They Say/ I SayUsing Quotations in Your Writing

Why bother?

Bringing Backup

Writing a paper without outside support is like doing a trust fall by yourself.

You need support so you don’t fall on your face and look silly.

Trust fall fail

Reinforce Your Ideas Instead Back up information in an argument

with expert information According to the Surgeon General, “…”

carries a lot more weight than “because I said so”.

No offense, but the experts more than you do. Consulting them makes your paper better.

Confirm Your Suspicions

We also use outside information to confirm arguments (eg. Texting while driving is dangerous.) Statistics from a reputable source make

your argument stronger This is like using more than one

person when you’re doing a trust fall.

Which is better?

Be proud of your backup

When you demonstrate how well informed you are, you gain authority and confidence.

Now, onto the “HOW” part…

Let’s Operate Under this Claim Face-to-face, real life relationships

can benefit from their online counterparts.

Step One: SELECT Your BackupSelect the quotes to use.

Selecting Quotes

Choose the best examples to support your ideas.

Weak quotes lead to weak writing, so make sure your examples are strong!

See the evidence you identified from

the five articles we read. (The graphic organizer.)

For example

“Most of us fluidly move between on- and off-line social contexts, and so do our friendships” (Marwick).

This quote is essential to my argument.

Step Two: FrameFrame your quote.

Framing

You can’t just plot a quote in your paper. It must be “framed”.

Provide Context

Topic sentences let the reader know what to expect from a paragraph.

Relationships that exist both in person and through the help of the Internet may be stronger than others. Alice Marwick is a blogger who met her husband through her online postings. Marwick argues that “Most of us fluidly move between on- and off-line social contexts, and so do our friendships”.

Give Credit to the Source

Make sure your reader knows who created the quote (in speech or writing).

Avoid using “said.” It’s old & tired. There are hundreds of other verbs that are more accurate. See your They Say/ I Say Sentence Templates for ideas. Relationships that exist both in person and through the help of the Internet may be stronger than others. Alice Marwick is a blogger who met her husband through her online postings. Marwick argues that “Most of us fluidly move between on- and off-line social contexts, and so do our friendships”.

Step Three: ExplainYour readers aren’t mind-readers—explain why the information supports your claim.

Explain the significance of the quote!

Relationships that exist both in person and through the help of the Internet may be stronger than others. Alice Marwick is a blogger who met her husband through her online postings. Marwick argues that “Most of us fluidly move between on- and off-line social contexts, and so do our friendships”. Her point is that we can communicate in a variety of ways without losing any details. This provides people to spend more time getting to know one another better.

STEP 4: Connect back to claim

Relationships that exist both in person and through the help of the Internet may be stronger than others. Alice Marwick is a blogger who met her husband through her online postings. Marwick argues that “Most of us fluidly move between on- and off-line social contexts, and so do our friendships”. Her point is that we can communicate in a variety of ways without losing any details. This provides people to spend more time getting to know one another better. Talking with someone online provides a way to strengthen existing friendships.

Think like a sandwich.

Your words

Their words/ideas

Your words

An Awesome ParagraphRelationships that exist both in person

and through the help of the Internet may be stronger than others. Alice Marwick is a blogger who met her husband through her online postings. Marwick argues that “Most of us fluidly move between on- and off-line social contexts, and so do our friendships”. Her point is that we can communicate in a variety of ways without losing any details. This provides people to spend more time getting to know one another better. Talking with someone online provides a way to strengthen existing friendships.

Punctuate ProperlyRules to consider.

If you introduce your quote with an incomplete sentence, Use a comma before the quote. Early on, Wiesel admits, “I was

almost thirteen and deeply observant” (Wiesel 3).

If you introduce your quote with a compete sentence, Use a colon before the quote.

Wiesel admitted the strength of his faith in the early pages of the memoir: “I was almost thirteen and deeply observant” (Wiesel 3).

If you’re quoting a quote, Use single quotation marks within

double quotation marks. To suggest that God is dead, Wiesel

comments, “‘Where He is? This is where—hanging here from this gallows…’”

’”

Ellipses … If you want to leave out material from within a

quote, use ellipses. Be certain you’re not “cutting” essential parts of

the quote. Supporting Passages “I did not fast.…I no longer accepted Gods’

silence. As I swallowed my ration of soup, I turned that act into a symbol of rebellion, of protest against Him. And I nibbled on my crust of bread. Deep inside me, I felt a great void opening” (Wiesel 69).

To summarize…

THIS IS BETTER… THAN THIS.