Quotation Marks, Underlining, and Italics

By: Dalton Passons, Sean Lynch, Ann-Dupree Goodsell, and Jillian Brown

Quotation Marks Quotation marks set off direct

quotations, dialogue, and certain types of titles.

Direct Quotations Direct quotations represent a person’s

exact speech or thought. Direct quotations should be enclosed

with quotation marks. When using quotation marks with

direct quotations, use it as follows: Dalton said, “Sean is so nice,” when

they were talking about him. Sean said, “Thank you for saying that.”

Indirect Quotation Indirect quotations are for the general

meaning of what a person said or thought.

They do not require quotation marks. Ex: The teacher said to finish the

unicorn drawing. Ann-DuPree said she likes dancing

squirrels.

Introductory and Concluding Expressions

Introductory and concluding expressions say who said the quotation.

When an introductory expression precedes a direct quotation, place a comma after it. Then, write the quotation as a full sentence.

Ex: The unicorn said, “All hail the almighty King Sean!”

When concluding expressions follow a direct quotation, write the quotation adding a comma, question mark, or exclamation point at the end. Then, write the concluding expression and be sure to use end punctuation. (You do not need to capitalize the first letter of the concluding expression)

Ex: “All hail the almighty King Sean!” said the unicorn.

Interrupting Expressions An interrupting expression is the same

as an introductory or concluding expression, but it comes in the middle of the quotation.

Ex: “We will go to Krispy Kreme,” said Ann-DuPree, “because I want blueberry donuts.”

When two sentences are in a direct quotation, an interrupting expression can separate the two sentences. End the first sentence with a comma, question mark, or exclamation point and then a quotation mark. Place a period after the interrupting expression, and then write the second quotation as a sentence.

Ex: “This is my unicorn,” said Sean. “His name is Juan!”

Using Other Punctuation Marks

Always place a comma or period inside the final quotation mark.

Place a question mark or exclamation point inside the final quotation if the end mark is part of the quotation.

Place a question mark or exclamation point outside the final quotation mark if the punctuation is part of the whole sentence, not just the quotation.

Quotation in a Quotation Use single quotation marks to set off a

quotation within a quotation. Ex: “Do you know if it was Carlos who

asked, ‘What is for dinner?’ earlier tonight?” I asked.

Explanatory Material Within Quotations

Sometimes you need to add information to a quotation to explain the quotation better.

Use brackets to enclose the extra information located within the quotation.

Ex: Sean announced, “I [the king of the unicorns] declare that all unicorns deserve equal rights!”

Ex: They said, “We [the unicorn people] love your idea!”

Quotation Marks in Titles Use quotation marks to enclose the titles

of short written works such as: title of a short story, title of an article, chapter from a book, title of a short poem, and title mentioned as part of a collection.

Also use quotation marks around the titles of episodes in a television or radio series, titles of a song, and titles of a part of a long musical work

Examples of Quotation Marks in Titles

We read “The Hammer Man” in Literature.

My favorite song is “Southern Comfort Zone” by Brad Paisley.

Dalton watched the episode “Hoa Pili” from Hawaii Five-0.

Ann Dupree read the chapter “Touched” in her book.

Underlining and Italics Use underlining when writing, but use

italics when typing. Use them for these works: title of a

book or play, title of a long poem, title of a magazine or newspaper, title of a movie, title of a television series, title of a long work of music, title of a music album, title of a painting, or title of a sculpture.

Examples of Underlining and Italicizing

Jillian stole the Mona Lisa. Sean listened to the album Based on a

True Story. Dalton has seen every episode of

Drake and Josh. Ann Dupree’s favorite movie is Marley

and Me.

Underline or italicize the names of individual air, sea, and space craft.

Ex: Dalton high jacked The Pinta. Underline or italicize words and letters

used as names for themselves or foreign words.

Ex: Hola means hello in Spanish. Ex: Dalton has an F in lunch.

The End