Quote Sparingly: People read your writing to see what you have to say. That's especially true when the text or topic you're writing about is widely available. There's often a tendency to over-quote (see, these things I'm claiming really are supported by evidence). Evidence is important to have but, to avoid producing a paper that is a pastiche of quotations, you should quote sparingly and meaningfully. Especially in shorter papers, aim to be representative as opposed to exhaustive in your quotations. That is, don’t try to quote all of the evidence for your argument: doing so would leave no room for your actual argument, which should be the focus of your paper. (Even though you might not be able to include all of the evidence that supports your argument, that argument must be accountable to all of the evidence in your source, even if it isn’t quoted.)

When to Quote More Liberally: Exceptions to the guideline to quote sparingly include, for example, when you're quoting from a manuscript in an archive that others can't access, or when you've interviewed or surveyed people. Those (and many others) are clear cases where it's important to give readers quotations they otherwise wouldn't be able to access. 

When to Quote (the Text): With respect to the text you're analyzing, quote only when the way in which something is said – the language as opposed to the idea – is important. If you are analyzing just the information, not the words, then paraphrase or summarize.

• In The Defence of Poesy, Philip Sidney claims that human being is defined by a dialectic of reason and desire (22).
• In The Defence of Poesy, Philip Sidney imagines a contest between the reason that makes humans like angels and the appetite that makes us like animals: “Our erected wit maketh us know what perfection is, and yet our infected wil keepeth us from reaching unto it” (22).

When to Quote (the Critics): Quote sparringly especially when dealing with secondary criticism (as opposed to your primary text[s], which you should quote from more liberally). Usually, you should quote other critics only when (1) they provide key terms or ideas for your argument, (2) you couldn't summarize or paraphrase them more susinctly, or (3) you’re arguing against them. If you're going to take issue with someone's ideas, it's best to let them speak for themselves (and that helps prevent you from misrepresenting their position, which often happens in critical disputes). Otherwise, summarize and paraphrase their ideas in your own words.

Introduce and Analyze Quotes: When you quote, be sure to orient your reader as to where in a text your quotation is coming from. Also, when introducing a quote, direct your reader as to how you want him or her to read the quoted passage: tell your reader why the way in which the statement is made is important, either thematically or rhetorically. Then, after you’ve given the quote, don’t make the mistake of thinking that a quote will speak for itself. Be sure to analyze the quoted material. The only reason to quote something is because it needs analysis: if it doesn’t need analysis, it doesn’t need to be quoted. This is especially true with block quotations. If you’re going to block quote, you’ve got to give a healthy dose of analysis. If it doesn’t need all that analysis, then it doesn’t need to be block quoted.

• A philosophical account of the Defense might point out that the notion of an “erected wit” is a Humanist commonplace, while the notion of an “infected wil” is a Protestant commonplace. But a rhetorical account of the Defense would also recognize that Sidney first promises the salvation of “erected wit” and then reveals the reality of the “infected wil.” After situating his reader in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, Sidney’s says, “Our erected wit maketh us know what perfection is, and yet our infected wil keepeth us from reaching unto it” (22). Sidney leads the reader to the Mountaintop of Hope before cascading down into the Valley of Despair. Humankind’s “erected wit” allows them to know perfection: just as Adam was capable of knowing perfection in the Garden of Eden, so too are humans in the fallen world capable of understanding “what perfection is.” Sidney quickly closes off the possibility of perfection, however, by crystallizing the present reality of imperfection: humankind’s “infected wil” prevents us from desiring what we know to be good. Importantly, Sidney does not argue that an “erected wit” is the remedy for our “infected wil.” He says just the opposite: an “infected wil” prevents us from following our “erected wit.” The specific trajectory of this statement moves from a notion of perfection back to a notion of imperfection. By producing the promise of perfection, and then making readers suffer the reality of imperfection, Sidney recreates the paradox of a traditionally Christian culture like England having to account for the emergent knowledge announced by Humanist thinkers in the sixteenth century.

