How to Cite… Sophisticatedly

Part One: Integrating a Quotation into the Essay

What NOT to do… Scout Finch is clearly a tomboy. When Scout fails to adequately explain Walter Cunningham’s situation to Miss Caroline, Scout is punished and blames Walter for this. Scout then proceeds to punish Walter as any tomboy would. “Catching Walter Cunningham in the schoolyard gave me some pleasure, but when I was rubbing his nose in the dirt Jem came by and told me to stop” (Lee 30). Scout Finch is clearly a tomboy. When Scout fails to adequately explain Walter Cunningham’s situation to Miss Caroline, Scout is punished and blames Walter for this. Scout then proceeds to punish Walter as any tomboy would. “Catching Walter Cunningham in the schoolyard gave me some pleasure, but when I was rubbing his nose in the dirt Jem came by and told me to stop” (Lee 30).

Why not? Scout Finch is clearly a tomboy. When Scout fails to adequately explain Walter Cunningham’s situation to Miss Caroline, Scout is punished and blames Walter for this. Scout then proceeds to punish Walter as any tomboy would. “Catching Walter Cunningham in the schoolyard gave me some pleasure, but when I was rubbing his nose in the dirt Jem came by and told me to stop” (Lee 30). Scout Finch is clearly a tomboy. When Scout fails to adequately explain Walter Cunningham’s situation to Miss Caroline, Scout is punished and blames Walter for this. Scout then proceeds to punish Walter as any tomboy would. “Catching Walter Cunningham in the schoolyard gave me some pleasure, but when I was rubbing his nose in the dirt Jem came by and told me to stop” (Lee 30).  There’s no flow to this sentence. The quote is sitting off by itself, asking the reader to understand it out of context.

What TO do…  Integrate! Make it FLOW! Scout Finch is clearly a tomboy. When Scout fails to adequately explain Walter Cunningham’s situation to Miss Caroline, Scout is punished and blames Walter for this. Scout then proceeds to punish Walter as any tomboy would. She recalls, “Catching Walter Cunningham in the schoolyard gave me some pleasure, but hen I was rubbing his nose in the dirt Jem came by and told me to stop” (Lee 30). Scout Finch is clearly a tomboy. When Scout fails to adequately explain Walter Cunningham’s situation to Miss Caroline, Scout is punished and blames Walter for this. Scout then proceeds to punish Walter as any tomboy would. She recalls, “Catching Walter Cunningham in the schoolyard gave me some pleasure, but hen I was rubbing his nose in the dirt Jem came by and told me to stop” (Lee 30).

Part Two: Dealing with a long quote

What NOT to do…  Do not use an excessively long quote if the entire thing is not RELEVANT to your argument  Why?  It’s unnecessary essay “padding;” it interferes with the “conciseness” of your argument

What TO do…  Cut out any unnecessary parts of the quote  Add an ellipsis in square brackets […] where you remove words  Be sure the quote still flows in proper sentences!

For Example  Let’s say I want to use the following quote to demonstrate how Miss Caroline punishes Scout: “Miss Caroline stood stock still, then grabbed me by the collar and hauled me back to her desk. ‘Jean Louise, I’ve has about enough of you this morning,’ she said. ‘You’re starting off on the wrong foot in every way, my dear. Hold out your hand.’ I thought she was going to spit in it, which was the only reason anybody in Maycomb held out his hand: it was a time-honored method of sealing oral contracts. Wondering what bargain we had made, I turned to the class for an answer, but the class looked back at me in puzzlement. Miss Caroline picked up her ruler, gave me half a dozen quick little pats, then told me to stand in the corner. A storm of laughter broke loose when it finally occurred to the class that Miss Caroline had whipped me” (Lee28). I thought she was going to spit in it, which was the only reason anybody in Maycomb held out his hand: it was a time-honored method of sealing oral contracts. Wondering what bargain we had made, I turned to the class for an answer, but the class looked back at me in puzzlement. Miss Caroline picked up her ruler, gave me half a dozen quick little pats, then told me to stand in the corner. A storm of laughter broke loose when it finally occurred to the class that Miss Caroline had whipped me” (Lee28).

It’s too Much!  A lot of the quote isn’t relevant; doesn’t help to prove the point  So, I pick and choose what I want…

“Miss Caroline stood stock still, then grabbed me by the collar and hauled me back to her desk. ‘Jean Louise, I’ve has about enough of you this morning,’ she said. ‘You’re starting off on the wrong foot in every way, my dear. Hold out your hand.’ “Miss Caroline stood stock still, then grabbed me by the collar and hauled me back to her desk. ‘Jean Louise, I’ve has about enough of you this morning,’ she said. ‘You’re starting off on the wrong foot in every way, my dear. Hold out your hand.’ I thought she was going to spit in it, which was the only reason anybody in Maycomb held out his hand: it was a time-honored method of sealing oral contracts. Wondering what bargain we had made, I turned to the class for an answer, but the class looked back at me in puzzlement. Miss Caroline picked up her ruler, gave me half a dozen quick little pats, then told me to stand in the corner. A storm of laughter broke loose when it finally occurred to the class that Miss Caroline had whipped me” (Lee28). I thought she was going to spit in it, which was the only reason anybody in Maycomb held out his hand: it was a time-honored method of sealing oral contracts. Wondering what bargain we had made, I turned to the class for an answer, but the class looked back at me in puzzlement. Miss Caroline picked up her ruler, gave me half a dozen quick little pats, then told me to stand in the corner. A storm of laughter broke loose when it finally occurred to the class that Miss Caroline had whipped me” (Lee28).

Pick & Choose…then Piece Together  Now I take the relevant parts and string them together. I insert an ellipsis in square brackets […] where I’ve removed words.

“Miss Caroline […]grabbed me by the collar and hauled me back to her desk. […] Miss Caroline picked up her ruler, gave me half a dozen quick little pats, then told me to stand in the corner. […] Miss Caroline had whipped me” (Lee28).

I can even chop to create new sentences… “Miss Caroline […]grabbed me by the collar and hauled me back to her desk. […]. Miss Caroline picked up her ruler, gave me half a dozen quick little pats, then told me to stand in the corner. […] Miss Caroline had whipped me” (Lee28). “Miss Caroline […]grabbed me by the collar and hauled me back to her desk. […]. Miss Caroline picked up her ruler, gave me half a dozen quick little pats, then told me to stand in the corner. […] Miss Caroline had whipped me” (Lee28). “Miss Caroline […]grabbed me by the collar [,] hauled me back to her desk[,…] picked up her ruler, gave me half a dozen quick little pats, then told me to stand in the corner. […] Miss Caroline had whipped me” (Lee28). “Miss Caroline […]grabbed me by the collar [,] hauled me back to her desk[,…] picked up her ruler, gave me half a dozen quick little pats, then told me to stand in the corner. […] Miss Caroline had whipped me” (Lee28)..

Part Three: Dealing with Dialogue

What NOT to do…  You CANNOT string dialogue together side- by-side in a sentence E.g. Atticus questions Mayella Ewell on the stand: “You the eldest? The oldest?” “Yes.” “How long has your mother been dead?” “Don’t know –long time.” “Did you ever go to school?” ‘Read’n’write good as Papa yonder.” (Lee 244).

What TO do…  Set the text off as you would ANY quote longer than four lines (starting on its own line and indented at the left margin)  No quotation marks  Citation appears at end Atticus questions Mayella Ewell on the stand: -You the eldest? The oldest? -Yes. -How long has your mother been dead? -Don’t know –long time. -Did you ever go to school? -Read’n’write good as Papa yonder (Lee 244).