INTRODUCING QUOTED MATERIAL

1. INTRODUCING QUOTED MATERIAL • Don’t dump a quotation at the beginning of the essay. Work the quotation into a sentence structure. Awkward: “All the world’s a stage…” This quotation by William Shakespeare is from the play As You Like It.” Revised: “In his play As You Like It, William Shakespeare wrote, “All the world’s a stage…”

2. INTRODUCING QUOTED MATERIAL • Don’t dump a quotation anywhere in the paper for that matter. Connect the quotation to the speaker or writer. Awkward: The writer views AIDS as a deadly disease that must be prevented. “Last year, AIDS killed indiscriminately: homosexuals, IV drug-users, and mothers receiving tainted blood transfusions following Cesarean births.”

3. INTRODUCING QUOTED MATERIAL Revised: The writer views AIDS as a deadly disease that must be prevented. He writes, “Last year, AIDS killed indiscriminately: homosexuals, IV drug-users, and mothers receiving tainted blood transfusions following Cesarean births.”

4. INTRODUCING QUOTED MATERIAL • You must properly mesh your sentence structure with your source’s: Awkward: Madeline Albright is convinced that the U.S must combat terrorism on all fronts and “America will not be intimidated.” Revised: Madeline Albright is convinced that the U.S. must combat terrorism on all fronts, stating forcefully that, “America will not be intimidated.”

5. INTRODUCING QUOTED MATERIAL • Don’t end a paragraph with a quotation. You must explain the significance of what you have cited. • Don’t say “this quotation clearly shows the author’s intent” and then leave it at that. You must analyze the quotation to show its relationship to your assertion or thesis.

6. WAYS TO USE MATERIAL • He writes, “This cheeseburger isn’t good.” • ( asserts, insists, comments -- LBH, 696) • He didn’t seem to like “[t]his cheeseburger.” • He writes that “[t]his cheeseburger isn’t good.” • According to his writing, he didn’t like the cheeseburger.