What Is an Embedded Quotation?
An embedded quotation is a quotation that is taken from a piece of work such as a play, poem or novel and is placed within another piece of work such as a paper. Embedded quotations must be shown with quotation marks and should be short and to the point.
Embedded quotes should fall within a 2-3 line range, though it is possible to use longer quotations. When using longer quotations, the quotation must be formatted differently following the MLA guidelines and must be indented from the rest of the writing. Writers are encouraged to select quoted material carefully, by using only excerpt fragments and block quotations.
A writer should do their best to incorporate any quotes that they use into the piece by providing context and interweaving the quote into the piece. There are several ways in which this can be done. Writers can lead into the quote, by using a colon. Writers can first state the speaker or author of the quote, in order to introduce it into the written piece. Writers can also separate the quote by mentioning the speaker or author of the quote in the middle. This last method of separation can help the writer showcase the nuance of a specific quote’s meaning or message to make it particularly effective.
