Using quotations in your writing Good writing practice Mla formatting rules

Why would you want to use a quotation in your writing? In English classes, direct text support is the strongest way to support any of your ideas or interpretations. In many other courses, you are using the best factual evidence from reliable sources to prove what you are saying is valid/true.

A new concept? When you decide to copy text from any source, you are using a quotation in your writing. This could be one word, or several paragraphs! Any quotation you insert into your writing must be part of a grammatically correct sentence that you write. Quotation cannot “just appear” on the page! You must prepare your reader.

The Three steps—memorize these Steps! Establish context for the quotation. Grammatically correct insertion into your writing. Explanation

Step 1—establish context It is your job to “set up” your quotation so that your reader knows a quotation is coming. The reader should know what to expect. Is it narration, stage direction, characters talking, a fact from a source, etc. Typically, you want to establish the situation/setting and who is speaking to whom. If it is narration the reader needs to know whose thoughts are being presented. ( a character, author narration, etc)

Step 2—grammatical insertion The clause preceding your actual quotation is very important. It helps to provide context and leys the reader know what to expect. Options1-- Use an independent clause that ends with a colon. Option 2—Correctly combine clauses and/or words by using a comma to make the sentence grammatically correct. ( This only works for short quotations) I WILL REVIEW THE RULES FOR LONG AND SHORT QUOATAIONS, PARAGRAPH CHANGES, AND SPECIAL RULES FOR DRAMA AND POETRY.

Step 3-Explanation Step three might be a two part process*** When necessary, you have to first explain what the quotation actually means. Then your must clarify and explain how the quotation is making a point to support your ideas, assertions, thesis argument etc. UNLESS IT IS PAINFULLY OBVIOUS, DON’T EXPECT THE READER TO JUST UNDERSTAND WHY YOU HAVE PLACED A QUOTATION INTO YOUR WRITING.

How long should a quotation be? length How long should a quotation be?

Any questions? Your next writing assignment will require you to correctly insert a quotatipon into your writing. Your quotation choices will be crucial to your success!