Integrating Quotes

In most college essays, you’re going to need to incorporate quotes into your writing. Quotes can be great things that help you prove your arguments in really specific and precise ways, but you need to learn how to use them properly in your writing. First, let’s look at some common mistakes that people make when trying to bring in quotations: 

#1 Dropped Quotes: these are quotes that get inserted into writing without being introduced or setup in any way. “Mac and cheese is yummy.” And then your reader becomes completely lost. Even though mac and cheese is yummy, we don’t know who said, or why it is significant to the discussion on dropped quotes. 

Avoiding dropped quotes: Make sure to introduce your quotes by telling the reader who is speaking, and provide some context for what is being said, for instance: My friend, Julia, said “mac and cheese is yummy!” when she saw the Kraft commercial on TV. 

The next step here, in any good writing, would be to provide the reader with some insight into why the quote is significant. Perhaps Julia is being sarcastic here, and she actually hates mac and cheese. Or maybe she’s defending Kraft’s choice to use the yellow coloring agent. Whatever the case may be, here is your chance to tie your quote back into your argument. 

#2 Not relating your quotes back to your argument: failing to relate your quotations back to your argument can be a major problem. Every quote you use should have some significance to the point you’re trying to make. If, for some reason, your quotes doesn’t have anything to do with your thesis, don’t use it. 

#3 Retelling what your quote says: The reason you use a quote is bring someone else’s words into your work so that you can work with them in some way. It’s like a conversation — there’s no need to repeat back to the speaker what they already said. If a speaker says, “the sky is blue,” there’s no need to quote the speaker saying “the sky is blue,” and then tell your reader that the speaker is explaining that the sky is blue. It’s already been said. Instead, provide your reader with some kind of insight that supports your argument. Why does it matter that the sky is blue? 

 

What Needs to be Cited

I often get questions from students about what they need to cite in their paper. The general consensus here is that if the information did not come from your brilliant, or if it is not common knowledge, you should cite it. You may be wondering what counts as common knowledge — most people know that London is a city in England, or that George Washington was the first president of the United States — these pieces of information would be considered “common knowledge.” When in doubt, the best option is to cite a source. It’s better to over-cite than to get in trouble for plagiarism.

So, let’s look at some specific things that need to be cited (referring to both in-text citations, as well as a full citation on your works cited page):

Quotations: This may seem obvious, but if you’re using a direct quote, you need to cite it.

Paraphrasing/Summary: This is where students often get tripped up. They assume that they can get away with avoiding citations by referring to sources, but not quoting them directly. Sorry to burst any metaphorical bubbles, but if you’re summarizing or paraphrasing, you must cite it.

If you’re wondering what the difference between a summary and a paraphrase, check out this link.

If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to leave it in the comment section.