The Quote Sandwich from Summer Clip Training Lorrie Cobain-Danelski

The Quote Sandwich You will use quotes throughout your essays. They should not take up more than a quarter of your paper. If you have too many quotes, the paper ceases to be your creation. It also causes a disjointed paper. Here is an ideal method to set up a quote for your essay. When you use a quote sandwich, remember the following rules:   Quotes should never be just stuck in They are not filler. They lend authority to your paper. Examine your purpose. Determine if the quote will further your argument. What is its significance?

You will sandwich the quote between a top layer of explanation and a bottom layer of interpretation. The top layer should create a transition between the information you have just been writing about. It should flow smoothly into the quote. It ought to include some preliminary explanation of the topic or a certain amount of context setting. It should also include the authority giving the quote and possibly the source. Put the quote in the middle. Make sure it is integrated grammatically and structurally with the surrounding text. Following the quote, give an interpretation of the meaning. Explain how it supports your argument or the point you were trying to make in the paragraph. Never make a sandwich without a bottom slice; your hands will get sticky.

EXAMPLE: Find your quotation. This is the filling; it should be picked carefully. Quote only those sentences that are said so well that you couldn’t say it any better, that are so unbelievable that they have to be quoted to be believed, are so filled with good fodder for analysis that you want to build an argument upon that analysis. Ex: “Farmer’s like the rest of us have assumed under the tutelage of people with things to sell, that selfishness and extravagance are merely normal. Like the rest of us, farmers have believed that they might safely live a life prescribed by the advertisers of products, rather than the life required by fundamental human necessities and responsibilities.”

EXAMPLE: Add the top slice of the bread. How are you going to let us know what’s coming up? Give us the author, title of the piece, maybe the year it was written, and perhaps a quick overview of what we’re going to find in the quotation. Ex: In the 1986 essay “A Defense of the Family Farm”, Wendell Berry argues that farmers alone are not to blame for the sad state of farming in America today. He writes,

EXAMPLE: Add the bottom slice of bread. What are you going to say about this quotation? How does it relate to your thesis? How does it relate to your topic sentence? How does it help to qualify, intensify, or corroborate your argument? Ex: Berry laments that farmers have strayed from their primary goal of feeding people and have slipped into shortcuts and ruthless behaviors that have deeply hurt our American farm culture. Here, Berry points out that these farmers have learned their modern ways from the expansion of American capitalism. He notes that farmers have been influenced by “people with things to sell” and “advertisers of products”. Berry notices that farmers have been under their “tutelage” as if they’ve taken classes in how to be heartless and greedy, which is exactly the point. Americans have created a culture that teaches its producers how to act, and in the passage, Berry reminds us that we are also taking this same class and learning the same messages. He repeats twice that farmers do this “like the rest of us.”

All together now: In the 1986 essay “A Defense of the Family Farm”, Wendell Berry argues that farmers alone are not to blame for the sad state of farming in America today. He writes, “Farmer’s like the rest of us have assumed under the tutelage of people with things to sell, that selfishness and extravagance are merely normal. Like the rest of us, farmers have believed that they might safely live a life prescribed by the advertisers of products, rather than the life required by fundamental human necessities and responsibilities.” Berry laments that farmers have strayed from their primary goal of feeding people and have slipped into shortcuts and ruthless behaviors that have deeply hurt our American farm culture. Here, Berry points out that these farmers have learned their modern ways from the expansion of American capitalism. He notes that farmers have been influenced by “people with things to sell” and “advertisers of products”. Berry notices that farmers have been under their “tutelage” as if they’ve taken classes in how to be heartless and greedy, which is exactly the point. Americans have created a culture that teaches its producers how to act, and in the passage, Berry reminds us that we are also taking this same class and learning the same messages. He repeats twice that farmers do this “like the rest of us.”

Work It! Find your quotation, one that you can really talk about from Into the Wild. Write your lead in with the author’s full name, title, and a quick overview of what we can expect to find in the quotation. Write your analysis: a discussion of how the content helps advance your thesis, an interesting part of the quotation that you want to highlight, a pattern that is presented in the quotation, a contradiction that emerges, a place where you disagree with the author. How does it relate to your thesis? How does it relate to your topic sentence? How does it help to qualify, intensify or corroborate your argument?