Properly Introduced and Integrated Quotes Mr. Parizo Senior English

Quotes… It’s important that quotes get into your argument. The better the quote, the more sound your argument becomes. Get quotes from texts, from other essays, from articles, newspaper stories, books, news sources, private interviews or any other source that adds to your arguments credibility.

The Importance of Quotes as Evidence All well-researched and constructed paragraphs require quotes from sources and other texts. These quotes are used as evidence to support previously stated claims. These quotes need to be properly introduced.

Never, ever, ever, ever… …ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever should a quote be sitting by itself, alone, crying, in the center of your paragraph like an emo kid whose parents took away his My Chemical Romance CDs. Emo kids are annoying. “Nobody gets me. Nobody understands me. I’m alone in this world. I want to be different – I don’t want to follow some stupid trend – I’m a non-conformist” (Emo Kid 43). Being different is important to Emo kids – that’s why they all dress the same.

BAD! BAD! BAD! BAD! BAD! BAD! Think about it like this: If you are going to give a speech or performance, and what you are to say or sing or whatever is very important, would you want to be properly introduced? Of course you would.

Hanging Quotes are Kanye Quotes! Your quote is the same way; an unintroduced quote awkwardly stands on stage like an unknown speaker or singer, with all eyes staring at it. This is called a “Hanging Quote”. Or what I call “Kanye Quotes” – quotes that are not introduced, they jump onto your paragraph’s stage without being introduced.

Avoid Kanye Quotes Don’t ever let a quote just jump into your paragraph un-introduced. It’s your paragraph. Your quotes shouldn’t interrupt your thoughts! Rather, your ideas should be sharing the same stage with your quotes!

Example of a Kanye Quote: Writers begin writing at a young age and are motivated to do so by their environment. “I began writing an early age when my grandmother would sit with me at the kitchen table and write in journals. We would read to each other what we wrote and talk about it” (Atwood 43). The impact that family and environment plays a crucial role in a writer’s development.

Introduced Quotes - Examples of an “Introduced Quote”: Novelist Margaret Atwood writes, “I began writing when I was young…” The article “A Lady Surfacing” states, “I began writing when I was young…” There! The quote is introduced. Your reader knows who said/wrote the quote, or at the very least, knows where the quote came from!

Get Your Voice In There! Your voice needs to be in there somewhere, joined in the same sentence along with the quote. Never leave a quote by itself un- introduced… it sounds weird, it looks weird, and it will eat all of your integrity as a writer.

An introduced quote… Example: Writers begin writing at a young age and are motivated to do so by their environment. Novelist Margaret Atwood states, “I began writing an early age when my grandmother would sit with me at the kitchen table and write in journals. We would read to each other what we wrote and talk about it” (43).

What Comes Next? Not This: Example: Writers begin writing at a young age and are motivated to do so by their environment. Novelist Margaret Atwood states, “I began writing an early age when my grandmother would sit with me at the kitchen table and write in journals. We would read to each other what we wrote and talk about it” (43). This quote is saying that.. Blah, blah, blah. Blah.

Or this… repeat or summarize Example: Writers begin writing at a young age and are motivated to do so by their environment. Novelist Margaret Atwood states, “I began writing an early age when my grandmother would sit with me at the kitchen table and write in journals. We would read to each other what we wrote and talk about it” (43). Atwood sat on her grandmother’s table and wrote, influencing her to write.

Follow the Evidence with Interpretation… From this point on you can add more interpretation, fill out the paragraph and make your essay’s argument sound. Example: Writers begin writing at a young age and are motivated to do by different means. Novelist Margaret Atwood states, “I began writing an early age when my grandmother would sit with me at the kitchen table and write in journals. We would read to each other what we wrote and talk about it” (43). The impact that family and environment plays a crucial role in a writer’s development. If the early parts of a child’s life is dedicated to the art of writing, odds are the child will continue to write into adulthood.