1.
Confirm that the quote strongly supports your thesis —the argument you’re trying to prove.

2. Ask yourself: Is this a fact that I can paraphrase myself in my own words… or is it essential to use a direct quote -the author’s exact words?
Mmmm. Should I write a paraphrase or use a direct quote in my next big hit?

Some evidence is not worthy of a quote
• When paraphrasing evidence, don’t put a basic fact or object from a story in quotes, unless it’s very unique or distinct. The following example contains unnecessary quoting:
• The narrator invites strangers to hold up
“ poster boards ” as part of a “ flash mob ” designed to win back his “ ex-girlfriend
Deborah ” (Monks 17).
Totally not impressed with that lame quote weaving!

3. When using a direct quote, use the author’s exact words . We cannot reinvent or change the writer’s text.

4.
Dumping:
The narrator has clearly spent a great deal of time designing a meticulous and elaborate plan to win his former girlfriend back. “However, I’m sure Deborah being Deborah will break my heart yet again” (Monks 18).
Besides being dumped, notice how the switch to First Person POV is confusing for the reader.
Weaving:
Though the narrator has clearly spent a great deal of time designing a meticulous and elaborate plan to win his former girlfriend back, he feels certain that “Deborah will break
[his] heart yet again” (Monks 18).
Notice how the quote has been woven into the sentence . It’s not just hanging out by itself like in the example above. Also the POV problem is fixed.

4.
• Our goal in English III is to work on weaving quotes into a single sentence.
• So when you dump a quote, you essentially create a run-on sentence —you have two sentences instead of one.

4.
To weave properly, take the “Turney” Test
Four years ago, student Turney Maurer made a great observation about quote weaving. He said something like this:
“So, when you read a sentence out loud that has a quote woven in it, it should just sound like a regular sentence —like you wouldn’t even know the quote was there.”
Ready! Set! Quote Weave!

• From the start, something seems strange about
Harriet’s babysitting job for the Winters, “she would not have to change a diaper, they said. In fact, she would not have to do anything at all”
(Weber 7).
On paper, to do this test:
1. Get rid of the quotation marks
2. Remove any periods except the one at the end.

• From the start, something seems strange about
Harriet’s babysitting job for the Winters she would not have to change a diaper, they said In fact, she would not have to do anything at all”
(Weber 7).
This is a runon. It’s THREE sentences. The same rules of grammar apply when we weave quotes. The sentence must be complete —not a run-on —even when it contains a quote.
On paper, to do this test:
1. Get rid of the quotation marks
2. Remove any periods except the one at the end.

Here’s a fixed version where the quotes are woven into one sentence.
Original Version
From the start, something seems strange about Harriet’s babysitting job for the Winters,“she would not have to change a diaper, they said. In fact, she would not have to do anything at all” (Weber 7).
Revised Version
From the start, something seems strange about Harriet’s babysitting job for the Winters, such as the fact that they tell her she “would not have to change a diaper” or “do anything at all” (Weber 7).

Notice that even without the quotation marks, it’s still a complete sentence that could stand on its own.
TURNEY TEST – THIS PASSES IT!
Revised Version
From the start, something seems strange about Harriet’s babysitting job for the
Winters, such as the fact that they tell her she would not have to change a diaper or do anything at all.

5. WEAVE only what you need from a quote into your own sentence. The star of the writing is YOU and YOUR
THINKING . You don’t need to use an entire long quote.

5.
I want to write a sentence about one of the reasons
Sedaris finds the Tomkey family to be strange.
Original Quote from “Us and Them”
“Because they had no TV, the Tomkeys were forced to talk during dinner. They had no idea how puny their lives were, and so they were not ashamed that a camera would have found them uninteresting. They did not know what attractive was or what dinner was supposed to look like or even what time people were supposed to eat. Sometimes they wouldn’t sit down until eight o’clock, long after everyone else had finished doing the dishes.”

5.
I want to write a sentence about one of the reasons
Sedaris finds the Tomkey family to be strange.
Original Quote from “Us and Them”
“Because they had no TV, the Tomkeys were forced to talk during dinner . They had no idea how puny their supposed to look like or even what time people were supposed to eat. Sometimes they wouldn’t sit down until eight o’clock, long after everyone else had finished doing the dishes .”

= YOU = AUTHOR
The goal —there should be more of your writing than the author’s!
Since they choose to live without television, Sedaris believes the Tomkeys are doomed to “talk during dinner” and considers their lives to be “puny” because their lack of exposure to media and popular culture means they don’t understand “what attractive [is] or what dinner [is] supposed to look like” (11). Furthermore, the fact that they often don’t eat dinner until “long after everyone else
[has] finished doing the dishes” makes them, in
Sedaris’s eyes, seem completely out of place (11).

= YOU = AUTHOR
The goal —there should be more of your writing than the author’s!
Since they choose to live without television, Sedaris believes the Tomkeys are doomed to “talk during dinner” and considers their lives to be “puny” because their lack of exposure to media and popular culture means they don’t understand “what attractive [is] or what dinner [is] supposed to look like” (11). Furthermore, the fact that they often don’t eat dinner until “long after everyone else
[has] finished doing the dishes” makes them, in
Sedaris’s eyes, seem completely out of place (11).

6. Include the CONTEXT of the quote
When we use a quote, we often need to make sure the reader is clear about…
• Who is saying, thinking, or doing this?
• What has just happened?
• When is it? (beginning, middle, end?)
• Why is the character saying or thinking this?
• Where is this occurring?

Without context, our writing —our thinking— is less clear.
• He judges them as “alone and out of place” (Sedaris 4).

The words in red add what kind of context?
• David judges the Tomkey children as
“alone and out of place” (Sedaris 4).
WHO

The words in red add what kind of context?
• Because they showed up in their homemade costumes the day after
Halloween , David judges the Tomkey children as “alone and out of place”
(Sedaris 4).
WHY and
WHEN

The words in red add what kind of context?
• Because they showed up at his door in their homemade costumes the day after
Halloween, David judges the Tomkey children as “alone and out of place”
(Sedaris 4).
WHERE

• The narrator predicts he will “be curled up and crying by the rhododendron bush” (Monks 18).
• Your turn – go back to this quote in
“Group Mobilization…” and rewrite this, adding some context to the beginning of the sentence . Provide some WHERE and
WHEN and WHY the reader.

• In his instructions, though the narrator directs the flash mob to leave Deborah’s yard at 6:23 pm or whenever the cops show up, he insists they leave him behind because he predicts he will “be curled up and crying by the rhododendron bush”
(Monks 18).