1. Quotes, Quotes, Quotes
Lesson #8

2. Writing Tip of the Day – Commas and Quotation Marks
Commas and periods must go inside quotation marks when using a quote, unless the comma is introducing a quote.
Ex: “That’s no moon,” Obi-wan said, “it’s a space station.”
During the debate, Bernie told Hillary, “"The American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn s.”
Carr argues that “Google is making us stupid,” but is that entirely correct?

3. Freewriting Exercise
What do you think your role is as a writer? How would you define that role? What is the ideal standard for any writer?

4. Plagiarism
How would you define plagiarism?
How can you avoid it?

5. Formal Definition
“The unacknowledged use of another’s work, passing it off as your own”
Those who plagiarize risk failing an assignment, failing the class, receiving academic suspension, or being expelled

6. To Avoid It
ALWAYS cite the source, even if you are summarizing or paraphrasing (even stealing another’s idea counts).
Cite the source in the text itself and in your bibliography, using across formatting guidelines.
Note: You don’t have to cite common knowledge (“In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue”).

7. Integrating Quotes Most common method is quoting an entire sentence.
With this approach, treat the quote like dialogue in a book.
Introduce the quote by stating or reiterating who said it, and maybe what the context is.

8. But then Dr. King tells his audience, “Never before have I written so long a letter.” According to the American Cancer Society, “Most leukemia patients go into remission after receiving the proper treatment.”

9. Anything wrong with the use of this quote here?
Among other things, Carr is worried about how the Internet is affecting his own brain. “And what the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation.” He feels like the Internet has made him a less efficient reader.

10. Hit-and-run quotes
Always introduce quotes somehow, or else they’ll blindside the reader because of the abrupt transition.
Introduce a quote the same way you would introduce two of your friends who haven’t met each other before.
Also, make sure there’s a transition from the quote to the next sentence (when you analyze or explain the quote).

11. Among other things, Carr is worried about how the Internet is affecting his own brain. He continues arguing at the beginning of his article, “And what the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation.” In other words, he feels like the Internet has made him a less efficient reader.

12. Partial Quotes You don’t have to quote an entire sentence.
In most situations, you only need to quote part of it so long as you integrate it naturally with the rest of the sentence (so that the whole sentence is grammatically sound).
Ex: Despite the negative connotations of the word “bitch,” Gross believes that Madonna has “turned the intended insult to her advantage.”

13. In other cases, all you need to quote is a phrase or a word.
The Black Panthers repeat the phrase “We want” over and over again to emphasize what their rights are as citizens.
Amy Tan considered herself to be “rebellious” when she was younger and decided to study English instead of math.

14. Practice Activity
With a partner, analyze this paragraph by including quotes from it.
Use longer quotes and shorter ones to make your case.
Preamble to the Constitution:
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

15. MLA Citations
Any formal citation format for any given field follows certain rules and guidelines that you’ll need to be aware of.
For this class, our default citation format will be MLA, primarily used in the humanities.
However, other fields use different formats, which we may discuss another day.
Otherwise, visit the writing center for more information.