every quote should be introduced by you.
- Don't start your paragraph with a quote. Explain to your reader what's coming by setting the stage for the quote. Where did it come from? What was the context (what was going on around it in the source material)?
- Quotes should not stand alone, or become drive-by quotations.
- The quote should always be connected to a sentence either by a comma or a colon (remember your grammar rules with colons!).
- Explain the significance of the quote (respond to it!) afterwards.
- Don't let the quote explain itself. You need to state in your own words how this quote is relating to your argument and why it was important to include it. Don't leave your argument in grey areas. Make your meaning clear.
Basically, in the end, if you were to lift out all your quotes, the paper should still make sense with only your words. Quotes are support for your argument--not the argument itself. Quotes are needed to build your credibility and bolster your argument, but the argument itself must be found in your own words.
___________________
1 T. H. White, The Once and Future King (New York: Penguin Books, Ltd., 1985), 10, Nook.
2 Susan M. Kim, “‘As I Once Did With Grendel’: Boasting and Nostalgia in Beowulf,” Modern Philology103, no. 1 (August 2005): 20, accessed May 6, 2015, http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=18973758&site=ehost-live.
3 White, The Once and Future King, 10.
4 Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein, They Say, I Say: The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing, (New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2010), 3.
One more thing!
The WTS Style Guide, which addresses formatting, citations, and guidelines and grammar rules specific to Wartburg, is in the Student & Community Life Handbook. To find this handy resource, go to the Wartburg Theological Seminary webpage, Current Students, and then Student & Community Life. Click on the Handbook. (It can also be found through myWTS.)
The Style Guide is in Appendix B, section 5.0.
Happy Writing!
Online Resources:
Turabian Quick Guide:
Quote Integration Tips:
Bibliography
Graff, Gerald and Cathy Birkenstein. They Say, I Say: The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2010.
Kim, Susan M. “‘As I Once Did With Grendel’: Boasting and Nostalgia in Beowulf.” Modern Philology 103, no. 1 (August 2005): 20. Accessed May 6, 2015. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=18973758&site=ehost-live.
Turabian, Kate L. “Turabian Quick Guide.” Kate L. Turabian 8th Edition: A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. Accessed May 6, 2015.http://www.press.uchicago.edu/books/turabian/turabian_citationguide.html.
University of Washington English Department. “How to Integrate Direct Quotations into Your Writing.” Ask Betty: Grammar for College Writers. Accessed May 6, 2015.http://depts.washington.edu/engl/askbetty/changing_quotations.php.
White, T. H. Once and Future King. New York: Penguin Books, Ltd., 1985. Nook.
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