Staging Evidence & Analysis
Quote integration, Citation, and
the “Quote Sandwich”
“Staging” evidence and analysis
• We have briefly discussed the importance of
evidence and analysis for building arguments.
Evidence/Analysis:
– Is the foundation of any academic writing
– Connect “what everyone can see” to your
point/claim/argument
– Compose the majority of any paper – “the body”
• In Literature Studies, evidence is textual –
QUOTES!!
The Rules of Quote Integration
• GRAMMATICAL/SYNTACTICAL:
Always refer to the events of a piece of fiction in
the present-tense!
NO: Victor Frankenstein lived in Geneva.
Yes: Victor Frankenstein lives in Geneva.
The Rules of Quote Integration
• GRAMMATICAL/SYNTACTICAL:
All quotes must be integrated into your paper
smoothly and in sync with the syntax of your
sentence and paragraph.
NO: Victor Frankenstein’s god complex is
apparent. “A new species would bless me as
its creator and source...”
Yes: Victor Frankenstein’s god-complex is
apparent when he declares that “a new
species would bless me as its creator…”
The Rules of Quote Integration
• GRAMMATICAL/SYNTACTICAL:
All quotes must be integrated into your paper
smoothly and in sync with the syntax of your
sentence and paragraph.
NO: Frankenstein thinks that tranquility is important and
“do not think that the pursuit of knowledge is an
exception to this rule.”
Yes: Frankenstein thinks that tranquility is important and
does “not think that the pursuit of knowledge is an
exception to this rule.”
The Rules of Quote Integration
• GRAMMATICAL/SYNTACTICAL:
Use brackets [ ] and ellipses … to shape the
quote to your needs (but don’t overdo it)
No: Walton longs for a companion who would be able to
“regulate my mind.”
Yes: Walton longs for a companion who would be able to
“regulate [his] mind.”
Yes: Walton longs for “a friend who would have sense
enough… to regulate [his] mind.”
MLA Citation
•
IN-TEXT (two types)
Frankenstein says, “I have been blasted in these
hopes, yet another may succeed” (Shelley 152).
•
•
If the sentence does not include the authors name cite both
author name and page #
Citation goes after the quotation mark, but before the period
Shelley writes that Frankenstein has “has been blasted
in these hopes” (152).
•
If the sentence includes the author’s name, only page # is
necessary
MLA Citation
• Work Cited List
– Full publication information on each cited text
– In alphabetical order
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Ed. J. Paul Hunter. New
York: W.W. Norton, 1996. Print.
Spivak, Gayatri Chakravorty. “Frankenstein and a
Critique of Imperialism.” Frankenstein. Ed. J. Paul
Hunter. New York: W.W. Norton, 1996. 262-270. Print.
Consult your MLA Handbook or Purdue’s OWL website
for instructions on how to cite other types of texts.
Block Quote
• If the quoted text is more than 3 lines long
BLOCK QUOTE IT!
Start like any normal paragraph. Indent the first line and let
the rest of the prose fall in normal formatting. But when you get to the
quote, start it on a new line and indent the whole quote.
“You seek for knowledge and wisdom, as I once did; and I
ardently hope that the gratification of your wishes may not be
a serpent to sting you, as mine has been. I do not know that
the relation of my misfortunes will be useful to you, yet, if you
are inclined, listen to my tale.” (Shelley 17)
When you start your own analysis again, do not indent the line
following the quote (you are not starting a whole new paragraph here.
And notice that the citation in the block quote falls outside the
punctuation.
Close Reading/Quote Sandwich
Start by choosing a quote:
“You seek for knowledge and wisdom, as I once did; and I
ardently hope that the gratification of your wishes may
not be a serpent to sting you, as mine has been”
(Shelley 17).
• What kinds of interpretations can I generate out
of this section of text?
• What can I say about this that may move
towards an argument?
Close Reading/Quote Sandwich
Isolate and analyze important or interesting
elements of the quote:
“You seek for knowledge and wisdom, as I once did; and I ardently hope that
the gratification of your wishes may not be a serpent to sting you, as mine
has been” (Shelley 17).
– Starts by drawing a clear parallel between the quests of Walton and
Frankenstein on one of the key themes of the novel – the search for
knowledge – where Frankenstein speaks from experience
– Frames that search as “gratification of your wishes” which interestingly
connects it to personal desire/fulfillment and not to other goals like the
“betterment of mankind” or “the furthering of human knowledge”
– This gratification is also called a “serpent” which suggests that it the
fulfillment of these desires might be poisonous or otherwise predatory
Close Reading/Quote Sandwich
Create a quote sandwich:
• INTRO: What does the audience need to know about this evidence
in order to understand the import of your analysis?
– Where does it occur? Who is speaking and why?
– What are the key themes/topics that you are interested in?
– What do you want your reader to be looking for in this quote?
“You seek for knowledge and wisdom, as I once did; and I ardently hope that the
gratification of your wishes may not be a serpent to sting you, as mine has been” (Shelley 17).
• Analysis: What are you teaching your reader about this evidence?
– What are your conclusions about the meaning or importance of
this example? What are your most argumentative points?
– How have you arrived at these conclusions starting from what
the text actually says? (show your work!)
– How does it contribute to your claim?
