This document provides guidance on effectively integrating quotations from sources to support written ideas. It discusses analyzing paragraphs to identify poorly integrated quotations that lack clear connections. An example poorly integrated quotation is analyzed, where it is unclear what the quotation refers to. The document demonstrates how to improve the example by adding context and details to clearly explain the relevance of the quoted material. Overall, the key lessons are on using quoted material in a coherent way that supports the writer's own ideas rather than confusing readers.

1. Welcome to the No Dumping
zone
Objectives:
• Analyze paragraphs to detect poorly integrated
quotations.
• Use quoted material effectively to support your
own written ideas.

2. Materials and resources for preview
• Integrating Sources document in the Blackboard
folder Using Your Source Material Effectively.
(Suggestion: Pause this presentation here and
open that document in a new Window or tab.)
• Hacker, D., & Sommers, N. (2011). Writer’s
Reference 7th ed. Boston: Bedford St.
Martins, 379-84 (MLA style), 451-65 (APA style).
• Purdue U. OWL:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/93
0/10

3. Background
This activity assumes that you know how to…
• Locate, comprehend, and evaluate information
from relevant, authoritative sources.
• Evaluate the information and your goals to
determine whether quoting directly is the best
option.
• Punctuate direct quotations.
• Use documentation to show readers what source
provided the information.

4. To use quotations to develop
supporting ideas, think like a lawyer
A lawyer calls witnesses
to testify. They give
information to help the
attorney prove
something to the court.
A writer uses
information from
sources to help make a
point for readers.
Image:
Spencer Tracy & Fredric March. (2011/1960).
[Photograph: screen shot from trailer for Inherit
the Wind, public domain]. Wikimedia Commons.
Retrieved from
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Inherit_t
he_wind_trailer_(1)_Spencer_Tracy_Fredric_Marc
h.jpg.

5. To use quotations to develop
supporting ideas, think like a lawyer
A lawyer uses opening
statements and questions
to help judge and jury
understand the case.
A writer helps readers
understand how
information from sources
supports the main point.
Image:
Spencer Tracy & Fredric March. (2011/1960).
[Photograph: screen shot from trailer for
Inherit the Wind, public domain]. Wikimedia
Commons. Retrieved from
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Inhe
rit_the_wind_trailer_(1)_Spencer_Tracy_Fred
ric_March.jpg.

6. Don’t dump on your readers
A dumped, dropped, or
floating quotation lacks a
clear connection to the
point of the paragraph.
Like oil and water, they
won’t work together
without effort.
Image:
Blacus, V. (2010). Water and oil [Photograph].
Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved from
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wate
r_and_oil.jpg.

7. Work it: Analyze a paragraph to detect a poorly
integrated quotation
Pause this show and view “Integrating Sources”
from the Using Your Source Material Effectively
folder. Look at Example 1, an example of a dumped
quotation (from Diane Hacker, Working with Sources:
Exercises to Accompany A Writer’s Reference, 6th ed. Boston:
Bedford, 2009).
1. Paraphrase the main idea and chief supporting
details in the source
2. Look carefully at the example that attempts to
use the quotation.
3. Explain why it’s a dump—and how to improve it.

8. Example 1 Problem: Coherence
In 1830, the Delmonico brothers opened one of the first
restaurants in New York City. [???] “This was a sharp break from
the fixed fare and simultaneous seatings at common hotel tables
— so crowded (one guidebook warned) that your elbows were
‘pinned down to your sides like the wings of a trussed fowl’ ”
(Burrows and Wallace 437).
Explanation: The writer should support the first sentence by
adding information about the Delmonicos’ restaurant. But the
paragraph simply inserts or dumps the quotation, leaving
readers to try to guess in what way that restaurant was “a sharp
break from” other eateries.

9. Example 1 Problem: Coherence
In 1830, the Delmonico brothers opened one of the first
restaurants in New York City. [???] “This was a sharp break from
the fixed fare and simultaneous seatings at common hotel tables
— so crowded (one guidebook warned) that your elbows were
‘pinned down to your sides like the wings of a trussed fowl’ ”
(Burrows and Wallace 437).
The cause: It’s unclear what “this” refers to. With no
explanation, readers might assume that just opening a
restaurant in NYC was the “sharp break.” That’s obviously not
what Burrows and Wallace mean. How can the writer improve
clarity and coherence?

10. Example 1 Solution: Create coherence
The writer could use several ways to improve clarity. This version adds
details to give readers a clearer picture of what Burrows and Wallace
are telling us about the Delmonicos’ new restaurant:
In 1830, the Delmonico brothers opened one of the first
restaurants in New York City. Pulitzer Prize-winning historians
Edwin Burrows and Mike Wallace note that it offered a new kind of
dining experience by following European practices: patrons could
be served whenever the restaurant was open; sit at small, separate
tables; and order from a menu. “This was a sharp break from the
fixed fare and simultaneous seatings at common hotel tables — so
crowded (one guidebook warned) that your elbows were ‘pinned
down to your sides like the wings of a trussed fowl’ ” (Burrows and
Wallace 437).

11. Example 1 Solution: Create coherence
In this version, each sentence links to the previous one and
relates to the main point:
In 1830, the Delmonico brothers opened one of the first
restaurants in New York City. Pulitzer Prize-winning historians
Edwin Burrows and Mike Wallace note that it offered a new
kind of dining experience by following European practices:
patrons could be served whenever the restaurant was open;
sit at small, separate tables; and order from a menu.
“This was a sharp break from the fixed fare and simultaneous
seatings at common hotel tables — so crowded (one
guidebook warned) that your elbows were ‘pinned down to
your sides like the wings of a trussed fowl’ ” (Burrows and
Wallace 437).

12. Example 1 Solution: Create coherence
As a bonus, it adds information to establish the source’s
credentials and authority:
In 1830, the Delmonico brothers opened one of the first
restaurants in New York City. Pulitzer Prize-winning
historians Edwin Burrows and Mike Wallace note that it
offered a new kind of dining experience by following
European practices: patrons could be served whenever the
restaurant was open; sit at small, separate tables; and order
from a menu. “This was a sharp break from the fixed fare
and simultaneous seatings at common hotel tables — so
crowded (one guidebook warned) that your elbows were
‘pinned down to your sides like the wings of a trussed fowl’ ”
(Burrows and Wallace 437).

13. Wrap up
• Dumped quotations can confuse readers.
• One sign of a dumped quotation: lack of
coherent links between the quotation and the
idea it is meant to support.
• Next up: Example 2
– Keeping quotations from being too long.
– Placing quotations in the best locations.
– Presenting authors’ ideas accurately.