Instructional Materials for Craig White's Literature Courses

Dropped Quotations a.k.a. unintroduced quotes, failure to introduce a quote, "stand-alone quotes"   + how to introduce quotations

Dropped quotations are documentation and punctuation errors in which quoted materials lack appropriate lead-ins or introductions. A "dropped quotation" typically appears as a separate sentence enclosed by quotation marks, isolated and unintegrated in the text in which it is embedded. 

Most such errors are only matters of punctuation, and people who read little or casually may not notice a problem. Therefore the "dropped quotation" is becoming more prevalent. (Some of my graduate students in Literature make this error chronically and go on to teach freshman composition in our community colleges, so in those cases the problem may pass without correction—or these instructors may have more important problems to confront.)

One major cause of decay in California Highways is the increase in motor traffic over the past two decades.  Cities and populations have expanded and most Californians insist on driving their own vehicles everywhere they go.  "Public transportation has not caught on in most California cities due to their geographic sprawl" (Briggman 10). People are going to drive no matter what.

What's right & wrong with this example?

What's right: The quotation is documented, so the reader could find the larger source indicated by "Briggman" in the essay's Works Cited page.

What's wrong: Since most readers won't jump to another page to get basic information about who "Briggman" is, they won't know what context Briggman is speaking in or how to regard Briggman. The writer should provide this information in the text before the quotation, where the reader can easily integrate source and quotation.

Possible modification (in bold):

One major cause of decay in California Highways is the increase in motor traffic over the past two decades.  Cities and populations have expanded and most Californians insist on driving their own vehicles everywhere they go.  As California Department of Transportation public transportation officer Jill Briggman notes, "Public transportation has not caught on in most California cities due to their geographic sprawl" (10).

General negative rule for "dropped quotations" (though occasional exceptions are permitted):

Quoted material cannot stand alone as a separate sentence in an essay or article. Quotations from an outside source must be directly connected by non-period punctuation or syntactic continuity to the text by the essay's or article's primary author. 

In some circumstances an occasional dropped quotation is more acceptable than others—writers who have already introduced the source, for instance, may dispense with introducing it a second time.

Overall better stylists continue to use the "frame" or "quotation sandwich" method of introducing the speaker or author of a quotation before inserting the quotation itself.

Sophisticated readers who are used to reading essays or articles with citations or quotations react negatively to a failure to introduce quotations properly.

Two negative effects result from an unintroduced quotation:

1. Jumpiness or choppiness in the text-flow, as though someone is rapidly flipping channels on a television—the audience can't tell why we're suddenly encountering a different voice, or who that new voice is, or how the previous voice connects with the new and different source!

2. Identification of the source is so minimal-to-nonexistent that the source's authority is wasted—or in some cases, the source might be assumed to be more important than it really is.

3. If a quotation is not introduced, chances are good that, in the words of They Say / I Say, the quotation will be left to "speak for itself" (43), with more or less success depending on how much your reader already shares your attitudes. Even if you fail to introduce a quotation, you should follow up any quotation with commentary or application to your thesis.

Positive rules for introducing quotations: Quotations may be introduced three ways: comma, colon, or syntactic continuity.

Introducing quotation with comma after phrase or clause

WRONG: T.S. Eliot in his "Tradition and the Individual Talent" uses gender-specific language. "No poet, no artist of any art, has his complete meaning alone. His significance, his appreciation is the appreciation of his relation to the dead poets and artists" (Eliot 29).

RIGHT: T.S. Eliot in his "Tradition and the Individual Talent" uses gender-specific language when he writes, "No poet, no artist of any art, has his complete meaning alone. His significance, his appreciation is the appreciation of his relation to the dead poets and artists" (29).

Introducing quotation with colon after complete independent clause

WRONG: T.S. Eliot in his "Tradition and the Individual Talent" uses gender-specific language. "No poet, no artist of any art, has his complete meaning alone. His significance, his appreciation is the appreciation of his relation to the dead poets and artists" (Eliot 29).

RIGHT: T.S. Eliot in his "Tradition and the Individual Talent" uses gender-specific language: "No poet, no artist of any art, has his complete meaning alone. His significance, his appreciation is the appreciation of his relation to the dead poets and artists" (29).

Introducing quotation with syntactic continuity

WRONG: T.S. Eliot in his "Tradition and the Individual Talent" uses gender-specific language. "No poet, no artist of any art, has his complete meaning alone. His significance, his appreciation is the appreciation of his relation to the dead poets and artists" (Eliot 29).

RIGHT: T.S. Eliot in his "Tradition and the Individual Talent" uses gender-specific language. He argues, for instance, that "no poet, no artist of any art, has his complete meaning alone. His significance, his appreciation is the appreciation of his relation to the dead poets and artists" (29).

Sources: Common MLA Errors, Dropped Quotes Must Die!, Avoiding Dropped Quotations, L. Jonaitis at Bergen Community College