Punctuating Quotes: Don’t float quotations. (This is the same point as that made above with respect to orienting your quotations in your text and introducing them by directing your reader as to how you want him or her to read them.) Make all quotes a part of one of your own sentences by using a comma or a colon, or by making the quote a part of your own clause. If the quotation is more than one clause, it should be the last part of your sentence. Use a comma to introduce a shorter quotation, one that is a single sentence or less; use a colon to introduce longer and multi-sentence quotations, including block quotes. Don’t divide a sentence with a long quotation; use a colon, then let the quote end your sentence. That is, if your quote must be set off by a comma or a colon, it should probably end your sentence. If the quotation is more than one sentence, you must introduce it with a colon, not a comma.

• As Philip Sidney writes, “Our erected wit maketh us know what perfection is, and yet our infected wil keepeth us from reaching unto it” (22).
• After juxtaposing our “wit” and our “wil,” Sidney proceeds to claim that this juxtaposition “will by few be understood, and by fewer graunted” (23).
• In The Defence of Poesy, Philip Sidney does not expect his insight on the battle between will and wit to be accepted by his audience: “Our erected wit maketh us know what perfection is, and yet our infected wil keepeth us from reaching unto it. But these arguments will by few be understood, and by fewer graunted” (22-23).

Reproducing Quotes: Even if it violates usage rules, reproduce the exact wording, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation of the original; however, a capital or lower-case letter at the beginning of a quotation, or punctuation at the end, can be changed, if necessary, to suit the needs of your own sentence.

Punctuation in Quotes: If the quotation is a question or an exclamation, the quotation should include the question mark or exclamation point.

• As Sidney asks in The Defence of Poesy, “What childe is there, that comming to a play, and seeing Thebes written in great letters upon an old Doore, doth beleeve that it is Thebes?” (103).

Quotes within Quotes: For a quotation within a quotation, uses single quotation marks (‘).

• According to Brain Cummings, “Calvin limited very precisely the claims which the ‘erected wit’ may make” (269).

Block Quoting: Block-quote when the passage is four or more lines of verse or more than four lines of text on your page. It should be indented one inch, single-spaced, with no quotation marks, and your citation should follow the punctuation of the text.

• Marvell’s poem “To His Coy Mistress” opens in the subjunctive mood:

Had we but world enough, and time,
This coyness, lady, were no crime.
We would sit down and think which way
To walk, and pass our long love’s day;
Thou by the Indian Ganges’ side
Shouldst rubies find; I by the tide
Of Humber would complain. (1-7)

Quoting Verse: When you are quoting less than three lines in your prose, use slash lines to separate lines of verse (with a space on either side of the slash).

• Marvell begins by claiming, “Had we but world enough, and time, / This coyness, lady, were no crime” (1-2).

Quoting Drama: For drama, cite quotations by act, scene, and line. For example, in Shakespeare’s Richard III, Richard says, “Like the formal Vice, Iniquity, / I moralize two meanings in one word” (3.1.82-83). This is a citation of Act III, Scene 1, Lines 82-83 of Shakespeare’s Richard III. For the purposes of citation, it doesn’t matter that this passage comes on page 49. Cite drama by act, scene, and line. Note that (as in the last example) drama can include passages of verse (e.g., in Shakespeare’s plays, sometimes the royals will speak in verse and the commoners will speak in prose). When quoting verse in drama, be sure to follow the above directions for quoting verse.

Ellipsis: Use an ellipsis ( … ) to indicate an omission in a quotation. Never omit material from a quotation if the omission changes the meaning or tone of the quotation. To omit words within a quotation, use a three-period ellipsis with a space on both sides. To omit sentences, use a four-period ellipsis. Don’t use ellipses at the beginning or end of a quotation.

• Marvell and his lady are on opposite sides of the world: “Thou by the Indian Ganges…. I by the … Humber” (5-7).

Interpolation: To substitute a word – a name for a pronoun, for example – or insert a comment mid-quotation, enclose it in square brackets ( […] ). It is much better to adapt your sentence to the quote than to interpolate.

• It is perhaps ironic, if not cynical, that Marvell can write poetry to “pass [his] long love’s day” (4).

Quotation and Revision: You will/should probably find that as you do more revision you also do less quotation. The tighter and tighter your argument gets, the more focused the evidence to support that argument becomes. In the movement from draft(s) to revision, be prepared to reduce quotation as you find your footing in an argument.

Note: Citations here follow MLA style; rules and guidelines for quotation are roughly the same in all styles, but rules for citation differ.