QUOTATION MARKS vs. UNDERLINING
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1) PURPOSE:
· Put “ ” around the exact words of a speaker:
o This is a direct quote and not a paraphrase.
§ She said, “It was cold.” (her exact words)
§ She said that it was cold. (the gist of what she said)
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2) TYPING and PUNCTUATION:
· Place a comma after the verb, space, quotation mark (“), capital letter, exact words, end punctuation (period, question mark, exclamation mark), end quotation mark (”).
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· Within the quote or without:
o PERIODS and COMMAS go within the quotation marks.
o SEMICOLONS and COLONS go outside the quotation marks.
o QUESTION and EXCLAMATION marks depend:
§ If the quoted sentence is a question, use a Question Mark (?).
· Jill asked, “Could you repeat the part about the harvest motif?”
§ If the quoted sentence is an exclamation, use an Exclamation mark (!).
· Bobby exclaimed, “I got an A on my Psych. Test!”
§ If the sentence outside the quotation marks is a question, place the (?) outside the end quotation mark.
· Did the teacher just say, “There’s a test tomorrow”?
§ If both sentences are questions, place the (?) outside of the end quotation mark.
· Did she really ask Dr. Housenick, “Are you going to count that quiz grade”?
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· Single and Double Quotes:o If you quote a source who has quoted another source, place single quotes (‘ ’) within the double quotes (“ ”). Perhaps a baseball analogy will clarify this: a single is within a double, but a double is not within a single, because you have to go to first base before you can get to second.
§ Dr. Jane Smith argues, “Claims regarding Shakespeare’s sexuality are futile, baseless, and argumentative at best; the simple truth remains, as Professor Bloom succinctly states, ‘we shall never know’” (86).
Notice
that there is no space between the single and double quotes at the end.
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3) OTHER USES:
· Put “ ” around titles of short items:
o titles of magazine, journal, or newspaper articles; book chapters; short stories; short poems; songs; television episodes
· Put “ ” around slang words:
o The students grimaced when the professor used the term “pimped out” to describe his car.