Fiducia TogetherQuotation
Also called Embedded quotation, Evidence
Words taken from the text to prove a point. Short, embedded, and analysed.
Please note: This page explains a word or a process in education. It is general information about the system, the law and the guidance in England — not advice about your child, your school or your exam. If a decision is going against you, get advice from one of the free services we link to before you agree to anything or miss a deadline. If you are revising, check your own exam board's specification: boards word things differently and yours is the one that marks you.
What it is
A quotation is text quoted exactly, in quotation marks, to evidence a claim. Embedding means fitting it into your own sentence rather than dropping it in as a separate one.
Where it applies
All essay subjects; in English it is assessed directly.
How it works
A quotation proves the point exists in the text. It does not make the point — that is the explanation's job — which is why a paragraph that ends on a quotation has stopped one step early.
Short quotations allow close analysis of specific words. Long ones usually cannot be analysed at all in the space available.
How to use it in your work
Embed: "Macbeth's 'vaulting ambition' is his own diagnosis" is better than a quotation sitting alone after a colon.
Quote a few words, not a few lines. Then analyse a single word from within the quotation — that is where the higher marks are.
Learn quotations in short chunks, and learn ones that can serve more than one theme.
Where to get help
Your teacher, and your board's mark scheme for how evidence is credited.
Revise this with a song
These are ours. We write revision songs because a lot of people remember a tune when they cannot remember a page, and because revising out loud in the kitchen beats staring at a highlighter.
- The English Exam Survival Song How to approach the English papers under time pressure.
Where to read more
Last reviewed 2026-08-28 by Fiducia Together · Next review due 2027-08-28
Please note: This page explains a word or a process in education. It is general information about the system, the law and the guidance in England — not advice about your child, your school or your exam. If a decision is going against you, get advice from one of the free services we link to before you agree to anything or miss a deadline. If you are revising, check your own exam board's specification: boards word things differently and yours is the one that marks you.