a) Put quotations in quotation marks
b) In English both quotation marks are on top: “This is a quotation.”
c) Keep quotations as short as possible and avoid unnecessary ones.
d) Try to connect them within the sentence to keep it fluent.
a. Parenthetical citations (Zeilenangaben):
a) You must support all your quotations and statements about the text with parenthetical citations.
b) You must also give line numbers when you paraphrase and/or summarize the text. c) Put the numbers after e.g. (l. 11) / (ll.12-15). Stick to one system.
d) Use a hyphen to indicate passages of several lines e.g. (ll.12-15)
e) Use commas to refer to separate lines e.g. (ll. 12, 15, 21)
f) Use a slash to separate the page number from the line number(s) e.g. (p. 9/ ll. 12-15). The full stop comes after the parenthetical citation.
b. Square brackets [ ]:
a) Use square brackets to indicate changes or additions to the text.
b) Try to avoid unnecessary changes and/or additions.
c. Ellipsis (Auslassungszeichen) between square brackets […]:
a) Use an ellipsis between square brackets to make clear that something has been left out in a quotation.
b) Be careful not to change the sense of the text.
c) Avoid unnecessary ellipses.
d) If you leave out words make sure that the resulting sentence is complete and grammatically correct.
How to quote from a text (based on Menrath)
General rules:
Do not use long quotations – they can never replace your own analysis.
When quoting from the text, always explain the quotation in your own words. Do not overdo it – a few carefully selected quotations are certainly more
worth than a text that contains quotations only.
When referring to an important part of the text without quoting the exact
words, give the page(s) and / or line(s).
Mind common abbreviations:
o one page or line: p. / l.
o more pages or lines: pp. / ll.
o the following page(s) or line(s): f. / ff.
Omissions of any kind are indicated by three dots (…).
Shorter quotations should be integrated into your sentence.
If the grammar of the quotation does not fit your sentence structure, adapt the quotation by making the necessary additions in square brackets […]
Examples:
1. “Ought to have a look at the proud father. They`re usually the worst sufferers in these little affairs,”… (original text)
Nick´s father calls the Caesarian operation a “little affair” (p.7, l.28). (your analysis)
2. “That´s one for the medical journal, George,”… (original text)
After the successful Caesarian Nick´s father shows signs of vanity and boastfulness (p.7, ll.21-24). (your analysis)
3. “First, to help every child begin school healthy and ready to learn.” (Clinton´s address to the nation, original text)
Clinton starts with his most important point: “First, to help every child begin school healthy and ready to learn” (l.42) (your analysis)
4. The narrator of the story interrupts the flow of his narrative no less than five times with the announcement that at last he really wants to stick to the real subject of his story: “Well, I must … let you in on what I´m talkin about” (p.11, ll.29-30); “that´s what I´m writing the storyabout” (p.13,g ll.3-4);
“that´s what I´m writing about … here it is” (p.14, l.33f.); “I´ll tell you about that” (p.16, l.11); “here is what happened” (p.17, ll.5ff.). (your analysis)
5. “Countless sparrows were twittering in the eaves.” (original text)
The protagonist can smell the breath of rain that was in the air and hear the “countless sparrows [which] were twittering in the eaves” (p.3, l.26f.) (your analysis)
6. “She knew as well as he did that his work brought in the regular money, hers was only occasional.”
(original text)
All is sweetness and light, but the reader suspects that this will not have been the last fight. The husband will not recognise his wife´s right to a job, it will still be “his work [that brings] in the regular money” while hers will remain “only occasional” (p.38, ll.12-13). (your analysis)
7. “She was not worried. She had nothing to hide. Guilty of nothing, smuggling nothing across the border. Wanted to cheat no one. Not worth it, in Renée´s opinion.” (original text)
If one is “guilty of nothing,” one has “nothing to hide” (p.23, l.56). Three times Renée repeats this to herself (cf. p.43, l.12; p.47, ll.45ff.). (your analysis)
8. Although Brandon himself no doubt would take exception to such a question, he is quite middle-class in outlook. The most obvious sign of his bourgeois upbringing is his consciousness of the worth of a neat appearance (cf. p.34, l.2; p.36, l.45f.). (your analysis)
9. If you quote from poems or plays in verse form use slashes to mark the end of a line (e.g. the first two lines in Romeo and Juliet would have to be quoted like this: “Two households, both alike in dignity,/ In fair Verona, where we lay or scene,” ll.1-2)
