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Direct Quotation:
A di same as the original and must be put in quotation marks. Everything within the quotation marks, that is to say, not only the words but also the spelling, capitalization and interior punctuation, should be exactly the same as the original.
About quotation in the thesis
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When we write an academic paper, we almost always need to borrow ideas, statistics, and previous research findings to strengthen our own ideas, to explain our own arguments, and to support our own evidence. Such practice not only fits our research into the larger picture of a particular field of research, but also lends a basis and persuasiveness to our arguments.
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When we need to borrow a special term or expression that is a particular writer’s invention and carries special meaning; When we need the original wording for the purpose of further discussion.
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When to use direct quotations
When the original wording expresses the idea so precisely and succinctly that we cannot improve on it;
When the direct quotation comes from an authority in a particular field and therefore strengthens our point of view;
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3. Treat the direct quotation as part of the sentence and punctuate accordingly if it is not introduced by a complete sentence:
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Sample 2
• To Sinclair Lewis, “Dreiser…more than any other man, marching alone, usually unappreciated, often hated, has cleared the trail from Victorian and Howellsian timidity and gentility in the American fiction to honesty, boldness and passion of life.”
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How to use direct quotation
1. When we do quote, we should make every effort to work the direct quotation into our own statement so that it may become part of an organic whole.
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Generally speaking, there are three legal ways of using outside sources and information:
Direct quotation Paraphrasing Summarizing
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Each of these three ways is used extensively in academic research. As a matter of fact, academic research requires the combined use of these three methods. If a research paper is written without using any outside ideas or information, that paper might be considered as deficient in academic value.
2. Use a colon if our direct quotation is introduced by a complete sentence:
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Sample 1
• Sinclair Lewis, the first American Nobel Prize winner for literature in 1930, believed that Dreiser better deserved the prize: “ Dreiser…more than any other man, marching alone, usually unappreciated, often hated, has cleared the trail from Victorian and Howellsian timidity and gentility in the American fiction to honesty, boldness and passion of life.”