Integrating Quotes into Essays

*Portions adapted from “How to Use Tags” from Writers INC: A Guide to Writing, Thinking, & Learning

Incorrect (Quote dropped next to transition without any blending):

For example, “Be a realist. The world is made up of two classes- the hunters and the huntees...who cares how a jaguar feels” (Connell).

Correct (Quote is blended with transition and provides the context):

For example, in the following quote Rainsford displays his thoughts about hunting to Whitney: “Be a realist. The world is made up of two classes- the hunters and the huntees...who cares how a jaguar feels” (Connell).

Transition Words & Phrases Handout (*Contains great transition phrases for research papers at the very bottom)

Notes about Integrating Quotes:

If a quotation is a complete sentence, always capitalize the first word, even if it is introduced mid-sentence.
1. One example why Hamilton is a musical masterpiece is because “Each character has a specific musical characteristic.”
When you use a quotation as evidence, you should integrate it into your own writing using a “signal phrase” or “tag.”
Your quote integration may explain the context (who is speaking & what is happening in the text) of the quote.
Direct quotations should, as a rule, be introduced with a lead-in, or “tag.” This “tag” can take one of several forms that will follow the transition:
1. The “someone says” tag:
  1. EXAMPLES:
    1. For example, in line two Melville says, “the swallows fly low.” (for use with poetry; no closing citation needed since I cited the author and lines in the tag)
    2. For instance, Melville shocks the reader, saying “What like a bullet can undeceive!”
    3. To illustrate, the young waiter replies with “...,” thus displaying his essentially selfish nature (Smith 3).
2. The “sentence” tag (generally followed by a colon):
  1. EXAMPLES:
    1. Notably, Frost opens his poem with a clear image: “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood”
    2. As an illustration, in the first two lines Dickinson presents an intriguing notion: “A little madness in the Spring / Is wholesome even for the king.”(no closing citation needed since I cited the author and lines in the tag)
3. The “blended” tag:
  1. EXAMPLES:
    1. Likewise, Dickinson describes nature as an “Experiment of Green”
    2. In a similar fashion, Frost symbolizes his chosen direction as “the one less traveled by”
    3. As an example, when Strunk refers to qualifiers, he calls them “the leeches that infest the pond of prose”(54).

Signal Phrasing:

An introducing phrase or orienter plus the quotation:

Henceforth, in Blake’s poem “The Tyger,” it is creation, not a hypothetical creator, that is supremely awesome.. The speaker asks, “What immortal hand or eye / Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?”
By comparison, Gatsby is not to be regarded as a personal failure. “Gatsby turned out all right at the end” (2), according to Nick.
“Our baby was a boy,” Shukumar tells his wife in the conclusion of Lahiri’s “A Temporary Matter” (22). This admission is a death knell, tolling the end of their failing marriage.

An assertion of your own and a colon plus the quotation:

In the midst of discussing the fate of the Abame tribe, Uchendu presents his own theory: “There is no story that is not true” (141).
Specifically, Fitzgerald gives Nick a muted tribute to the hero: “Gatsby turned out all right at the end” (2).
Within Othello, Cassio represents not only a political but also a personal threat to Iago: “He hath a daily beauty in his life / That makes me ugly . . .” (5.1.19-20).

An assertion of your own with quoted material worked in:

For Nick, who remarks that Gatsby “turned out all right” (2), the hero deserves respect but perhaps does not inspire great admiration.
In essence, Satan’s motion is many things; he “strides” through the air (55), arrives like a “rattling” cloud (56), and later explodes—“wandering,” “hovering and blazing” like a fire (270).
Walking through Geraldine’s house, Pecola “wanted to see everything slowly, slowly” in order to fully appreciate its comparative order and opulence (Morrison 89).

Other Quote Integration Stems/Examples:

In the following quote Paul shows the horrors of war when he states, “yayayaa” (Remarque 219).
Jones claims that “prejudice is caught rather than directly taught” (418). *Author’s name not needed in citation because Jones is the author.
“Much prejudice is caught rather than directly taught,” claims Jones (418).
“Much prejudice,” Jones claims, “is caught rather than directly taught” (418).
According to Smith, “Reading and writing are two skills every person will need in the workplace” (42).
April is so wildly confused that she actually “...hated Caroline because it was all her fault” (Palso 118).
As noted on page 79,
Harry Potter reveals his intentions by saying, “...” (215).
When Gilbert says, “....” this indicates he is a changed character.
Additionally, Lady Macbeth displays this trait when she tells Macbeth to go home, “....”
For example, the following quote by Alex demonstrates
When the author states,”....”
Lady Macbeth implies … when he says, “....”
An example of this occurs when the main character says, “...”
As stated in the text,
Paul describes the horrors of war when he observes the battlefield, “.....”
Specifically, Remarque uses imagery when Paul describes the front, “.....”
The author illustrates this point when she states,
Penelope demonstrates the theme of redemption in the following quote, “...”
Toward the end of the novel Ken says, “...”
For instance, Gilbert claims fast food restaurants are to blame, “.....” (107).
As Zilpha Keatley Snyder points out,
Snyder documents the change by stating, “...”
Zilpha disputes this claim with the following information: “...”
In the words of ...
Gelco explains the horrors of war in his conversation with Paul: “.....”
As Rodriguez argues, “The American conversation about climate has always been a heated conversation” (406).
“The American conversation about climate has always been a heated conversation,” claims Rodriguez (406).
The Barnald article comments on this point..
Jefferson insists yada yada when he says, “...”
Bazo counters this point by stating…
Bazo asserts his position when he states “...”
Fizzo concludes his argument by…
Rodriguez uses his own observation of neighborhoods in California to demonstrate that cultural assimilation happens naturally when people live in close proximity: “Culture is fluid...You breathe it. You eat it. You can’t help hearing it” (409).
The text states that “...”
Smith advances the argument by including the following fact: “....”
Albert suggests that climate alters by stating, “...”
Shakespeare characterizes Lady Macbeth when she says, “....”
Minco observes the relationship between in this statement: “....”
Davis suggests ice is to blame when he states, “...”
“The best opinion today says that if we eliminate discrimination . . . attitudes are likely to change, perhaps more rapidly than through the continued preaching or teaching of tolerance” (Sampson 417). *Use ellipses to cut down quotes to the essential elements.
Aldard’s article explains that discrimination occurs when an individual is refused rights because he or she belongs to a group which is the object of prejudice. In this way, discrimination reinforces prejudice, but if instances of discrimination are ruled illegal or seen as socially unacceptable, prejudice will likely decrease along with discrimination (417).*Example of summarizing information from your research.
Sampson affirms that the more we learn, the harder we will find it to make unfair assumptions about groups of people, which means as more people pursue more education, prejudice decreases (422).*Example of paraphrasing information from your research

Grammar Reminders for Quotations:

No matter if your quotation appears at the beginning, middle, or end of the sentence, the citation goes at the end (409).
If the author is not indicated, include the author’s name in the citation (Rodriguez 410).
If the ! or ? are part of your sentence, put them outside the quotation (“like this”?)
Put them inside the quotation if they are part of the quotation (“like this!” ).
Use ellipses (...) if you are cutting material from the middle of the quotation (see #2 above).
Use brackets [..] if you need to clarify who the quote is referring to or change the text. Use brackets sparingly!!

DMU Timestamp: October 04, 2024 22:43

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