Quote Integration Guidelines Our goal: To learn how to integrate supporting quotes into your writing so that the quotes flow smoothly out of your own words. That way, the quotes are given a context, they become part of your argument, and they do not distract the reader from your ideas. Some guidelines: Do not leave your quotes "naked." Make sure you provide context to the quote and that you show how they are clearly connected to the argument you are trying to make. NO: After June's humiliating piano recital, Waverly adds insult to injury. "You aren't a genius like me" (Tan 151). YES: After June's humiliating piano recital, Waverly adds insult to injury by declaring, "You aren't a genius like me" (Tan 151). Changing Quotes: Use brackets ([ ]) and ellipses (. . .) to change verbs or other parts of the original quotes when necessary. This technique is especially useful for maintaining present tense in your paper. NO: Dwight is a bully who takes out his anger and insecurity on those who are weaker than he is. "This made him furious; on the way back to the car he would kill anything he saw. He killed chipmunks, squirrels, blue jays, and robins"(Wolff 171). YES: Dwight is a bully who takes out his anger and insecurity on those who are weaker than he is. While hunting, he boosts his ego by "kill[ing] anything he [sees]. He kill[s] chipmunks, squirrels, blue jays, and robins" (Wolff 171). If you're quoting poetry, make sure you use a slash (/) to indicate where each line ends. That way, you are staying true to the text, and the reader will know that you are quoting poetry, instead of prose. Ex.: When Duncan asks for an update on the battle, the captain describes the struggling armies as "two spent swimmers that do cling together/And choke their art" (Macbeth 1.2.10-11). At the end of the quote, use the QUO-PAR-PUNC Rule: Quotation marks-Parentheses-Punctuation. Within the parentheses, you usually write the author's last name and the page number. If you are only quoting from one book throughout your paper, then you only have to put the page number. If you are quoting Shakespeare or any play, you need to cite the play, act, scene, and line numbers. NO: When Waverly accuses her mother of showing off, Lindo's eyes turn "into dangerous black slits. She ha[s] no words for [Waverly], just sharp silence. (Tan 102)" YES: When Waverly accuses her mother of showing off, Lindo's eyes turn "into dangerous black slits. She ha[s] no words for [Waverly], just sharp silence" (Tan 102). Note: If a quote ends with a question mark or exclamation point, then put that punctuation before the quotation marks, to make sure the intended emotion is retained. Ex.: During their phone conversation, Toby's father tries to win Toby over by saying, "I've made some mistakes . . . . We all have. But that's behind us. Right, Tober?" (211). If there is a quote within the quote you are using, then use single quotation marks to set off the inner quote. Ex.: When Lena shows Ying-Ying around her new house, Ying-Ying complains that "the slant of the floor makes her feel as if she is 'running down'" (Tan 163). When your quote is longer than four lines, "block it off" from the rest of your paragraph. In this case, you don't use quotation marks (except for lines of dialogue), and the QUO-PAR-PUNC rule does not apply. (Note: Avoid using very long quotes--they sometimes bog the paper down.) Ex.: Lady Macbeth calls on supernatural powers so that she can assist in Duncan's murder: . . . Come you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full Of direst cruelty. Make thick my blood. Stop up th'access and passage to remorse, That no compunctious visitings of nature Shake my fell purpose . . . . (Macbeth 1.5.47-53) Lady Macbeth thus reveals the all-consuming nature of her ambition: she is even willing to give up her identity as a woman to get what she wants. (And the paper goes on from there.) Last but not least, always remember to cite your quotes properly. Do not risk plagiarizing the author's words. Quotation Integration Practice Now that we have discussed the proper format for integrating quotations in an analytical essay, try integrating these quotes! Essay topic: Internal Conflict in “Just Lather” Quote: “I am a revolutionary but not a murderer” (Tellez 345) Integrate the quote (set the stage, quote, explanation) __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ Essay topic: Characterization in “Harrison Bergeron” Quote: “Harrison tore the straps of his handicap harness like wet tissue paper, tore straps guaranteed to support five hundred pounds.” (Vonnegut 4) Integrate the quote (set the stage, quote, explanation) __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ Proper In-text Citation A General Rule: Any time you copy words directly from printed material, you must place quotation marks around those words. Since the words are not your own, you must give the author credit. How to do it: Once you have smoothly integrated your quote (set the stage, quote, and explain) you must cite the work from which you found the quotation. Step 1: Make sure you have quotation marks around the quote Step 2: Leave off the punctuation at the end of the sentence Step 3: After the end quotation marks, put the author’s name and page number in parentheses. Step 4: Close the parentheses and put a period. Example: Miss O’Shay tells Nancy Lee of her Irish decent and that “years ago, we were called the dirty Irish, and mobs rioted against us in the big cities, and we were invited to go back where we came from. But we didn’t go. And we didn’t give up, because we believed in the American dream, and in our power to make that dream come true” (Hughes 50). ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------Try it out: Rewrite the following quotes with the proper in-text citation. Author: Langston Hughes Page: 49 Quote: We still have in this world of ours, democracy to make…Lift up your head, Nancy Lee, and smile at me. ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ Author: Avi Page: 42 Quote: I had never met with such impertinence that this Zachariah…my inferior, should tell me such slanderous tales. ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________
