To Quote or Not to Quote

To quote or not to quote...that is the question. First, a distinction ought to be made between the need for quotations as opposed to the need for citations in an essay. Citations are simply crediting the work parenthetically after an idea is borrowed, without quoting. Quotations should be used more discriminatingly; as scholarly as these excerpts make your writing look, many of the author's ideas can be summed up in your own words and cited.

So, when is it appropriate to quote? One occasion is when the language of the text itself is a factor in your argument. For instance, if you were writing about Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn to showcase the racial barriers between characters, a summary of a line would simply not create the same effect as say quoting "'NOW, old Jim, you're a free man again, and I bet you won't ever be a slave no more.' 'En a mighty good job it wuz, too, Huck. It 'uz planned beautiful, en it 'uz done beautiful; en dey ain't NOBODY kin git up a plan dat's mo' mixed-up en splendid den what dat one was'" (38-39). Here, Jim, the runaway slave, is juxtaposed with the title character. Specifically, Twain's use of phonetic vernacular exemplifies the racial and cultural barriers between the two characters. In this case, you see, a summary of the line would simply not create the same effect.

Other times "to quote:"

• If the text holds historical value
  
• If a particular line or section jumps out at you
• If the line(s) is essential to the storyline, argument, character development, or context as explored in your essay

-James Morganti