Encore English 12 name: Mrs. Sharp period:

Integrating Quotations

Quotations are essential to a strong essay because they are one of the best ways to give detailed evidence to support the thesis. However, quotations cannot just be dropped into the text of your essay nor should they disrupt the flow of your writing. Your goal is to introduce quotations gracefully so that the reader does not hesitate or stumble. They should enhance your writing, not detract from it.

SHOULD I INCLUDE THIS QUOTATION? Your first step is to ask yourself: 1. Will it fit into your argument? Does it fit in where you’re planning to include it? If so, then using the quote is justified. 2. Is it merely descriptive – that is, would it be better to just paraphrase what the writer is saying, rather than directly quoting? If that is the case, consider paraphrasing the author instead.

Once you’ve decided that the quotation should be included, follow the “three-step” rule to integrate it into your paper. THREE STEP QUOTATION STRATEGY Step One: Introduce the quotation College provides a diversity of social, academic and athletic opportunities for students. This can be a powerful positive force, but it can also detract from students’ abilities to manage their time. As George W. Bush states, “I sometimes overdid it when I was at school, missing out on valuable academic opportunities. Fortunately, I buckled down in my senior year and managed to make a “C‟ average and things have worked out fine since” (227).

Step Two: Explain what the author is arguing in the quotation. (The author should agree with how you sum up the quotation – this will help you establish credibility, by demonstrating that you do know what the author is saying even if you don’t agree.) College provides a diversity of social, academic and athletic opportunities for students. This can be a powerful positive force, but it can also detract from students’ abilities to manage their time. As George W. Bush states, “I sometimes overdid it when I was at school, missing out on valuable academic opportunities. Fortunately, I buckled down in my senior year and managed to make a “C‟ average and things have worked out fine since” (227). In this example, George W. Bush is pointing out that the positive extra-curricular activities of college life should be balanced with a responsible approach to studying; also, that the detrimental effects of earlier excesses can be rectified in the senior year of college.

Step Three: State the implications of the quotation for your own argument. (What do you make of the author’s argument?) College provides a diversity of social, academic and athletic opportunities for students. This can be a powerful positive force, but it can also detract from students’ abilities to manage their time. As George W. Bush states, “I sometimes overdid it when I was at school, missing out on valuable academic opportunities. Fortunately, I buckled down in my senior year and managed to make a “C‟ average and things have worked out fine since” (227). In this example, George W. Bush is pointing out that the positive extra-curricular activities of college life should be balanced with a responsible approach to studying; also, that the detrimental effects of earlier excesses can be rectified in the senior year of college. While George W. Bush is certainly correct when he implies that it is never too late for a student to try to raise his or her GPA, it is probably better for students to attempt to balance academic and other activities early in their college career. Also, Bush assumes that all students can achieve what they want with a “C‟ average, but many students need higher GPAs in order to apply to professional school, graduate school and for graduate-entry jobs.

Basically, you need to create a QUOTATION SANDWICH:

There is more than one correct way to integrate quotations into your writing:  With an introductory phrase: According to Chaucer, “She certainly was very entertaining, / Pleasant and friendly in her ways…” (Chaucer 141-2).

 With a statement that gives and interpretation followed by a colon: Chaucer’s description of the Prioress suggests that she is more interested in her physical appearance than in her spiritual purity: “Her veil was gathered in a seemly way, / Her nose was elegant, her eyes glass-grey;” (Chaucer 155-6).

 With an interpretive assertion into which a quotation is worked: The Prioress, who “used to weep if she but saw a mouse / Caught in a trap,” demonstrates no parallel sympathy for her fellow man (Chaucer 148-9).

* With poetry, a forward slash (/) is inserted where one line of poetry ends and another begins. Also note that the capital letter of the first word in the continuing line remains.

Please note that each of the above quotations is integrated into the writer’s sentence in the most natural way possible. The goal is to make it seem as though the quotation and the writer’s words are one. This includes the quotations being punctuated as thought they are a part of the sentence. Here are some general rules for punctuating quotations:

. All direct quotations must include a parenthetical reference which indicates the location of the quotation within the primary source. Your parenthetical will include the first word from the text’s citation on your Works Cited page and the page number or line number, if appropriate.

. When you integrate a quotation into a sentence, be sure that the quotation fits grammatically into the sentence. In other words, be sure that what you are left with is a complete sentence. Incorrect: “A future,” he realizes, “something to be earned” (45). [lacks a verb] Correct: “A future,” he realizes, is “something to be earned” (45).

. Place commas inside closing quotation marks. In Leslie Marmon Silko’s “The Man to Send Rain Clouds,” imagery reinforces the story’s conflict.

. Place periods at the end of the sentences, directly following the parenthetical reference. In Leslie Marmon Silko’s “The Man to Send Rain Clouds,” imagery reinforces the story’s conflict: “The wind pulled at the priest’s brown Franciscan robe and swirled away the cornmeal and pollen” (28).

. Exclamation points and question marks are included in the quotation marks if they are a part of the original quotation. The parenthetical appears at the end follows by a period. The priest asks, “What brings you here?” (28).

. For Media Sources, include in the text of your essay the first item that appears on your Works Cited entry that corresponds to the citation (artist name, film title, etc.). Italicize the titles of films, TV series, and albums. Put song titles and episode titles in quotation marks. When viewing the images of male and female doctors on TV, one might look to series such as House or Gray’s Anatomy for examples. The Gray’s Anatomy episode titled “No Way Out” gives us a detailed look at the life of a young, female doctor.

. If you want to make a long quote shorter in order to present the reader with a more concise quotation, do so using an ellipse, which is three periods, each period having a space before and after it (example: “ . . . ”). - (Original Text) The narrator shows her belief that landscape can affect the human when she says that “the sound of that tinkling brook, for ever rolling by, filled my heart with a strange melancholy, which for many nights deprived me of rest. I loved it, too. The voice of waters in the stillness of night, always had an extraordinary effect upon my mind” (107) - The narrator shows her belief that landscape can affect the human when she says that “the sound of that tinkling brook…filled my heart with a strange melancholy….The voice of waters… always had an extraordinary effect upon my mind” (107). However, be careful not to cut words that change the tone or meaning of a quote.

. The quote you use should make grammatical sense with the rest of your sentence. Therefore, you may sometimes have to add words to a quote, or modify the verb form in the quoted text. You do this by enclosing the added material in square brackets (like this: [ ] ). - (Original Text) The narrator is grateful for the separation that nature gives him from the battle, and “conceived Nature to be a woman with a deep aversion to tragedy” (100) - The narrator is grateful for the separation that nature gives him from the battle, and “conceive[s] Nature to be a woman with a deep aversion to tragedy” (100).