How to Quote a Quote
First, let me ask you this? Does
this cake look good to you?
So, why did you say, “No”?
• You wouldn’t eat the
ingredients of a cake
one-by one.
• Quoted material must
be blended into the
entire “cake,” as well.
• All the ingredients
must be blended
together.
• You must use
punctuation to
connect each quote to
the idea it follows.
NoodleTools
• After you have read and annotated your sources, you’re
ready to gather the quotes and\or paraphrases you’ll use
as support.
• You must use NoodleTools to create the annotated
Works Cited page before you create your notecards.
• I would suggest using this site for creating your
notecards, your outline, and your actual essay.
NoodleTools
• Create an account through the school’s
library page. Otherwise, you will have to
pay.
• It’s an easy system to use, with helpful tips
provided along the way.
Using Quotes
• Don’t organize your essay by your
sources.
• You should be able to blend details from
several sources into each of your subtopic
arguments.
• Remember – you are Lady Gaga, and
your sources are the backup singers.
How would you add this
support?
• We were like some family
on a TV commercial, with
names like Myrtle and
Fred. I could just hear us
striking up a conversation
about air fresheners.
The Bean Trees, Barbara Kingsolver
All quotes must connect to your own text.
You might connect in the following way:
Taylor begins to experience some frustration when she
thinks that Lou Ann is trying to force her to play a
traditional domestic role: “ We were like some family on
a TV commercial, with names like Myrtle and Fred. I
could just hear us striking up a conversation about air
fresheners” (88).
• Please notice the placement of the punctuation and page number.
• Notice also the “connection” punctuation. What has been used?
• Notice also the use of PRESENT TENSE.
How would you add this
support?
I walk down the hall, past the
laundry room, and into the family
room. I close the door behind me,
muffling the rumbling of the small
shoes in the dryer.
“Where were you?” my mother
says.
“In the bathroom,” I say.
“Hmph,” she says.
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius,
Dave Eggers
How to Add It All
• Your support might look like this:
The novel begins with muffled sound and with what appears to be a
typical uncommunicative conversation between a parent and child:
I walk down the hall, past the laundry room, and into the family
room. I close the door behind me, muffling the rumbling of the
small shoes in the dryer.
“Where were you?” my mother says.
“In the bathroom,” I say.
“Hmph,” she says. (1)
If you have a longer quote, or one with dialogue layers, indent 10 spaces
and keep the punctuation the same as it appears in the actual work
itself. Notice the colon, however.
Notice how this rule changes when
you decide to use less of the text.
The novel begins with muffled sound
and with what appears to be a typical
uncommunicative conversation
between a parent and child: “ I close
the door behind me, muffling the
rumbling of the small shoes in the
dryer. ‘Where were you?’ my mother
says” (1).
It’s best to blend your quotes into your own
sentences. Make sure to add commentary.
The novel begins as the narrator notices
the “rumbling of the small shoes in the
dryer” and with what appears to be a
typical uncommunicative conversation
between a parent and child (1). Nobody
in this family gets along, and it’s no
wonder everyone appears to be a little
crazy. The author gives dysfunction a
new spin.
What You Need to Know
• Essentially, you will need to know just
these few rules in order to use support
quotes from any text.
• Remember, though, that quoted
material is to be used as SUPPORT
ONLY. Do not present the quoted
material first and then “explain it.”
• Do not begin or end a paragraph with a
quote. Always add original
commentary.
Ask yourself, What
would Lady Gaga
do?
“Well, that's
your opinion,
isn't it? And I'm
not about to
waste my time
trying to
change it.”