Using Quotations

Use them to make yourself look GREAT.

Using Quotations Introduce your idea, then use a

quotation to support it.

Example of effective useThere are so many important people

cheating, “We’ve got scientists, professors who cheat, journalists, lawyers and CEO’s who cheat…” (Griffin). Because so many “important” people cheat, it’s no wonder students believe it’s acceptable.

When you use quotations, you needContext for the quotation

There needs to be a purpose for every quotation

Make sure the quotation fits the idea.

A big idea that the quotation is supporting

Example of problem created by quotations without context

“Cheating is a shortcut and it’s a pretty efficient one in a lot of cases” (Slobogan). The student thinks cheating is an easy way to get out of doing work.

Example of quotation without clear purpose

When the narrator had just finished hiding the body, the

police arrive. He invites them in and they sit and chat. The narrator claims to have heard an odd noise starting to emerge:the beating of the old man’s heart. He soon goes out of control, “It grew louder-louder-LOUDER!” (Poe 83). He begins throwing chairs and screaming at the noise that clearlyisn’t there. He is the only one hears it. Also, he thought he

hears the beating of the old man’s heart, when really, it is his own.

Introduce Idea FirstWhen people are insane, they cannot control their behavior.

The narrator shows he has no control over his behavior. After he has just finished hiding the body, the police arrive. He invites them in and they sit and chat. The narrator claims to have heard an odd noise starting to emerge: the beating of the old man’s heart. He soon goes out of control, “It grew louder-louder-LOUDER!” (Poe 83). He begins throwing chairs and screaming at the noise that clearly isn’t there. He is the only one who hears it.

Quotations must relate to idea being developed

Example of quotation not relating

I cheat because I forget to do something or worry about my grades. There are no excuses for cheating though. “I believe cheating is not wrong. People expect us to attend 7 classes a day, keep a 4.0 GPA, not go crazy and turn in all our work the next day. What are we supposed to do, fail?” (Slobogan).

Give the idea, then the evidence to support it

Mr. Morris believed Mr. White should not use the monkey’s paw. When White asked for it, Morris simply said, “…don’t blame me for what happens. If you’re smart, you’ll throw it back in the fire,” (Jacobs 189).

How do I document in text?

In Among the Hidden, Haddix shows that population policy can lead people to confuse right from wrong. Luke shows he understands this because he realizes “it wasn’t truly wrong for him to exist, just illegal” (137). Since it is usually considered wrong to do something illegal, he has always considered it wrong for him to be alive. Finally he realizes that the law is wrong, not him.

Other items to note

Don’t confuse your ideas or inferences with quotes or paraphrases. You can put your ideas on notecards to help you

organize, but they are not evidence You also need text support for evidence

End-Text DocumentationWorks Cited

Ganger, Jake. Class Debate. 6 Dec. 2007.

Poe, Edgar Allan. “The Tell Tale Heart.” Elements of Literature: Second Course. Ed. Austin: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 2000. 202-207.