I forget what I was taught. I only
remember what I have learnt.
- Patrick White
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There are a lot of things we could be
discussing:
Dialogue between characters
 A motto or slogan that summarizes the whole book
 Just any old sentence from the text
 Quotes that the author has already used from other
people
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When we are talking quoting from a book, or
citing evidence from a text, a quote should be:
Something insightful
 Something significant
 Actual sentences from a specific section of text
 Backing up an observation on character,
relationships, theme, setting, point of view, tone,
voice, symbolism, imagery, or other literary devices
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The following example is from the book
Delirium by Lauren Oliver:
“Hana, with her golden, halo hair and bright gray
eyes, and perfect straight teeth, and her laugh
that makes everyone in a two-mile radius whip
around and look at her and laugh too” (Oliver,
27).
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WHY would this be a good quote to include?
“Maybe it was the race, or beating him to the
buoys, or the fact that he didn’t criticize me or
my family when I told him about my mother,
but in that moment the giddiness and
happiness is flowing strong and I feel like I
could tell Alex anything, ask him anything”
(Oliver 162).
WHY is this a good quote to include?
“I loved hanging out by the campfire after dark. I
loved the way bits of fire dust would float up and
disappear into the night air. And how the fire lit
up people’s faces. I loved the sound the fire
made, too. And how the woods were so dark that
you couldn’t seen anything around you, and
you’d look up and see a billion stars in the sky . . .
like someone sprinkled salt on a shiny black
table” (Palacio 258).
WHY is this a good quote to include?
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PAGE NUMBERS!!!!!!!
When you have pulled out what you want to
use:
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Put the whole thing in quotations
If you are typing, you can use italics to further
designate it
When you are at the end of your quote, put the
closing quotation marks, then parentheses, the
author (the first time), the page number, end
parentheses and then punctuation.
Quote from Gym Candy by Carl Deuker citation:
(Deuker 248)
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“She was very tall with red hair.”
“He said, “I love you” and she said, “I know.”
“Let the Hunger Games begin!”
“Die, villan, die.”
“He looked around and decided to sit down.”
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Let’s practice what quotes you may use.
Remember that the reason WHY they are
significant is very important. You will need to
share not only the quote itself, but the rationale
of why you picked it and what it teaches you
about the character.
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To pick a good quote for research, you are
looking for:
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Exact and specific facts to support your claim
Something that someone says in a way that captures
your reader’s interest
A piece of information that is concise. Quotes that
last for 3-4 lines can lose a reader
A quote that has a lasting or striking image that the
reader will remember
There should be just as much of YOUR writing (or
more) as there is of the quote!
Topic: Texting and Driving
“5 seconds is the minimal amount of attention
that a driver who texts takes away from the road.
If traveling at 55 mph, this equals driving the
length of a football field without looking at the
road.” (www.dosomething.org)

“Studies show that texting while driving creates a
crash risk equal to that of drunk driving.”
(“Texting while Driving”)
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If you have the author’s name, you might
include it IN your introduction to the quote.
Example: Thomas Jefferson, when writing the
Constitution, once said . . . .
If you don’t have an author, and the quote
came from a database, you put the name of the
article in the parentheses.
If you don’t have an author, and it came from a
web site, you put the main web address in the
parentheses.