Quotable

1. Quotable How to effectively use quotations in your writing.

2. Three things you need to do when using a quote: • Do not leave your quote “alone.” Do not make the quote its own sentence. Make sure the quote is clearly connected to the argument you are trying to make. • No: After Elie’s mother and younger sister are separated from him, he focuses on his father. “All I could think of was not to lose him. Not to remain alone” (30). • Yes: After Elie’s mother and younger sister are separated from him, he focuses on his father saying, “All I could think of was not to lose him. Not to remain alone” (30).

3. Three things you need to do when using a quote: • At the end of the quote, use the QUO-PAR-PUNC Rule: Quotation marks-Parentheses-Punctuation. Within the parentheses, you will usually write the author’s last name and page number on which you found the quotation. If you are quoting from one book throughout your paper, then you only have to put the page number. • Note: If a quote ends with a question mark or exclamation point, then put that punctuation before the quotation marks, to make sure the intended emotion is retained. • No: When Elie’s father was slapped by the Gypsy, Elie is shocked by his own indifference. He explains that hadn’t done anything to stop the man when “only yesterday [he] would have dug [his] fingers into the criminal’s flesh. (39)”. • Yes: When Elie’s father was slapped by the Gypsy, Elie is shocked by his own indifference. He explains that hadn’t done anything to stop the man when “only yesterday [he] would have dug [his] fingers into the criminal’s flesh” (39).

4. Three things you need to do when using a quote: • After the quote, make sure you clearly explain how the quote supports your thesis. Your explanation should be longer than the quote itself. The more you explain your reasoning for choosing the quote, the more clearly your reader will understand the point you are trying to make. • Time to look at an example: STUDENT ESSAY