Answer: Hello! I may be wrong, but think you may have forgotten to provide the literary terms that go after "following". Nonetheless, the quotation (or quotation mark) is an example of punctuation.
Explanation: You'd most commonly see this "(insert word)" around dialogue, citations, or even around words to imply emphasis or sarcasm somehow. Some examples are as follows:
"Go get my football!" the kid said to their friend. (Dialogue)
The text says, "......." (Citation)
She would "love" it if you'd kept played your music so loud at midnight. (Sarcasm, but not a very good example)
They called the dogs mean words, like "dirty" and "bad". (Emphasis)
