Working with quotations I need a hug!

The purpose of a quotation It is your EVIDENCE If you are making a claim, you must be able to support it!!! You are SHOWING your reader a deeper meaning of the text. You are making connections between actions and events in the text to the theme or meaning of the text. You are identifying patterns within the text.

Common issues with introducing quotations Quotes that jump in out of no where are confusing! Example: In the novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden feels lost and alone in the world. “Do you happen to know where they go, the ducks, when it gets all frozen over” (60). Just giving a page number is NOT context Example: Holden says that he believes adults are phonies; however, Holden seems to want to be in the company of adults. On page 57 he says, “I turned sideways and showed her my gray hair. It fascinated the hell out of her. ‘C’mon, join me why don’t you?’ I said. I’d’ve enjoyed having her”

The lead in… We need context!!! Assume your reader has read the book. This means: No need to summarize the whole book for each quotation (you don’t need to tell me who Holden is) Give a sentence or two to remind the reader what time or event in the text you are referring to. A lead in tells your reader what you want them to LOOK FOR in your quotation. You are inviting them to see what you see in a quotation

Good Lead-ins Summarize what was happening in the story at the time of the quote. Are long enough to truly give the reader all necessary background (this might mean two- four sentences). Assume the reader has not memorized the story. Use quality academic vocabulary so that the writing sounds sophisticated. If the quote contains dialogue, the lead-in will summarize one character’s side of the conversation so that the quote makes sense.

Problem1—Jumping out of nowhere!!! Holden feels lost and alone in the world. “Do you happen to know where they go, the ducks, when it gets all frozen over” (60). Holden feels lost and alone in the world. Each time Holden has to think about his own direction, real or metaphorical, his thoughts shift to the ducks in Central Park. He even asks his cab driver, “Do you happen to know where they go, the ducks, when it gets all frozen over” (60).

Problem 2—No context, just page number Holden says that he believes adults are phonies; however, Holden seems to want to be in the company of adults. On page 57 he says, “I turned sideways and showed her my gray hair. It fascinated the hell out of her. ‘C’mon, join me why don’t you?’ I said. I’d’ve enjoyed having her” Holden says that he believes adults are phonies; however, Holden seems to want to be in the company of adults. When Holden is on the train to New York, he comes across a classmate’s mother. He seems to want to impress her and extend their conversation: “I turned sideways and showed her my gray hair. It fascinated the hell out of her. ‘C’mon, join me why don’t you?’ I said. I’d’ve enjoyed having her”

Selecting quotations You don’t have to prove plot. Therefore, quotations that just give a fact and don’t require analysis are not useful. Ex: “Anyway, that’s what I wrote Stradlater’s composition about. Old Allie’s baseball mitt” (39). There is not much to say about this quotation. There is no room for analysis. When you are choosing a quotation, use ellipsis (…) sparingly. It can cause confusion. Ex: “You’d have liked him…He was two years younger than I was, but he was about fifty times as intelligent…His teachers were always writing letters to my mother… people with red hair are supposed to get mad easily…God, he was a nice kid” (38). Instead, choose a coherent, consistent quotation.

Selecting quotations When determining where to start and where to end your quotation, think about what you need to say about it. Use enough of a quotation for it to make sense, but don’t use quotations as space filler. You must plan to talk about every part of the quotation. The section in YELLOW is worthy of discussion. The rest is just filler. Ex: “She sort of shrugged her shoulders, the way she did before and then she said, very cold ‘ Do you mind getting me my frock? Or would it be too much trouble?’ She was a pretty spooky kid. Even with that little bitty voice she had, she could sort of scare you a little bit. If she’d been a big old prostitute, with a lot of makeup on her face and all, she wouldn’t have been half as spooky. I went and got her dress for her. She put it on and all, then she picked up her polo coat off the bed.” (98).

Which quotation(s) provides room for analysis? “’Old Ernie,’ I said. ‘He is one of the most popular boys at Pencey. Did you know that?’”(56). “As a matter of fact, I’m the only dumb one in the family. My brother D.B.’s a writer and all, and my brother Allie, the one that died, that I told you about, was a wizard. I’m the only really dumb one” (67).

Which quotation(s) provides room for analysis? “It was still pretty early. I’m not sure what time it was, but it wasn’t too late” (66). “The ducks. Do you happen to know, by any chance? I mean does somebody come around in a truck or something and take them away, or do they fly away by themselves—go south or something?” (81-82).

