First Post on Using Quotations!

Before I begin to post on quotations, let me remind you to use the informative post on how to begin working on your paper. It might be very useful in class this Friday. Take another look at it, and consider incorporating it in your teaching!

Defining the issues involved with using quotations that we need to resolve:

1. The central issue -- When you use quotations, suddenly another person speaks in the middle of your work; your reader needs to be clear on who is speaking and exactly what relationship the quoted material has to your argument.
2. When you use a quotatio, you must distinguish your argument from the ones quoted and make sure the reader understands what the quotation is expected to accomplish. In other words, even if you are using the quotation to support your viewpoint, do not just stick in a quotation without telling your reader who the authority is by name and by what makes the person an authority on the subject. For example, if you are speaking about Michael Jackson, you might quote Jermaine Jackson, Michael's brother, but let us know that is who is speaking. It makes a big difference to know who the speaker is and what his/her relationship to the subject matter is. You might say something like, Jermaine Jackson, Michael's brother, said, "Fill this in with the words " (1A). His words show that despite Michael's emotional confusion and problems with addicition, he was a moral person who loved people and would never violate a human being. If you are using the same quotation for the opposite reason, you would follow Jermaine's quotation with words like. Despite Jermaine's unconditional brotherly love for Michael, the two out-of-court financial settlements and the healthy problems Michael suffered during the time the two child abuse cases were in court demonstrate that in all likelihood Michael Jackson was guilty of molesting young boys.
3. Use only the best quotations. Do not use quotations to take up space! Only use quotations that serve your purpose. Be selective. Don't use quotations because it sounds impressive to do so.
4. NEVER use a quotation and move on with your paper. This is a hit-and-run offense! Always explain the passage's point and connection to your paper.
5. Make your quotations fit grammatically into your essay. You may use brackets to do so. For example, if your paper is in present tense and the quotation is in past tense, you may change the tense of the quotation by putting square brackets around the verbs you change. Here is a passage in which I have changed the tenses of the verbs:
When I was young and foolish I believed in something called love, and I revised Descartes famous words into my own phrase substituting the verb "to love" for the verb " to think." Today, however, I no longer believe in much. I spend little time thinking and no time loving. Descartes would probably think me dead and say,"I [thought] therefore I [was]" but today I believe I am alive because I no longer dwell deeply on my own thoughts. Instead, I am active in others' lives.
6. When you include quotations that take up more than four typed lines, set them off in block format. Left-indent about one-half inch, and prepare for it with a signal statement ending in a colon. A signal statement is a complete statement that signals the quotation. Do not put quotation marks around the set-off quotation unless the quotation is dialogue.
You could use many words to introduce quotations. Here a just a few: suggests, indicates, demonstrates, implies, argues, testifies to, shows.
7. When you finish your draft, re-read it and consider the reader's viewpoint. Consider the problems your reader faces. S/he encounters quotations that could be used for many different reasons: to support an argument, to present a point of disagreement, to raise a new point. Do not assume your reader know why you're using a particular quotation. You need to help your reader follow your paper by using signal words and leading him/her through the pathways of your mind, showing the reader how you reason (i.e.,how you think and how you arrive at what you think).