English 131 (Huntsperger)



Handout: Using Quotations

What Quotations Do

In your academic essays, you will need to use quotations from the texts in your paper as your evidence. Using quotations in your papers:

• Adds authority to your argument

• Adds evidence

• Demonstrates engagement with the texts you’ve read

• Helps situate your paper within a discipline, genre or context

Some things to think about when evaluating whether to include a particular piece of textual evidence in your paper:

• Will it fit into your argument?

• Does it fit in where you’re planning to include it? Does it flow smoothly into your paper?

• Is it merely descriptive – that is, would it be better to just paraphrase what the writer is saying, rather than directly quoting?

• Have you adequately analyzed and read closely the quote you use?

Quotation, Summary or Paraphrase: You Decide

You should decide between using direct quotations or paraphrase or summary based on how important the point you are making is and how important it is to

Direct quotation should be used when it is necessary to use the exact wording to make points that are integral to your argument or as an important piece of evidence.

Paraphrasing is a detailed summary, in your own words, of specific ideas from the text.

Summarizing is when you discuss larger parts of the text (or the whole text) in a short synopsis in your own words.

If you use quotes every time you discuss the text, your paper will look like nothing but quotes.

Remember that quotation, paraphrase and summary all may require documentation of sources. You must use the author’s name and the page number of the information to identify the citation.

Examples:

Quotation: One of her major points concerning gender issues is that “when seen at all, mothers are presented without a hint of ethnicity, regional affiliation, color, or economics” (Lippi-Green 424).

Paraphrase: If they are in the films at all, mother characters in Disney movies are given no ethnicity, color or economic class at all (Lippi-Green 424).

Summary: Disney movies promote stereotypical views of marginalized groups, such as African Americans, Jews or woman, when they use accents as a shortcut to characterization (Lippi-Green 410-411).

The “Quote Sandwich”: Yum

There is a four-step process for integrating quotes into your paper. It includes:

1) Introduction of the quote

2) The quote and citation

3) Explanation of quote

4) Implications of quote

This four-part structure (intro, quote, explanation, implication) is sometimes called a “quote sandwich” because the quote is “sandwiched” between an intro and an explanation/implication. This is one of the most important things to learn from this class so practice at all times.

Step One: Introduction of the Quote

There are many different methods for introducing quoted material into your paper. Generally, one uses an identifying tag such as “In their article, Omi and Winant find that…” / “Iser notes that…” / “Writing on her border community, Anzaldúa explains…”, etc.

The following verbs will help you introduce quotes:

acknowledges, suggests, concludes, insists, predicts, reports, warns, admits, observes, believes, explains, summarizes, finds, concurs, affirms, implies, notes, comments, claims, illustrates, proposes, speculates, indicates

These verbs all have different meanings and different connotations. For instance, “Omi and Winant report…” sounds much more authoritative than “Omi and Winant speculate that….” Try to use the most appropriate introductory word for your project.

Also you should vary the placement of the identifying tag when you introduce a quote to keep the reader from getting bored.

Examples:

• According to Gloria Anzaldúa, “culture is made by those in power – men” (38).

• “Culture is made by those in power – men,” according to Gloria Anzaldúa (38).

• “Culture,” Gloria Anzaldúa explains, “is made by those in power – men” (38).

These introductions are helpful but any more information about the quote you can give that steers your reader toward your ideas is best. So, introducing a quote with some analysis – which is called contexualizing the quote – is better than just introducing it with a few words.

Examples:

• Describing the oppressive regimes that made up her experiences in the borderlands, Gloria Anzaldúa concludes “culture is made by those in power – men” (38).

Step Two: The Quote

When you use a quote, it’s important to integrate the quote smoothly and grammatically into your writing. Use the MLA In-Text Citation Handout for the rules concerning how to alter a quote to fit it grammatically into your paper.

Examples:

• Not so good integration: Anzaldúa describes how society is male dominated. “Culture is made by those in power – men” (38).

• Good integration: To describe one way that society is male dominated, Anzaldúa writes “culture is made by those in power – men” (38).

Step Three: Explanation of the Quote

After you have introduced and placed your quote, you will need to explain it by telling what the author is arguing in the quotation in your own words. The author should agree with how you sum up the quotation – this helps establish your credibility by displaying that you understand what the author is saying, whether you agree or not.

Example:

To describe one way that society kept male-dominated, Anzaldúa writes “culture forms our beliefs” and that this “culture is made by those in power – men” (38). Here Anzaldúa shows how society is continually reproduced as patriarchal because our cultural “beliefs” are “made” by men. Society is male dominated because man-made culture passes on the rules and laws through art, literature, school, religion, etc.

Step Four: Implications of the Quote

After you introduce, quote and explain, you should discuss the implications of the quote. What do you make of the author’s argument in the quote? The implications are mostly how you are using the quote, which can include evaluation of the quote. This is when you explicitly state how this quote is being used as evidence and how it is supporting your claim. This is also a good time to connect your reading of the quote to another quote or author (depending on how your argument is structured and how important this quote is to your main claim.)

Example:

If my main claim discussed how women’s writing can help change the patriarchal structure of society, I might finish the paragraph like so:

…Society is male dominated because man-made culture passes on the rules and laws through art, literature, school, religion, etc. Some forms of writing within this culture are resistant to domination. Within this “culture” made by men, there is also a “culture” of women’s writing. Even within the rigid definitions of what those in power define as valid and “literary,” some texts represent the experiences of those who are dominated, which helps to call into question the “culture” and “beliefs” that dominate them.

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