Essay Writing and Embedding Quotations

Which of the following lines taken from page 88 of Looking for Alaska, a novel by John Green, has proper M.L.A. in-text citation formatting?

• “If people were like rain, I was like drizzle and she was a hurricane.” (Green, 88)

• “If people were like rain, I was like drizzle and she was a hurricane” (Green, 88).

• “If people were like rain, I was like drizzle and she was a hurricane” (Green 88).

• “If people were like rain, I was like drizzle and she was a hurricane.” (Green, page 88)

• “If people were like rain, I was like drizzle and she was a hurricane” (Green, page 88).

Tags

CCSS.RI.3.5

CCSS.RL.4.1

CCSS.RL.5.1

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

Pretend this line is part of a body paragraph support section. What’s wrong with the underlined part of the quote frame/set-up structure?

For example, Green writes, “If people were like rain...

• Doesn’t give enough background

• Assumes the reader knows the story

• Sounds clunky/abrupt/mechanical

• All quotes need a transition of some sort and a frame/background to explain what’s happening in the quote.

Tags

CCSS.RL.2.6

CCSS.RL.8.3

What is the proper verb tense to use when quoting source material?

• Past Tense

• Present Tense

• It doesn’t matter as long as the writer uses a consistent verb tens

Tags

CCSS.RI.3.5

CCSS.RL.4.1

CCSS.RL.5.1

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

Pick two verbs present - tense verbs

• denied

• cautions

• believes

• argued

• examined

Tags

CCSS.RF.3.3B

CCSS.RF.3.3C

CCSS.RF.3.3D

CCSS.RF.4.3A

CCSS.RF.5.3A

Pick two past-tense verbs:

• examines

• argued

• writes

• believed

• plays

Tags

CCSS.RF.3.3B

CCSS.RF.3.3C

CCSS.RF.3.3D

CCSS.RF.4.3A

CCSS.RF.5.3A

Should you include quoted material from your source/s in your introductory paragraph?

• Yes

• No

Tags

CCSS.RI.3.5

CCSS.RL.4.1

CCSS.RL.5.1

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

Are slight edits to the original quotes allowed as you place the material in your essay?

• Yes

• No

• Yes, but there are exceptions.

Tags

CCSS.RI.3.5

CCSS.RL.4.1

CCSS.RL.5.1

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

If a quote that you want to use in your essay is longer than four lines, what should you do?

• Boil down whatever you find interesting about that quote to the essential elements that you want to discuss.

• Just place it whereever it is needed and integrate it in the text.

• Place quote in a free-standing block of text, include parenthetical citation after the closing punctuation mark

• Put it on crow and let it fly away.

Tags

CCSS.RI.3.5

CCSS.RL.4.1

CCSS.RL.5.1

CCSS.RL.9-10.9