Name _______________________________________ Date ___________________ Period ____
Writing #1: Using Textual Support
When writing about literature, it is always best to show rather than tell: SHOW directly what the
character says or does or what the author writes rather than simply TELL in your words.
Remember: Whenever you can, use the text.
(1) Plan your paragraph first using your own words. Then, return to the text and look for
where you can strengthen your argument by SHOWING what you mean with the
author’s words directly.
(2) Introduce the quote smoothly, letting the reader know the context of the quote, when
it occurs (in relation to the plotline), and what you want the reader to notice.
Ex:
As the novel comes to a close, Montag witnesses the destruction of the city from
the bombs dropped upon it, and the explosion jars his memory of what he had
forgotten. Like a salamander emerging from the hearth, Montag recalls his past, “I
remember. Montag clung to the earth. I remember. Chicago. Chicago a long time ago.
Millie and I. That’s where we met! I remember now. Chicago. A long time ago”
(Bradbury 160).
(3) ALWAYS follow the quote with detailed explanation of your point. NEVER retell the
quote or the plot in your words. An intelligent writer focuses on the deeper meaning.
Ex.
Montag, although it pains him to witness the death of his wife, burns brighter
now. From the destruction, a new Montag is born. The empty man he is in Part 1 has
been replaced with a man who has learned from his past and moves confidently into
his future.
For Writing #1, the primary text/source is a novel, Fahrenheit 451. Quoting a novel can be achieved
a number of ways in your writing.
(1) Single Quote (non-dialogue):
Lying on the ground, Montag remembers more, “The Book of Ecclesiastes. Here.
He said it over to himself silently, lying flat to the trembling earth, he said the
words of it many times and they were perfect” (Bradbury 161).
(2) Single Quote (dialogue):
Granger explains to Montag how mankind must sometimes destroy itself in order
to build itself again, “Granger looked into the fire. ‘Phoenix.’ ‘What?’ ‘There was
a silly damn bird called a phoenix back before Christ, every few hundred years he
built a pyre and burnt himself up’” (Bradbury 163).
(3) Block Quote (Longer than 4 lines typed in your document):
Granger explains how the future will be challenging but rewarding for them:
“‘We’re going to meet a lot of lonely people in the next week and
the next month and the next year. And when they ask us what
we’re doing, you can say, We’re remembering. That’s where we’ll
win out in the long run. And someday we’ll remember so much
that we’ll build the biggest goddamn steam shovel in history and
dig the biggest grave of all time and shove war in and cover it up
Come on now, we’re going to go build a mirror factory first and
put out nothing but mirrors for the next year and take a long look
in them’” (Bradbury 164).
Bradbury again returns to the images of destruction and construction, the grave
and the factory. He arrives at the idea of learning from the past, burying it, and
then building a new future by constantly looking or evaluating oneself.
(4) Parts of a Passage:
Although Mildred has died and Clarisse is gone, their impact on Montag remains,
and now Montag must leave something of value behind too. Granger agrees,
“‘Everyone must leave something behind when he dies my grandfather said . . . It
doesn’t matter what you do, he said, so long as you change something from the
way it was before you touched it’” (Bradbury 156-157).
Now let’s look at how it is put together into body paragraphs:
As the novel comes to a close, Montag witnesses the destruction of the city from the
bombs dropped upon it, and the explosion jars his memory of what he had forgotten. Like a
salamander emerging from the hearth, Montag recalls his past, “I remember. Montag clung to the
earth. I remember. Chicago. Chicago a long time ago. Millie and I. That’s where we met! I
remember now. Chicago. A long time ago” (Bradbury 160). Montag, although it pains him to
witness the death of his wife, burns brighter now. From the destruction, a new Montag is born.
The empty man he is in Part 1 has been replaced with a man who has learned from his past and
moves confidently into his future. Lying on the ground, Montag remembers more, “The Book of
Ecclesiastes. Here. He said it over to himself silently, lying flat to the trembling earth, he said the
words of it many times and they were perfect” (Bradbury 161). It is ironic that Montag
remembers these facts only after losing so much.
Granger explains to Montag how mankind must sometimes destroy itself in order to build
itself again, “Granger looked into the fire. ‘Phoenix.’ ‘What?’ ‘There was a silly damn bird
called a phoenix back before Christ, every few hundred years he built a pyre and burnt himself
up’” (Bradbury 163). Therefore, like a Phoenix, no one has destroyed Montag’s life; he has does
this to himself. But now, after destroying his old self, he can rebuild into something better. This
gives him hope for the future. However, Granger explains how the future will be challenging but
rewarding for them:
“‘We’re going to meet a lot of lonely people in the next week and the next month
and the next year. And when they ask us what we’re doing, you can say, We’re
remembering. That’s where we’ll win out in the long run. And someday we’ll
remember so much that we’ll build the biggest goddamn steam shovel in history
and dig the biggest grave of all time and shove war in and cover it up Come on
now, we’re going to go build a mirror factory first and put out nothing but mirrors
for the next year and take a long look in them’” (Bradbury 164).
Bradbury again returns to the images of destruction and construction, the grave and the factory.
He arrives at the idea of learning from the past, burying it, and then building a new future by
constantly looking or evaluating oneself. Although Mildred has died and Clarisse is gone, their
impact on Montag remains, and now Montag must leave something of value behind too. Granger
agrees, “‘Everyone must leave something behind when he dies my grandfather said . . . It doesn’t
matter what you do, he said, so long as you change something from the way it was before you
touched it’” (Bradbury 156-157). By the end of Part 3, as he walks along the river to a new city,
he ponders what he book in his memory he will share with the others and what he will leave
behind.