8/B - QUOTATIONS IN ACADEMIC WRITING

EDITING QUOTES

* Editing a quotation doesn't happen often. * If a quote contains a mistake, it can be hard to know if it is the CLIENT or part of the ORIGINAL TEXT. * There are some situations where you may need to correct or edit quoted text. If you find an error: * You can offer suggestions for how the client could amend or * signpost the error in their work.

WHAT ARE BLOCK QUOTES?

* Longer quotations are known as BLOCK QUOTES & are presented differently. * The rule for using block quotes usually applies to passages of 40 WORDS OR MORE. * To show that these are not the writers own words, they should be set on a new line and indented: - 'Bronte's appeal is her passionate use of language. Look, for example, at Catherine's claims about her love for Heathcliff': * My great miseries in this world have been Heathcliff's miseries: and I watched and felt each from the beginning: my great thought in living his himself. etc. 'The beat here changes continually, while the tone forges a tempestuous pace and mood'. - *Must check style guide because rules for block quotes are different on each one.

WHAT ARE QUOTATIONS?

* TEXTUAL BORROWING - Academic writers must acknowledge anything they have drawn upon from texts written by other authors. * So QUOTES and REFERENCING are key elements of academic writing. *You must ensure that all quoted material is clearly and correctly cited. * Your main duty as a proofreader (when it comes to quotations) is making sure they are *presented and formatted correctly* * You may also need to make minor edits to quoted text in some situations.

ADVICE FOR WHEN PROOFREADING QUOTES.

* Take care when PROOFREADING QUOTES, especially if you DO NOT have access to the source text. * If you suspect your client has made a mistake, or feel a quote could be presented more clearly, your options are as follows: 1) If you are unsure about anything, leave a comment telling the writer that their quote seems incorrect and ask them to check it. 2) If it is clear there is a typo (e.g. hwo instead of two) you can correct it, but leave a comment for the writer asking them to check the edit. 3) If it is a quote that is easy to check, you can look it up and correct it. But this is risky, especially if the source text has been translated. - Make sure to highlight your changes and leave a comment asking the writer to check their source. * Also, remember that the rules for presenting ellipses vary depending on the style guide being followed. If you are suggesting the writer uses an ellipsis to edit a quote, remind them about the style they should use and the importance of consistency.

HOW TO INTRODUCE QUOTES?

*Quotes should not appear out of context*. * They should be INTEGRATED WITHIN the SURROUNDING TEXT in some way. 1) * QUOTING A FULL SENTENCE - - One approach to working quotes into surrounding text involves quoting an entire sentence. A) When this follows from a PARTIAL sentence, it is often introduced with a COMMA: - 'As Henry Ford (1916, p.23) said on the importance of tradition, "History is more or less bunk." ' B) However, if this quote follows from a COMPLETE sentence, it is usually introduced with a COLON: - 'Jobs (2009, p.23) poses an important question about our working lives: 'If today were the last day of your life, would you want to do what you are about to do today?" ' * BOTH CASES - have quotation marks around the quote. 2) *QUOTING A PARTIAL SENTENCE - Another approach is to give a PARTIAL QUOTATION within a sentence: - 'Bryson (1998, p.88) notes that "42 species of mammal" disappeared from America's national parks in the twentieth century.' * the short quotation is inserted DIRECTLY into the surrounding text and becomes part of a complete sentence. *The only extra punctuation needed is QUOTATION MARKS.

EDITING QUOTES - USING SQUARE BRACKETS

- These are used to correct minor errors in the present text: - 'She had a flat tire', change to, 'She had a flat [tyre]' * Correcting an error with square brackets is appropriate if there is no reason to preserve the original text (i.e. if its simply an error rather than archaic spelling). *Square brackets can also be used to edit quotes so that they fit the surrounding text: - The poet is for famous for 'drink[ing] and debauchery'. - *Here the original text might have said 'his love of drink and debauchery' but it has been amended to make it fit the sentence in which it appears.

EDITING QUOTES - ELLIPSES

- These can be used to show that part of the quote has been omitted: - The animal cruelty resource...has achieved some success - * Here, extraneous information has been removed. * You might need to do this if editing a quotation for concision. * CRUCIALLY, the text that remains must form a COMPLETE SENTENCE. * I.E. the text before and after the ellipses must form a full sentence. *If you spot this - leave a comment for the client noting the quote is not a complete sentence, *Prompt them to check the source and make amendments accordingly. * You would not make the amendments yourself normally.

EDITING QUOTES - USING SIC ERAS SCRIPTUM (thus it was written)

- This is used to show that a quote has been reproduced exactly as it appears in the source text. * In academic writing it usually signals an unusual or archaic spelling: - Robin and his merrie [sic] men.... - * 'Sic' should be enclosed in SQUARE BRACKETS and is not normally italicised (check style guide). * Normally placed immediately after the incorrect word. * Placed at the end of a sentence if there are many errors in the statement.