Using Quotations effectively

Honors English 11adapted by Mr. Hundermark

Originally By Byrna Joseph

Purpose of a Quotation in a Paper

• Good quotations are supposed to support a particular interpretation

Dropped Quotations

• A “dropped” quote is a quote that is put into a sentence with no introduction.

• Ex. Fraser tries to convince us that by reasonably cutting back, most of the problems would be solved. “But the problem really isn’t meat, but too much meat—overgrazing, overfishing and overconsumption. If American just ate less meat, the problem could be alleviated without giving up meat entirely” (Fraser 185).

Dropped Quotations

Dropped Quotation

YOU NEVER WANT TO DROP A QUOTATION!!!

Because it will pollute your paper

Introduce you Quote!

A quotation should never suddenly appear out of nowhere!

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Q u o t a tio n

Discuss your quotations

• What is your interpretation or opinion of it?

A few ways to Introduce an Explanation• Here we see that

• This statement shows

• Clearly, then,

• We can conclude from this that

• This tells us that

• From this we can understand that

Verbs that Introduce

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Try a Colon Introduction

• Sometimes you might want to use a colon introduction.

• The colon is used to introduce a quotation or formal statement, but you must put an independent clause after the colon

• Ex. The speaker made the following observation: “In the future, communication between people all over the world will lead not to an enriched culture but to a homogenous one.”

Using An introductory phrase

• May sometimes be best. For example: In the words of Fisher, "Art is a mirror of belief" (342). As Ted Fisher has remarked, "Life imitates art." As Fisher reminds us, "Monkey see, monkey do."

Or…

• Sometimes you might want to begin your quotation in the middle of the writer's sentence.

• Ex.Joe believes that "life is slow and soft" in the country (Living Easy 288).

Condense the Quotation

• You can sometimes leave out some words from a quote in order to have the portion that is absolutely relevant.

• Just don’t forget the mid-sentence ellipses ( three spaced dots…)

• Ex. The surf on the beach at Tampa Bay beat against the shore. Your quotation: James spoke of his wave watching, "The surf . . . beat against the shore“

Condense the Quotation

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Including /in-text citation

• The in-text citation is the author's last name followed by a page number: Ex. (Joseph 252)

• Make sure to cite this quotation or source in your works cited or bibliography page

Make sure the words are right.

• If you need to change anything else in the quotation or add some comment within it, indicate your change or addition by using square brackets [this]

Long Quotation

• Quotations longer than four lines should be in set-off block format.

• These should have a Left-indent

• Start these with a signal statement ending in a colon:

• Ex: In his imaginary book little John says:I enjoyed riding my bike today. I remember when I first learned how to ride my bike. It was over three years ago but I remember it like it was yesterday. My dad waked me up early that morning and he told me that he had a surprise for me outside.

To end a quotation

• When there is a parenthetical citation there are different rules for punctuations

• Period Ex: "I cannot suppress," Nietzsche says, "a sigh and a last hope" (917).

• Question Ex: What is it," Nietzsche asks, "that I especially find utterly unendurable?" (917)

• Exclamation Ex: Nietzsche's melancholic energy is unmistakable: "At this point I cannot suppress a sigh and a last hope. What is it that I especially find utterly unendurable? That I cannot cope with, that makes me choke and faint? Bad air! Bad air!" (917)

Inside the “q” Outside the “q”question mark period

exclamation mark

Remember

• It is important to find the BEST quotations,

• Those that really serve your purpose and help your paper.

Resources

• http://www.virtualsalt.com/quotehlp.htm

• http://instructors.cwrl.utexas.edu/mitchell/node/29

• http://nutsandbolts.washcoll.edu/quoting.html

• http://www.cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/CliffsReviewTopic/Uses-of-the-Colon.topicArticleId-29011,articleId-28989.html