How to Use Information

A dropped quote is a quote from someone else that is placed in your writing but it stands alone and is not introduced and not integrated into a sentence of your own.  It has no context , so it is difficult to understand. It interrupts the flow of your writing, as the reader must jump abruptly from your words to someone else’s and back again.

Dropped quote example: A number of journalists have been critical of genetic engineering. “The problem is, no one really knows the long-term effects of such complex genetic manipulation—and the potential dangers to humans and the environment are substantial” (Turner 21).  

The quote stands on its own, and it’s not clear who Turner is or why this person is quoted.

In order to successfully integrate quotations into your writing, you need to introduce or in some way lead into the quotation so that readers know whose words are being quoted or why the quotation is important.

Integrated quote example:  A number of journalists have been critical of genetic engineering.  Lisa Turner, in an article for the magazine Better Nutrition, calls attention to the unpredictable nature of genetic engineering:  She states, “The problem is, no one really knows the long-term effects of such complex genetic manipulation—and the potential dangers to humans and the environment are substantial” (21).

In this sentence, the quote is anchored.  We know who said it and why she is an authority, and it now flows in the logic of the sentence.