The purpose of using quotations from other authors is not to provide “proof†of what you say, but rather to situate your own work within a certain academic conversation. It is also important to note some guidelines for actually incorporating these quotations into the body of your text. The following contrived example presents a way of beginning a paragraph that works through one idea:
In Making Up Titles, Susan Gentry argues (or use any active descriptive verb that might work here such as explains, asserts, illustrates, suggests, defines, states, explores, challenges) some sort of an idea that should be summarized from the book.
Once you have this sort of intro sentence or so, then you enter into the quotation. You can do so with a shorter quotation:
Gentry states, “In this day and age…..” (74).
Or, you may have a longer quotation (more than 25 words) in which case you set up the quotation (all indented but still double-spaced) with a colon (such as I continue to do on this page):
Gentry states:
In this day and age there are many quotations we may slip into our writing in order to fill space. However, rather than thinking of quotations as a way of filling space, you need to consciously consider the quotation as a bit of writing with a purpose. As a result, you need to carefully choose the quotations you use, making sure to never assume that there is one great, or best quotation out there. (74)
Following the quotation, be it long or short, you’ll need to EXPLAIN what’s being said and then enter a discussion of the idea with respect to a specific example or your research project overall. Though the content of the paragraph bit below is weak (as it is all made up)Â but the format may give you an idea of HOW to be thinking about how to be thinking about working with quotations.
Here, Gentry explains that we are being asked to search for quotations that may be relevant to our topics, even though we may not feel confident with respect to selection. Selection, she maintains, is a part of trusting the process. Writers do not look for the perfect quotations; they do not exist. Rather, an adept and confident writer can use almost any quotation–within reason–to make his/her point as long as the focus of the essay is clear. It is only when the author doesn’t really know what they want to say or how to say it that quotations become silly and irrelevant, rather than smart and integral to the larger focus of the piece.
Notice the length of discussion. As a rule of thumb–a really rough rule–you want to have your discussion be at least two, and probably closer to three times as long as the quotation you use. For example, if your quotation is about two sentences, than your discussion really should be at least four sentences in length. This doesn’t mean you should count sentences, it means you can use visual, as well as linguistic cues to help you determine whether you’ve spent enough time talking about the idea at hand. Again, this is a guideline, not a hard and fast rule. So let the words flow before you worry about how many of them there are.
OK, so here’s what the paragraph looks like when it is all put together:
In Making Up Titles, Susan Gentry argues (or use any active descriptive verb that might work here such as explains, asserts, illustrates, suggests, defines, states, explores, challenges) some sort of an idea that should be summarized from the book. Gentry states:
In this day and age there are many quotations we may slip into our writing in order to fill space. However, rather than thinking of quotations as a way of filling space, you need to consciously consider the quotation as a bit of writing with a purpose. As a result, you need to carefully choose the quotations you use, making sure to never assume that there is one great, or best quotation out there. (74)
Here, Gentry explains that we are presently being asked to search for quotations that may be relevant to our topics, even though we may not feel confident with respect to selection. Selection, she maintains, is a part of trusting the process. Writers do not look for the prefect quotations; they do not exist. Rather, an adept and confident writer can use almost any quotation–within reason–to make his/her point as long as the focus of the essay is clear. It is only when the author doesn’t really know what they want to say or how to say that quotations become silly and irrelevant, rather than smart and integral to the larger focus of the piece.
Returning to Martyna’s essay for another example, you can see, once again, a quotation choice need not be complex, or lengthy in order to be effective. The key is in how it is presented and then used in the essay:
In Polish Songs and Dances, Ada Dziewanowska explains that, “Dancing the native dances of Poland is just one of the many ways that we become closer to our Polish heritage†(36.) Although this quotation refers to Polish culture more, it can also make people think about their own culture and what they can do to become closer to their own heritage. Since I became a member of Wici, a Polish Song and Dance Company, I have become closer to my Polish roots. I already knew about my country’s history and traditions from the Polish schools I attended on Saturdays, when I was younger. Unfortunately, I really didn’t know about the Polish folk dances and the clothes people wore back then. When I became a member of Wici four years ago, I felt like I was experiencing something new.
Though it may have been most evident to use the quotation as “proof†of what Martyna asserts—that there is a connection between dancing and heritage—she instead uses this quotation to move closer toward her objective: to encourage the personal connection with one’s heritage. She suggests that the reader consider this quotation in a broader sense than just being about Polish culture, encouraging the reader to think about their own experience as she provides testimony of her own connection to her Polish heritage through dance.
In addition to choosing this paragraph as an example of use of a simple quotation as a way of developing discussion, this example also acknowledges the idea that secondary research can and often does guide a person’s thoughts. It very well could be that Martyna came up with the idea that there is a connection between dance and Polish heritage without having first read the work by Dziewanowska. It really doesn’t matter whether Martyna borrowed this idea and that it helped guide her through her research, or whether she subsequently came across an idea that simply supported her assertion after she created her focus statement. What matters is that, for whatever reason, she was able to choose and then use a quotation in a manner that did not stand as “proof†of her focus, but s a way of further developing discussion pertaining to her stated objectives, those concerning influencing the reader to think about and perhaps even act upon locating a way in which they might connect with their own heritage.
To Review:
- Don’t air drop quotations-make sure they are situated with respect to their source. Introduce them, comment on them, make connections to expand your discussion. Review the made-up example, as well as that pulled from Martyn’as paper above. It might also be helpful to look for use of secondary source quotations in the four papers provided in this textbook.
- Don’t try to jam your quotations at the end of the paper. Use them earlier, rather than later, and don’t squish them together. Again, a couple well thought out, and consciously used and placed quotations are more effective than multiple, seemingly unrelated, juxtaposed ideas.
- Use quotations as a way of setting up or discussing an example. They should lead and guide, not stand as evidence. That is, the quotations from other sources ARE NOT proof, they are ideas that reinforce YOUR assertion, your focus.
- Look for the quotations after you’ve chosen your examples, but BEFORE you have drafted the paper. Have them ready to use when you need them.
- Remember, books and articles don’t say, discuss, present, etc. Authors do. Use author names to reference their work.
- Work your discussion around cool quotations. If you find something cool and it seems related, it probably is. The challenge will be in making this relationship clear to the reader. And that’s what it is a RELATIONSHIP.