Which quotation(s) provides room for analysis? “Boy, I felt miserable. I felt so depressed, you can’t imagine. What I did, I started talking, sort of out loud to Allie. I do that sometimes when I get very depressed. I keep telling him to go home and get his bike and meet me in front of Bobby Fallon’s house” (98). After old Sunny was gone, I sat in the chair for a while and smoked a couple of cigarettes” (98).

Analyzing quotations On each of the following slides, you will see a thesis statement about a theme seen in the novel followed by a lead-in and a quotation. Your job— You can use the thesis statements (topic sentences), lead-ins, and quotes as a model of how these can be formatted. Analyze the quote, explaining how it proves the thesis. Use the following questions as your guide: What does the quote mean (interpret rather than summarize)? How does the quote illustrate the thesis? Therefore?

Thesis: J.D. Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye, illustrates people’s fear of change; through experiences that cause individuals to change, people lose their innocence, and, due to this fear of change, people become obsessed with wanting everything to stay the same. Holden admires the fact that the displays at the museum that are frozen in time. He recognizes that no matter what changes in his life, the museum is a constant: “The best thing though, in the museum was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody’d move. You could go there a hundred thousand times, and that Eskimo would still be just finished catching those two fish, the birds would still be on their way south.”(121). What does the quote mean (interpret rather than summarize)? How does the quote illustrate the thesis? Therefore?

EXAMPLE Analysis J.D. Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye, illustrates people’s fear of change; through experiences that cause individuals to change, people lose their innocence, and, due to this fear of change, people become obsessed with wanting everything to stay the same. Holden admires the fact that the displays at the museum that are frozen in time. He recognizes that no matter what changes in his life, the museum is a constant: “The best thing though, in the museum was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody’d move. You could go there a hundred thousand times, and that Eskimo would still be just finished catching those two fish, the birds would still be on their way south”(121). Although Holden has grown up, he would prefer that his life had not changed. The museum represents his desire for consistency and stability in his life. Holden walks to the museum, but does not go in because the museum is the same, but facing it would force him to see that he is the thing that is different. He would rather remember it the way he thought of it when he was a kid. Therefore, by avoiding the museum, he can preserve his memory like an exhibit behind glass that does not change.

How does it show the thesis? Therefore? Thesis: JD Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye, illustrates that all humans long for acceptance, and sometimes in order to make themselves feel more acceptable, people will lie to impress others. When riding the train to New York, Holden meets the mother of a classmate of his, Ernest Morrow. In order to impress her, Holden tells several lies: “’I have to have this operation…I have this tiny tumor on the brain’”(58). What does this quote mean (What’s your interpretation of its meaning?)? How does it show the thesis? Therefore?

Thesis: J.D. Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye, exposes the truth that people are more comfortable around others who are fake because authenticity (someone’s real self) is oftentimes more frightening than the fake personalities people show; people avoid moments of authentic connection for this reason. In New York, Holden hires a prostitute really just to have some company; however, instead of an older woman, he was thrown off to discover that she was close to his own age. As she’s leaving, he comments: “She was a pretty spooky kid. Even with that little bitty voice she had, she could sort of scare you a little bit. If she’d been a big old prostitute, with a lot of makeup on her face and all, she wouldn’t have been half as spooky” (98). What does the quote mean (interpret rather than summarize)? How does the quote illustrate the thesis? Therefore?

Thesis: J.D. Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye, demonstrates that when a person loses a loved one, he will become less likely to truly connect with others because of his grief. This loss can cause the individual to feel that others will never truly understand the experience and so the individual feels more and more isolated. After Sunny, the prostitute whom Holden tries to connect with, leaves, Holden reaches out to connect to anyone possible and begins to talk to his deceased brother: “Boy, I felt miserable. I felt so depressed, you can’t imagine. What I did, I started talking, sort of out loud, to Allie. I do that sometimes when I get depressed. I keep telling him to go home and get his bike and meet me in front of Bobby Fallon’s house”(98). What does the quote mean (interpret rather than summarize)? How does the quote illustrate the thesis? Therefore?

Thesis: J.D. Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye, demonstrates that when a person loses a loved one, he will become less likely to truly connect with others because of his grief. This loss can cause the individual to feel that others will never truly understand the experience and so the individual feels more and more isolated. As Holden leaves the Lavender room, he once again finds himself alone and again strikes up a conversation with a cab driver. In moments when Holden is asked what is his direction, whether in his life or literally where he wants to go, his mind turns to the ducks in Central park: “The ducks. Do you happen to know, by any chance? I mean does somebody come around in a truck or something and take them away, or do they fly away by themselves—go south or something?” (81-82). What does the quote mean (interpret rather than summarize)? How does the quote illustrate the thesis? Therefore?