Surprise! It’s an armadillo!

Quotations should never just be dropped into a paragraph with no warning or explanation. “Though readers probably won’t experience the same level of grief and regret when surprised by a quotation as opposed to an armadillo, I submit that there’s a kinship between the experiences” (Stedman 244).

Do you see what we did there? The quotation above came out of nowhere. You don’t know who “Stedman” is or why we’re quoting them. Should you trust Stedman’s judgment on this? And after reading the quote, you may have found yourself scratching your head about the armadillo. Let’s start over:

In his essay “Annoying Ways People Use Sources,” Kyle D. Stedman refers to unintroduced quotes as “armadillo roadkill.” Like armadillos on the highway, quotes can come out of nowhere and disrupt an otherwise smooth drive. “Though readers probably won’t experience the same level of grief and regret when surprised by a quotation as opposed to an armadillo,” Stedman points out archly, “I submit that there’s a kinship between the experiences” (Stedman 244). All jokes aside, Stedman’s point is that quotations need to be introduced and explained.

Signal Phrases

Writers typically introduce direct quotations with signal phrases. A signal phrase identifies the source author or speaker by name and/or role along with a verb relating how the quotation was delivered.

David Bartholomae writes that “It is very hard for [students] to take on the role—the voice, the person—of an authority whose authority is rooted in scholarship, analysis, or research” (6).

Varying your signal phrases can add panache to your writing. For the quote above, we could also write: “David Bartholomae remarks that…” or “David Bartholomae reminds us that…”.

Here are a few of the most common signal phrases:

• Introducing a statement:
  • remarks, observes, points out, reports, says, writes, mentions, explains
• Introducing a claim or argument:
  • suggests, claims, argues, asserts
• Introducing an element that the author focuses on:
  • highlights, emphasizes, draws attention to
• Introducing an element that the author disagrees with:
  • critiques, challenges, refutes, denies, dismisses
• Introducing an element that the author agrees with:
  • endorses, supports

The signal phrase can precede, follow, or even split the quotation.

Here’s an example of how a writer uses signal phrases in each place:

• Beginning: As Alexander Hamilton famously said, “Give all power to the many; they will oppress the few. Give all power to the few; they will oppress the many.”
• Middle: “Give all power to the many,” as Alexander Hamilton said, and “they will oppress the few. Give all power to the few; they will oppress the many.”
• End: “Give all power to the many; they will oppress the few. Give all power to the few; they will oppress the many;” these lines, spoken by Alexander Hamilton, reiterate how power can be abusive.

Note: Signal phrases should be used not only with direct quotations, but also with paraphrase and summary.

• Direct Quote: As Davis (1978) reported, “If the existence of a signing ape was unsettling for linguists, it was also startling news for animal behaviorists” (p. 26).
• Paraphrase: According to Davis (1978), when they learned of an ape’s ability to use sign language, both linguists and animal behaviorists were taken by surprise.
• Summary: Smith (2010) argues that clear writing depends upon not making assumptions about the audience’s knowledge of a subject. Otherwise, communication will not be effective.

Tip: Many academic writers use the present tense when introducing quotes, because the text still states the quote. In cases where research has ended, however, it is also common to see something like “The study found…”

In MLA style, you introduce the quotation with a signal phrase that includes the author’s last name. Put the page number in parentheses at the end of the quotation before the ending punctuation mark.

As Davis reports, “If the existence of a signing ape was unsettling for linguists, it was also startling news for animal behaviorists” (26).

In APA style, you add the date of publication in parentheses:

Xu (2021) adds…

Integrating Summary or Paraphrase with Quotations

Usually, you don’t need to include the full paragraph to make a point. Including the full paragraph could distract your reader from the main idea. Instead, just use the material that you need to make your point. For example, a student, Alma, is writing a summary and response essay on “Getting My Goat” by Ann Vanderhoof.

This is a paragraph from Vanderhoof’s article:

“When it comes to dinner, goat and I have a troubled relationship. It stems mostly from a leg I was served once in the Galápagos—more bone and gristle than flavor—but my antipathy has been kept alive over the years by the odd goat roti I’ve encountered here and there. Still, I’ve always been willing to give it another chance.” (Vanderhoof)

Here’s how Alma quotes Vanderhoof’s article:

In the piece, “Getting My Goat,” Ann Vanderhoof (2009) maintains that even though she has had a “troubled relationship” with eating goat roti, she is still “willing to give it another chance.”

As you can see, the writer summarized some of the main ideas but quoted key phrases to give readers a sense of Vanderhoof’s tone.

Unpack Quotations

A quotation, like any piece of evidence, cannot speak for itself. Academic researchers have to interpret evidence for their readers, so readers can understand how the evidence relates to the claim being developed. Consider the following example from a paper on social media:

Foucault’s theory of “panopticism” can help to understand the ways in which social media control our actions. As Foucault puts it: “He who is subjected to a field of visibility, and who knows it, assumes responsibility for the constraints of power; he makes them play spontaneously upon himself; he inscribes in himself the power relation in which he simultaneously plays both roles; he becomes the principle of his own subjection” (203). In Foucault’s telling, the prisoner in the panopticon never knows when he is being watched and thus always feels watched. This moves the burden of discipline from the jailer to the prisoner. Rather than following the rules only when he knows he is being watched, the prisoner starts to obey all the time, because he feels watched all the time. He “plays both roles”: the prisoner and the jailer. …

Foucault’s quote is fairly dense and difficult, so it’s important to explain to the reader how the quote is being interpreted and what the reader is supposed to take away from it. Note how part of the quotation returns later in the paragraph when the writer pulls out the most important part for their argument:  “He ‘plays both roles’: the prisoner and the jailer.” Now it should be fairly clear how this author could segue into a discussion of social media: How does social media make us play the role of the prisoner and the jailer?

No armadillos or goats were harmed in the creation of this teaching material.