Quotations are essential in a literature essay and must be accurate. They may be brief. There are two ways of introducing them:
1) Short ones may be run into your sentence, enclosing them in quotation marks:
After hearing that Malcolm is to be Prince of Cumberland, Macbeth sees it as a threat: "That is a step/On which I must fall down, or else o'erleap". The end of the line is shown by a forward slash.
If you need to change the pronoun to make the quotation fit your sentence, use square brackets: Macbeth fears that this is a step, "On which [he] must fall down, or else o'erleap."
2) Longer quotations should start on a new line. Do not use quotation marks but indent the passage.
Macbeth hears that Malcolm is to be made Prince of Cumberland and falls into private thoughts:
The Prince of Cumberland! - That is a step
On which I must fall down, or else o'erleap,
For in my way it lies.
(Act I, sc. iv, line 48 - you do not need to give these references)
Some useful hints about correct English and tips on literary analysis by Barbara Daniels (Doc Barbara) an ex-teacher with an Oxford M.A. in English Language and Literature and a London Ph. D
Single inverted commas
Although it is usual to enclose a word under discussion in single inverted commas, I have chosen instead to emphasise it in red to prevent confusion with apostrophes.
These posts are always short and clear so that they can be read easily on a mobile if you follow by email (the red may not show, however!) This is completely free.
These posts are always short and clear so that they can be read easily on a mobile if you follow by email (the red may not show, however!) This is completely free.
Thank you. This is extremely helpful.
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