Blending Quotations

1. Blending Quotations Rules and Recommendations

2. Purpose • Quotes are used as evidence to support ideas in your writing. • NEVER USE A QUOTE ALONE without an explanation and interpretation! • Always make sure your quote and explanation directly support your thesis!

3. Setting Up Quotes • Don’t simply drop quotes into your paper; set them up with a TCS (Transition, Context, Speaker). • INCORRECT: “I have done the state some service and they know’t” (5.2.337). • CORRECT: However, before stabbing himself, Othello reminds his listeners, “I have done the state some service and they know’t” (5.2.337).

4. Smooth Blending • You may reproduce complete sentences, OR you may just quote a few words or phrases and make them part of your sentence. • NEVER USE: • THIS QUOTE MEANS OR Fitzgerald said this because… • Pick out key words in your explanation to help with your interpretation.

5. Examples • 1. “All her avarice was awakened at the mention of hidden gold.” • 2. “…and he was not a man to stick at trifles where money was in view”

6. Mrs. Walker’s “avarice was awakened” when anyone hinted at her gaining “hidden gold.” • Tom Walker’s greed was evident in the fact that he would not “stick at trifles” when money was involved.

7. Quotes 3 Lines or Less • Before stabbing himself, Othello reminds his listeners, “I have done the state some service and they know’t.” He speaks of himself as “one that loved not wisely but too well” and compares himself to “the base Indian” who “threw a pearl away / Richer than all his tribe” (5.2.337-47).

8. Quotes 4 Lines or More • Indent two tabs (10 spaces) • Don’t use quotation marks • Place parenthetical documentation outside end punctuation mark In the final scene, convinced that Desdemona is entirely innocent and having decided to kill himself, Othello says to his auditors: I pray you, in your letters, When you shall these unlucky deeds relate, Speak of me as I am, nothing extenuate, Nor set down aught in malice. (5.2.339-42)

9. Correcting Problems • Be sure to incorporate your quote into a complete, coherent sentence. • INCORRECT: Othello says, “One that loved not wisely but too well” (5.2.343). • (INCOMPLETE SENTENCE) • CORRECT: Othello speaks of himself as “one that loved not wisely but too well” (5.2.343).

10. Correcting Problems • Check for pronoun-antecedent agreement. • INCORRECT: Othello asks his auditors to “speak of me as I am” (5.2.341). • (The pronouns “me” and “I” do not agree in person with their antecedent.) • CORRECT: Othello bids his auditors, Speak of me as I am, nothing extenuate, Nor set down aught in malice. Then must you speak Of one that loved not wisely but too well. (5.2.341-43)

11. Correcting Problems • Everything within quotation marks must be directly quoted from the text. • INCORRECT: Though Iago bids his wife to “hold her peace,” Emilia declares, “I will speak as liberally as the north wind” (5.2.218-19). • (The words within your quotation marks must be quoted exactly from the original.) • ORIGINAL: • IAGO:Come, hold your peace.

12. Correcting Problems • CORRECT: Though Iago bids his wife to “hold [her] peace,” Emilia declares, “I will speak as liberal[ly] as the north [wind]” (5.2.218-19). • (It is permissible to insert or substitute words in a quotation if you enclose them within brackets. However, avoid excessive use of brackets. Often paraphrase will serve as well if not better than quotation, as in the case below.) • BETTER: Though Iago bids his wife to hold her peace, Emilia declares that she will speak as liberally as the north wind (5.2.218-19).

13. Correcting Problems • When adjusting for pronoun-antecedent agreement, use brackets. • INCORRECT: Iago bids his wife to “hold your [her] peace” (5.2.218-19). • (Your sentences, including your bracketed words, must read as if there were no brackets.) • CORRECT: Iago bids his wife to “hold [her] peace” (5.2.218-19).

14. Correcting Problems • Distinguish between direct and indirect quotations. • INCORRECT: Othello says that “I have done the state some service” (5.2.338). • (Incorrect mixture of direct and indirect quotation.) • CORRECT: Othello says, “I have done the state some service” (5.2.338).

15. Correcting Problems • Check for subject-verb agreement. • INCORRECT: Othello says that he “have done the state some service” (5.2.338). • (Subject and verb of subordinate clause do not agree.) • CORRECT: Othello says that he has “done the state some service” (5.2.338).

16. Correcting Problems • Remove or clarify vague pronouns. • INCORRECT: In the final speech of the play, Lodovico says, “Look on the tragic loading of this bed: / This is thy work” (5.2.362-63). • (Whose work?) • CORRECT: In the final speech of the play, Lodovico says to Iago, “Look on the tragic loading of this bed: / This is thy work” (5.2.362-63).

17. Quotations within Quotations • Use single quotation marks for quotations within quotations. • In her dying speech, Emilia asks her dead mistress, “Hark, canst thou hear me? I will play the swan, / And die in music. ‘Willow, willow, willow’” (5.2.246-47).

18. Comma Placement • Place commas and periods inside quotation marks. • Place question marks and exclamation marks inside if they belong to the quoted sentence, outside if they belong to your sentence. • “I am not valiant neither,” says Othello (5.2.242). • Othello says, “I am not valiant neither” (5.2.242). • “Who can control his fate?” cries Othello (5.2.264). • Does Shakespeare endorse Othello’s implication that no one “can control his fate”? (5.2.264).