Use a quote or paraphrase in the text of your essay.
Example: The novel "The Great Gatsby" begins "In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since."
Insert the author's name and the page number in parentheses after the quotation mark but before the period.
Example: The novel "The Great Gatsby" begins "In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since" (Fitzgerald 1).
If you use the author's last name in the sentence, it is not necessary to include the author's last name in the parentheses.
Example: Fitzgerald's novel "The Great Gatsby" begins "In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since" (1).