literature assignments

INTEGRATING QUOTES PRACTICE

The Idea:

· You’ve written an insightful claim and found a great supporting quote.

· Now, you need to integrate that quote into your writing.

· How should this be done?

Common errors:

· The “loose balloon” (dropped quotes)

· Quotes need to be “held down” with your own writing.

· If not, they are disconnected from your other ideas.

Examples of common errors:

· T.S. Eliot, in his "Talent and the Individual," uses gender-specific language. "No poet, no artist of any art, has his complete meaning alone. His significance, his appreciation is the appreciation of his relation to the dead poets and artists" (Eliot 29).

· Holden gets frustrated and decides to leave. "People are always ruining things for you" (Salinger 88).

· The narrator feels powerless against the Burmese. For example, “I knew they would laugh at me if I backed down. And that would never do” (Orwell).

How to fix these common errors:

· Using signal phrases

· Learn the 4 Methods to integrate your quotes

Sample signal phrases:

Comments	Describes	Insists	Responds
Describes Adds	Compares	Disputes	Maintains
Insists Reveals Responds	Admits	Concludes	Emphasizes
Notes	Says	Agrees	Concedes
Observes	Endorses	Shows	Argues
Finds	Points out	Suggests	Asserts
Considers	Predicts	Thinks	Believes
Contends	Refutes	Warns	Claims
Declares	Illustrates	Denies	Implies

Method #1: Use a signal phrase (an introductory or explanatory phrase) separated from the quotation with a comma. Signal phrase + ,

Thoreau suggests the consequences of making ourselves slaves to progress when he says, "We do not ride on the railroad; it rides upon us."

In his examination of the values and rhythm of American life, Thoreau asks, "Why should we live with such hurry and waste of life?"

Method #2: Make the quotation a part of your own sentence without any punctuation between your own words and the words you are quoting using that. Signal phrase + that

Thoreau argues that "shams and delusions are esteemed for soundest truths, while reality is fabulous."

Holden gets frustrated and decides to leave, claiming that "people are always ruining things for you" (Salinger 88).

In "Where I Lived, and What I Lived For," Thoreau states directly his purpose for going into the woods when he says that "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."

Notice that the word "that" is used in the examples above. “That" replaces the comma which would be necessary without "that" in the sentence

Method #3: Introduce the quotation with a complete sentence and a colon. Complete sentence + :

In "Where I Lived, and What I Lived For," Thoreau states directly his purpose for going into the woods: "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived

Thoreau ends his essay with a metaphor: "Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in."

Thoreau summarizes how he thinks we can improve our lives: "Simplify, simplify."

This is an easy rule to remember: if you use a complete sentence to introduce a quotation, you need a colon after the sentence. Be careful not to confuse a colon (:) with a semicolon (;).

Method #4: Use short quotations--only a few words--as part of your own sentence. Fully integrated small quotes

In "Where I Lived, and What I Lived For," Thoreau states that his retreat to the woods around Walden Pond was motivated by his desire "to live deliberately" and to face only "the essential facts of life."

Thoreau argues that people blindly accept "shams and delusions" as the "soundest truths," while regarding reality as "fabulous."

Although Thoreau "drink[s] at" the stream of Time, he can "detect how shallow it is."

Tips for Method #4: Weave the author’s words into your ideas. Use the words as if they were your own.

REVIEW: Which method is used for each statement below?

A. Atticus metaphorically explains why a man like Boo Radley should be left alone: “it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (Lee 86).

____________________________

B. Atticus metaphorically explains the reason people should leave Boo Radley alone when he says, “remember it’s a sin to kill a
mockingbird” (Lee 86).

_________________________

C. While bothering Boo Radley and “kill[ing] a mockingbird” are not entirely the same, Atticus was still able to get the children to understand that harming a defenseless person is “a sin” (Lee 86).

__________________________

D. The children learn to leave Boo Radley alone after their father told them that “it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (Lee 86).

__________________________

Directions: PRACTICE! Choose 2 ideas from the list below, and use all 4 methods for each of the ideas and quotes that you chose below. You may add/delete/ or change words as needed for the idea and quote integration to make sense and for it to be grammatically correct.

Example:

Idea: After June's humiliating piano recital, Waverly adds insult to injury. Quotation: "You aren't a genius like me" (Tan 151).

Method 1: After June's humiliating piano recital, Waverly adds insult to injury when he says, “You aren't a genius like me" (Tan 151).

Method 2: After June's humiliating piano recital, Waverly adds insult to injury when he says that “You aren't a genius like me" (Tan 151).

Method 3: After June's humiliating piano recital, Waverly adds insult to injury: "You aren't a genius like me" (Tan 151).

Method 4: After June’s humiliating piano recital, Waverly tells her that she isn’t a “genius,” adding insult to injury.

Choose 2 ideas from the list below, and use all 4 methods for each of the ideas and quotes that you chose below. You may add/delete/ or change words as needed for the idea and quote integration to make sense and for it to be grammatically correct.

1. Idea: Macbeth is worried before he murders Duncan. Quotation: "Bloody instructions, which being taught, return To plague th'inventor."

2. Idea: Scout is constantly complaining about being left behind by Jem and Dill. Quotation: “You never let me go anywhere. If you don’t let me go this time I’m gonna tell Atticus on the both of you.”

3. Idea: Jem constantly tells Scout that she needs to leave him alone because she pesters him with concerns about his safety. Quotation: “Stop acting like a girl”

4. Idea: Doodle is a sick individual. Quotation: “The doctor said that he mustn’t get too excited, too hot, too cold, or too tired and that he must always be treated gently.”