Remember that in your final report, you must refer to at least two works in our course packet and three sources that you have found on your own.  You don’t necessarily need to directly quote all of these sources in the body of your report, but DO support your argument by using appropriate quotations from some of them. Here are some tips on doing so more effectively.
 

maintaining a smooth sentence style

When you use supporting quotations, keep in mind that it is rarely effective to use an entire quoted sentence that is not part of one of your own sentences. Generally, you should work to make parts of quoted sentences parts of your own sentences.  Also, remember that even when an entire quoted sentence is part of one of your sentences, it still tends to be less interesting than it could be.  Again, in order to make your own writing flow as smoothly and interestingly as possible, it’s usually best to use only an effective part of a quotation as part of one of your own sentences.  So instead of boring your reader with this:

• Wilson writes, “Who can imagine business leaders looking their workers in the eye and telling them the truth about why their own salaries are so incredibly high?” (Walker, 1994, p. 232)

• Wilson asks if anyone can imagine business leaders “looking their workers in the eye and telling them the truth about why their own salaries are so incredibly high” (Walker, 1994, p.232).

• At one point Wilson says, “I used to think business leaders hate their workers” (Walker, 1994, p.233).

• At one point Wilson admits that he “used to think business leaders hate their workers” (Walker, 1994, p.233).

preparing for and following up on a quotation

In order to integrate a quotation well within a paragraph, a good writer usually writes (1) one sentence to introduce the quotation, (2) a second sentence that includes the quotation, and (3) a third sentence to comment on the quotation:
 

• original (from our article by bell hooks): African Americans are among those students I teach from poor and working-class backgrounds who are most vocal about issues of class.  They express frustration, anger, and sadness about the tensions and stress they experience trying to conform to acceptable white, middle-class behaviors in university settings while retaining the ability to “deal” at home.

• smoothly integrated quotation (in a report on “writer in the wild” Roger Lee): hooks (1994) explains that race is a complicating factor in the frustration many students from working-class backgrounds feel in middle-class settings.  African American students, for instance, “express frustration, anger, and sadness about the tensions and stress they experience trying to conform to acceptable white, middle-class behaviors . . .” (p. 182).  As an Asian American from a middle-class background, Lee feels little tension in his working environment in terms of class difference, but he does admit to some frustrations in terms of racial difference.

leaving something out of a quotation

Notice the ellipsis (the three dots) in the above quotation.  Ellipses indicate, of course, that some unnecessary words have been left out of a quotation.  Note that when you quote just a word or a short phrase, no ellipsis is necessary.  Also, do not use an ellipsis to indicate that you have left out the BEGINNING of a sentence; only missing words from the end or somewhere in the middle of a quoted sentence need to be indicated with an ellipsis.  Finally, note that when you quote parts of more than one sentence, you need to use FOUR dots instead of three.
 

changing or adding words within a quotation

Use brackets to indicate any changes you make to quotations while fitting them into your sentences. Here’s an example, from a short story:

• original:  “You don’t have to call me by it if you don’t want to,” said Wangero.

• somewhat smoothly integrated quotation: The new and supposedly improved Dee tells her mother that she doesn’t “have to call [Dee] by [her new name] if [she doesn’t] want to” (Walker, 1974, p.234).

paraphrasing for clarity

While this quotation is technically correct, and it does do a good job of making part of the original sentence part of the quoting writer's sentence, three changes within such a short quotation make it rather awkward.  In general, if you have to change more than two items in a short quotation, it’s better to find another way to write it.  One way is just to paraphrase it (to paraphrase is to restate someone else’s words in your own words, without quotation marks):

• The new and supposedly improved Dee tells her mother that she doesn’t have to use Dee’s new name if she doesn’t want to.