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Step 1
Use quotation marks around words and phrases that highlight someone’s unique choice of words. For example, let’s say that during an interview your subject says, “Ugh, I’d rather eat monkey brains than watch Raiders of the Lost Ark again.” You might paraphrase that remark in your paper like this: Mr. Johnson was so unimpressed with Raiders of the Lost Ark that he remarked he’d prefer to “eat monkey brains” than watch that film.
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Step 2
Quotation marks can be used to make irony in your paper clear. For instance, say you had to read the entire series of Harry Potter books for your essay and it was not a pleasant reading for you. You might write this in your essay: Reading the entire collection of Harry Potter books made for such a “lovely” weekend. Fresh air is so overrated.
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Step 3
Use quotation marks to highlight words that may be unfamiliar to whoever reads your paper. Along with the quotation marks, a definition of the word is proper. If the essay for your English teacher is on muscle physiology, it would be appropriate to use quotation marks like this: The “latissimus dorsi” is a wing-shaped muscle that covers a large portion of the back.
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Step 4
Quotation marks may also be used to signify a word you want to put emphasis on in your paper. As an example: She answered “no” to every single question.
Comments
Glencap said
on 11/3/2008 Great article! This is where I need to pay closest attention. 5 stars*****.
GreenGardenChic said
on 11/2/2008 Good info to know about using quotation marks.
jpwriter said
on 11/1/2008 Excellent article and so very helpful. I'm glad someone asked the question about punctuation because I sometimes struggle with that, too. I usually put them inside the quote and end with the quotation mark, but sometimes it just seems tricky. Thanks.
princessg said
on 11/1/2008 Thanks!
Sush56 said
on 11/1/2008 Very useful information!