The document provides guidance on how to properly incorporate direct quotes into literary analysis. It discusses leading the reader to the quote, using it to support your argument, and following it with an explanation of how the quote relates to the main point. The document also offers tips for punctuation, capitalization, omitting or changing words in quotes, and including the required parenthetical citation.
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Embedded quotes
1. Identify
the subject and predicate,
prepositions, adverbs and adjectives.
“Whilethe bubbles were yet sparkling on
the brim, the doctor's four guests
snatched their glasses from the table, and
swallowed the contents at a single gulp”
(Hawthorne 102).
Writeyour own sentence, mimicking the
pattern of the above sentence.
4. To support my argument.
To demonstrate my familiarity with the text.
Toavoid getting kicked out of school for
plagiarism!
5. Anembedded quote flows naturally into your
own writing. When reading a well-embedded
quote, it should sound like part of your own
sentence.
A dropped-in quote does not flow with the
rest of the sentence. It sounds jarring and
disrupts the sentence and paragraph.
6. Beneathais a character who believes in
freedom of expression. She said this quote:
“People have to express themselves one way
or another” (Hansberry 48).
Beneathais a character who believes that
“people need to express themselves one way
or another” (Hansberry 48).
7. Holden gets frustrated and decides to leave.
“People are always ruining things for you”
(Salinger 88).
Holden gets frustrated and decides to leave,
claiming that “people are always ruining
things” (Salinger 88).
Holden gets frustrated and decides to leave.
He claims that “people are always ruining
things” (Salinger 88).
9. Thequote is part of your sentence. Do not
capitalize any word unless it would ordinarily
be capitalized.
Example: Holden gets frustrated and decides
to leave, claiming that “people are always
ruining things” (Salinger 88).
Donot capitalize “people” even though in
the original text it is the first word of the
sentence.
10. When it is necessary to leave out a few
words from the original text, use an ellipses
(…) indicating where the words were
skipped.
Heclaims that “people are … ruining things”
(Salinger 88).
11. Sometimes a word needs to be changed in
order for the sentence to be grammatically
correct.
She is just about to apologize when she
realizes that this nun is not “Mama or Papa
[who she] could argue things with” (Alvarez
15).
The original text is written in first person.
12. Lead your reader into the quote.
Use the quoted material.
Explainhow the quote relates to the main
point of your paragraph.
13. Theclosing punctuation always goes at the
very end of the sentence, i.e. after the
parenthetical citation.
Beneathais a character who believes that
“people need to express themselves one way
or another” (Hansberry 48).
14. Avoidplagiarism! At the end of the
sentence, include a parenthetical citation.
Inmost cases, the author’s name and page
number is required (Author 348).
Insome cases, only a page number is needed
(348).
Why?
15. Theparenthetical citations co-ordinate with
the works cited page included at the end of
your paper.
Helpful websites for proper formatting:
16. Lastname, Firstname. Title of Book. Place of
Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication.
Medium of Publication.