Skip to Main Content
Go to Penn Libraries homepage   Go to Guides homepage

Craft of Prose: Examples of Quotation

Using Direct Quotes

It is essential to cite your sources, whether you are paraphrasing or using direct quotation or reusing text word for word. We designate direct quotes using quotation marks and we provide attribution through a citation to text from which you drew the quote. 

Below you will find examples of how to set up and cite a direct quote. 

Quoting from a Source

Original

"In these contexts, schools become sites of fear rather than sites of engagement, reflecting the limitations rather than the potential of students."

from Gadsden, Vivian L. “Gender, Race, Class, and the Politics of Schooling in the Inner City.” The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 673, no. 1 (September 2017): 12–31. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716217723614.

Plagiarism - Direct Quotation

When schools shift their focus from education to discipline, they become sites of fear rather than sites of engagement (Gadsden 18).

This quote doesn't use quotation marks, even though it cites the source.

Not Plagiarism - Direct Quotation

When schools shift their focus from education to discipline, they "become sites of fear rather than site of engagement" (Gadsden 18).

Plagiarism - Unique Terms or Specific Language

When schools become disciplinary sites of fear rather than places where students feel nurtured or excited about learning, those students are less likely to perform well. 

This quote doesn't use quotations marks. Even though it is only three words, it is clearly a turn of phrase that is Gadsden's and carries her ideas. 

Not Plagiarism - Unique Terms or Specific Language

When schools become disciplinary "sites of fear" rather than places where students feel nurtured or excited about learning, those students are less likely to perform well (Gadsden 18). 

Quoting One Source's Quotation from Another Source

When you find a quotation that you want to use, but did not find it directly from the original source, but through one author quoting another author, you need to be precise about where you are taking the quotation. 

Original text

Moving beyond an anticorporate focus, the CFS movement recognizes community gardens as "commons ... that expand and deepen cultural and ecological vision and mold citizenship" (DeLind 2002, 222).

from Baker, Lauren E. "Tending cultural landscapes and food citizenship in Toronto's community gardens." The Geographical Review, vol. 94, no. 3, 2004, p. 305-325.

Plagiarism

Community gardens are more than spaces to grow food. They are also spaces "that expand and deepen cultural and ecological vision and mold citizenship" (DeLind 2002, 222).

This quote is plagiarism because it presents the article author's research as the writer's own research. The best scholarly practice would be to read the DeLind article, choose your own selection from it for your analysis, and then cite DeLind. Otherwise you need to cite that it is quoted in the Baker article.

Not Plagiarism

Community gardens are more than spaces to grow food. As Laura DeLind says, they also "expand and deepen cultural and ecological vision and mold citizenship" (qtd. in Baker, 309).

Penn Libraries Home Search the Catalog
(215) 898-7555