Don’t “Float Your Quote” How to effectively embed your text evidence using your own commentary…

Effectively incorporating quotations into writing can be tough! Sometimes writers leave quotations “floating” or unattached to a sentence which causes confusion and usually results in a loss of meaning.

One way to support a key idea in your analysis is to include words and phrases from a piece of literature. These words and phrases (or quotations) do NOT have to be dialogue from a character. An effective way to use quotations is to blend them into your sentences…

…with the quote at the beginning, Example: “There was blood upon her white robe, and the evidence of some bitter struggle upon every portion of her emaciated frame,” suggesting her journey upward went beyond a mere return from literal darkness (Poe 90).

…with the quote broken in the middle, Example: “There was blood upon her white robe,” suggesting her return from the early grave went beyond a literal journey when combined with “the evidence of some bitter struggle upon every portion of her emaciated frame” (Poe 90).

…and with the quote at the end. Example: When she journeys back from below, Lady Madeline is undertaking more than a literal return, “There was blood upon her white robe, and the evidence of some bitter struggle upon every portion of her emaciated frame” (Poe 90).

Final Considerations When you blend a quotation into a sentence, be sure that the quoted material fits grammatically into the sentence. For example, be sure that what you end up with is a complete sentence and not a sentence fragment.

Final Considerations What’s wrong with this sentence? “From that chamber, and from that mansion,” the narrator “aghast” (Poe 90). What’s wrong with this sentence? It’s missing a VERB! The sentence should be written as: “From that chamber, and from that mansion,” the narrator flees “aghast” (Poe 90).

Blended Quotation Practice For each sentence below, blend the quotation and the sentence on your own paper. You do not have to use all the words in a quotation, but you should pick out the KEY words and phrases that emphasize the point you are trying to make. Sentence: Poe uses sensory details to create a feeling of terror. Quotation: “His room was as black as pitch with the thick darkness….” KE SURE YOUR SENTENCE IS A COMPLETE SENTENCE!

Blended Quotation Practice Sentence: Edgar Allan Poe uses comparisons for description. Quotation: “old man’s heart” and “sound, such as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton.” Sentence: In “The Tell-Tale Heart,” Poe immediately establishes the narrator as troubled. Quotation: “nervous—very, very dreadfully nervous”