SE:  SEt-up the quotation

Provide the reader a little introduction to the quote. Give the author's name and some sense of the context of the quote. [Generally, the first time you refer to a particular article, you should give the author's name and the title of the article. Subsequent references to the same article require only the author's name.] In addition, tie the quote into the flow of your own sentence. Use signal phrases like, "according to X, " or "As X says,"   or  "X makes the point that" etc.

QUO: present the QUOtation accurately and with appropriate punctuation

Example:  In "Average Attractions"  Bruce Bower discusses the surprising findings of a study on physical beauty. According to Bower the study supports the idea that "averageness is a critical element of attractiveness" (224).  

Note: The above example uses MLA style.  The same passage in APA style would look like this: 

Bower (1996) discusses the surprising findings of a study on physical beauty. According to Bower  the study supports the idea that "averageness is a critical element of attractiveness" (p. 224).

IA: Intelligent Assessment, Analysis or Application of the quotation

It is almost always important to say something about a quote that you present to your reader. Help your reader see a connection between the quote and your own ideas. Don't assume that the significance of a quote is self-evident to your reader.  

Here is an example, using the above quotation from Bower, now situated within a larger MLA style paragraph :

• red shows the set-up [SE]
• blue shows the quote [QUO]
• purple shows, in this case, how the writer applies the quote to the content under discussion [IA].

Those men and women considered most attractive in today's American culture are usually thought to possess certain features which make them exceptional or outstanding. They are placed on a pedestal and held up as an often unattainable ideal. But are they really so unique? Some recent research seems to suggest otherwise. In "Average Attractions"  Bruce Bower discusses the surprising findings of a study on physical beauty. According to Bower, the study supports the idea that "averageness is a critical element of attractiveness" (224).  Clearly, such a finding  undermines the idea that only  special people deserve to be called beautiful.  It also opens up the possibility that those who see themselves as "merely" average might very well be missing out on their own inherent beauty.

* SEQUOIA = a redwood (a giant, coniferous evergreen tree found in the western U.S.)