Close Reading/Quote Sandwich
Create a quote sandwich:
At one point Frankenstein says,
“You seek for knowledge and wisdom, as I once did; and I
ardently hope that the gratification of your wishes may
not be a serpent to sting you, as mine has been” (Shelley
17).
Here we can see that Frankenstein is a seeker of
knowledge and wants to warn Walton against its
dangers. From this passage we can see that
Frankenstein thinks he has something to teach
Walton.
Close Reading/Quote Sandwich
In the letters to his sister that introduce the actual events of the novel,
Robert Walton describes how Frankenstein sought to preface his own life story as
a warning and a lesson. His comments in this section connect his quest for
knowledge with Walton’s journey to the North Pole and simultaneously reveal
some of Frankenstein’s ideas about what knowledge is. Speaking directly to
Walton, Frankenstein expresses this desire to teach. He says, “You seek for
knowledge and wisdom, as I once did; and I ardently hope that the gratification of
your wishes may not be a serpent to sting you, as mine has been” (Shelley 17).
Here, Frankenstein clearly sees little distinction between Walton’s journey and his
own, referring to them both as a quest for “knowledge and wisdom” that he has
since abandoned. This passage also allows us to see a little of how Frankenstein
defines knowledge itself. He equates the quest for knowledge with “the
gratification of your wishes,” suggesting that , for him, knowledge begins and ends
with personal ambition and desire. In addition, the allusion to this personal desire
as “a serpent” continues the idea that knowledge making is a personal endeavor
(whose sting will be felt by him alone) while also suggesting that it has a life and
agency of its own. Strikingly, this meditation on the ramifications of the quest for
knowledge are not framed in relation to larger social or cultural effects (“the good
of all mankind”) but instead framed entirely in the context of individual action,
desire and injury.
RECAP on Analysis
• Quote Sandwich = Analysis Paragraph
• Make specific observations about your
evidence (the quote).
• Organize your analysis
– Start with simple points and observations and
leave the more complex ideas for the end.
– “Add up” your points as your go so that you end
up with to a central point.
Organizing Your Analysis
Frankenstein’s creature receives a very different education than his
creator. A major portion of his story centers on the lessons he learns
while observing the De Lacey family from hiding. After acquiring
language and hearing about “the strange system of human society,” he
learns a different set of “lessons” (Shelley 83).
Other lessons were impressed upon me even more deeply. I heard of the difference of
the sexes; of the birth and growth of children;… how the mind of youth expanded and
gained knowledge; of brother, sister, and all the various relationships which bind one
human being to another in mutual bonds. (Shelley 84)
Whereas Frankenstein’s education is characterized by an encounter with
archaic knowledge in the context of a supportive family, the creature’s
education includes an introduction to the “bonds” that “bind” humans
together. The creature experiences his own “inhumanity” with a new
clarity, realizing that he is bound to no one in this manner and can only
observe their intimacy from the outside. One of the things he learns is
how young people are educated, even as he educates himself through
reading and rational observation of his surroundings. The ability to seek
education is described as a defining attribute of human beings, but the
novel complicates this definition by granting the monster a fantastic
capacity for reason and self-knowledge.
Organizing Your Analysis
A major portion of the creature’s story centers on the lessons he
learns while observing the De Lacey family from hiding. After acquiring
language and hearing about “the strange system of human society,” he
learns about a different system of relationships (Shelley 83).
Other lessons were impressed upon me even more deeply. I heard of the difference of
the sexes; of the birth and growth of children; how the father doted on the smiles of the
infant, and the lively sallies of the older child; how all the life and cares of the mother
were wrapt up in the precious charge; how the mind of youth expanded and gained
knowledge; of brother, sister, and all the various relationships which bind one human
being to another in mutual bonds. (Shelley 84)
The De Lacey family serves as an introduction to what the creature
identifies as the “bonds” that “bind” humans together. Beyond the
simple fact of biology, these fundamental “bonds” are described as a
series of gendered roles, with particular expectations for how mothers
and fathers conduct themselves and how the family itself should be
structured. The creature experiences his own “inhumanity” with a new
clarity, realizing that he is bound to no one in this manner and can only
observe their intimacy from the outside. In this way, gendered roles
become a central part of the definition of what is “human” (and what is
not).
From this time Elizabeth Lavenza became my
playfellow, and, as we grew older, my friend.
She was docile and good tempered, yet gay
and playful as a summer insect. Although she
was lively and animated, her feelings were
strong and deep, and her disposition
uncommonly affectionate. No one could
better enjoy liberty, yet no one could submit
with more grace than she did to constraint
and caprice. (Shelley 20)
No one can conceive the variety of feelings which
bore me onwards, like a hurricane, in the first
enthusiasm of success. Life and death appeared
to me as ideal bounds, which I should first break
through, and pour a torrent of light into our dark
world. A new species would bless me as its
creator and source; many happy and excellent
natures would owe their being to me. No father
could claim the gratitude of his child so
completely as I should deserve their’s. (Shelley
33)
Peer Workshops
• GOAL: to be helpful!
– BE OPEN: new perspectives and ideas enrich the analysis,
so be eager to incorporate the ideas of others, including
their criticism.
– BE CRITICAL: criticism is a form of help, but should be
accompanied by encouragement and suggestions for
improvement.
• Activity:
1. Annotate the quote/Construct at least 2 analytic points.
2. Switch worksheets/Make your own
observations/analyses.
3. Save time to discuss your findings together.