Concept #1
• Blending quotes is as much about thinking
critically as it is about writing better
sentences.
• A sentence that effectively blends a quote
reveals analytical insights into a text that go
well beneath the surface.
• Applying complex sentence structure provides
a framework to dig deeper beneath the text.
Concept #2
• Your sentences that contain quotes from the
text should be analytical sentences that
happen to have a quote embedded in to your
own analysis.
• Ex: Chillingworth develops into the worst
sinner of all, as he “violated in cold blood the
sanctity of the human heart” (200).
Concept #2 ctd.
• Poor example: Chillingworth is said to have
“violated in cold blood the sanctity of the
human heart” (200). Dimmesdale says this as
he and Hester discuss their sin.
• Is anything in he above sentence actually
analysis of the text?
Concept #3
• A complex sentence with a blended quote should
contain a quote that reveals an important insight,
and does not merely reveal plot.
EX: Symbolizing the harsh, judgmental and dark
Puritan lifestyle, “the soil that had so early borne
the black flower of civilized society, a prison”
serves as a stark contrast to Hester, who “may
…symbolize some sweet moral blossom,” as she
transcends the limits of the male, Puritan rule (2).
Concept #4
• The anatomy of a complex thought process and a
complex sentence with a quote from the text:
• 6 Part Sentence:
–
–
–
–
–
–
Self Evident detail (quote from text)
Level 1 Analysis (what might be true)
Level 2 Analysis (what larger idea we can infer)
Participial Phrase
Adverbial Clause
Independent Clause
Adverbial
Clause and
Self Evident
Detail
Concept #4 ctd.
• When Chillingworth tells Hester, “Let
him hide himself in outward honor, if he
may! Not the less he shall be mine,”
vowing a vengeful pursuit of the child’s
father, he begins a transformation into
the embodiment of darkness and evil
that can consume one’s soul (65).
Independent
Clause and
Level 2
Analysis
Participial
Phrase and
Level 1
Analysis
Concept #4 ctd.
• When Chillingworth tells Hester, “Let him hide himself in
outward honor, if he may! Not the less he shall be mine,”
vowing a vengeful pursuit of the child’s father, he begins a
transformation into the embodiment of darkness and evil
that can consume one’s soul (65).
• The critical thinking process:
– Chillingworth tells Hester “he shall be mine.”
– What might be true about Chillingworth when he
says this? He might be vowing revenge.
– What can we predict, evaluate, analyze, or
synthesize about Chillingworth’s larger purpose?
He embodies evil.
The beauty of sentence structure… We
can mix it up for variety!
• Vowing a vengeful pursuit of the child’s
father, when Chillingworth tells Hester, “Let
him hide himself in outward honor, if he
may! Not the less he shall be mine,” he
begins a transformation into the
embodiment of darkness and evil that can
consume one’s soul (65).
Concept #4 ctd.
Surface Level –
Right there in
the text; Self
Evident
• Chillingworth tells Hester “he shall be mine.”
He might be vowing revenge.
What might be
true: Requires
us to dig
deeper. Level 1
Analysis
He begins a transformation into the embodiment
of darkness and evil that can consume one’s soul
What we can
evaluate/synthesize. The
“gems!” Level 2 Analysis
Phrases and Clauses Review
• Phrases: Missing either a subject or the verb
• Clauses: Have all the stuff (Subject and Verb)
• Adverbial Clauses – Add more information to he
basic verb (when, why, how… does the action
happen)
• Participle Phrases- always function as adjectives,
adding description to the sentence
Phrases and Clauses Review
• When Chillingworth tells Hester, “Let him hide himself in outward
honor, if he may! Not the less he shall be mine,” vowing a
vengeful pursuit of the child’s father, he begins a transformation
into the embodiment of darkness and evil that can consume one’s
soul (65).
• Simple Subject: He
• Simple Verb: begins
• When does he begin this transformation? When
he tells Hester…
– Thus, the phrase describing WHEN he begins the
transformation adds to the verb, begins, so it is an
ADVERBIAL CLAUSE.
Workshop
TIME’S
YOURS!
Quote Blending and Higher Order
Thinking
• For each of the following quotes from The
Scarlet Letter, provide the following:
• 1) Level 1 Analysis
• 2) Level 2 Analysis
• 3) A complex sentence containing the quote,
level 1 analysis, level 2 analysis, a participial
phrase, an adverbial clause, and an
independent clause.
• 1. “Stand you here, and let me run and catch
it. I am but a child. It will not flee from me.”
• 2. “They said that it meant Abel, so strong was
Hester Prynne, with a woman's strength.”
• 3. “Had a man seen old Roger Chillingworth, at
that moment of his ecstasy, he would have
had no need to ask how Satan comports
himself.”
• 4. “There was no one place so secret—no
high place nor lowly place, where thou couldst
have escaped me—save on this very scaffold!"