Integrating Quotes
To quote a character When you want to introduce an important character line, introduce it with context (what’s happening, who is speaking), and put a comma after “says” In challenging his father, Hans Jr. says, “You’re either for the Führer or against him—and I can see that you’re against him…it’s pathetic—how a man can stand by and do nothing as a whole nation cleans out the garbage and makes itself great…you coward” (Zusak 71).
To blend a character’s quote with your own thoughts: Do not separate your thoughts from the quote with a comma, but rather, transition more smoothly by just adding quotation marks When he moves into the Hubermann’s basement, a living situation he considers “better than I deserve” (Zusak 140), his dehumanized state of living begins to eat away at who he is.
How to quote part of what a character says, and part of what the narrator says: “’Tommy, please.’ There was a peculiar look of contentment on Rudy’s face. Liesel had never seen someone so miserable yet so whole-heartedly alive. ‘Just sit there…’” (Zusak 270).
Incorporating Block Quotes When you are quoting a conversation, or incorporating any quote that is longer than four lines, you must format that quotation differently
Integrating Conversations You must introduce the quote (as you normally would to avoid “dropping” it in), but then indent the passage you are quoting, rather than adding quotation marks. Then ensure you add the author and page number at the end. Ex: In the novel Pride and Prejudice, the early exchange between Mr. and Mrs. Bennet demonstrates just how silly Mrs. Bennet is and why Mr. Bennet teases her: What is his name? Bingley. Is he married or single? Oh! single, my dear to be sure! A single man of large fortune; four or five thousand a year. What a fine thing for our girls. How so? How can it affect them? My dear Mr. Bennet…how can you be so tiresome! You must know that I am thinking of his marrying one of them (Austen 5).
Integrating Long Quotes Just like a conversation, you must introduce the passage, then indent the quotation (without using quotation marks) and follow it with the author’s name and page number. Then go back to your own writing without indenting. Ex: Her transformation begins when she makes peace with a bully from school—Ludwig Schmeikl: In her attempt to escape, a voice found her…Ludwig Schmeikl…all he was able to do was pull her toward him and motion to his ankle. It had been crushed among the excitement…his face wore a helpless expression…he was just an animal, hurt among the melee of his own kind…somehow, she helped him up and dragged him toward the back (Zusak 76). Schmeikl taunted Liesel at school for being illiterate before she sees him here—he reduces her to an idiot, and at the time she reacts violently.
What’s the Difference? Context Summary Definition: the parts of a written or spoken statement that precede or follow a specific word or passage, usually influencing its meaning or effect Or the set of circumstances or facts that surround a particular event, situation, etc. Definition: using few words to give the most important information about something Or a brief statement or account of the main points of something.
Context vs. Summary Context Summary In the beginning of A Christmas Carol Scrooge is introduced as a bitter person because he is an uncaring, stingy man who only cares about himself. For example, in the text, Marley introduces the reader to Scrooge as: “England’s most tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! secret and solitary as an oyster,” (Horovitz, 3). In the beginning of A Christmas Carol Scrooge is introduced as a bitter person because he is an uncaring, stingy man who only cares about himself. Before the play begins, Marley is introduced as a narrator who give the reader a better idea of who Scrooge is. Marley and Scrooge used to be business partners until Marley died, and so now the reader only hears from Marley’s ghost when he says Scrooge is “England’s most tight- fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! secret and solitary as an oyster,” (Horovitz, 3).