Quotation Integration�Challenge

Quotation Dropping/Dumping

• Dropped quotes are quotations with no lead ins or introductions. 
• Dropped quotes disrupt essay coherency, making the essay seem "choppy" "jumpy."
• It is the onus of the writer to eloquently link what the writer is trying to say to the quotation.

Example of Quote Dumping

• One major cause of decay in California Highways is the increase in motor traffic over the past two decades.  Cities and populations have expanded and most Californians insist on driving their own vehicles everywhere they go.  "Public transportation has not caught on in most California cities due to their geographic sprawl" (Briggman 10).
• Possible Fix:
• One major cause of decay in California Highways is the increase in motor traffic over the past two decades.  Cities and populations have expanded and most Californians insist on driving their own vehicles everywhere they go.  As California Department of Transportation officer, Jill Briggman notes, "Public transportation has not caught on in most California cities due to their geographic sprawl" (10).

Another Example of Quote Dumping

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• In his short story, “Little Things,” Raymond Carver clearly shows a conflict between the two characters. A couple is fighting over custody of their baby. “She would have it, this baby. She grabbed for the baby’s other arm. She caught the baby around the wrist and leaned back. But he would not let go. He felt the baby slipping out of his hands and he pulled back very hard.”
• Possible Fixes:
• Use a single phrase: Carver writes, “She would have it, this baby. She grabbed for the baby’s other arm. She caught the baby around the wrist and leaned back. But he would not let go. He felt the baby slipping out of his hands and he pulled back very hard” (2).
• Owning the quote: Choose key words and phrases and blend them into your own sentence: Carver writes that the mother “grabbed” the baby while the father “pulled back very hard” (2).
• Use block quotation format: for quotes longer than four lines: Carver writes:

She would have it, this baby. She grabbed for the baby’s other arm.

She caught the baby around the wrist and leaned back.

But he would not let go.

He felt the baby slipping out of his hands and he pulled back very hard. (2)

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Owning the Quote!

• By far, the strategy of “owning the quote” is the most eloquent way to integrate quotations, but to do so, you must become a master of the following:

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Brackets can

be used to add

words to a

quotation!

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Example

• Using both brackets and ellipsis, own this quote from TheWeek.com:
• “Most motorcycle clubs are perfectly harmless groups of leather-clad easy riders with a passion for the open road. But the biker world also has a violent subculture — a highly organized criminal network of Harley-riding outlaws who fight turf wars over drugs, weapons, and women.”
• Just as TheWeek.com points out, “Most motorcycle clubs are...perfectly harmless...leather clad...riders with a passion for the open road. [Nevertheless there’s] a violent subculture [of]...turf wars...drugs...[and] weapons” that pose a serious threat to countless communities.

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• More Examples:
• “Most motorcycle clubs are perfectly harmless groups of leather-clad easy riders with a passion for the open road. But the biker world also has a violent subculture — a highly organized criminal network of Harley-riding outlaws who fight turf wars over drugs, weapons, and women.”
• According to the TheWeek.com, bike clubs can be “a highly organized criminal network…fight[ing]…wars over drugs, weapons, and women.”
• The Week.com clearly denotes that, “…the biker world has a violent subculture [of]…drugs, weapons, and women.”
• True, “most motorcycle clubs are…harmless groups of…riders with a passion for the open road,” but as the article points out, they can also be “a highly organized network…” of crime.

Using both brackets & ellipsis, own this quote from “After I Was Thrown In The River, Before I Drowned:���

We look at the squirrels and we wonder why they are there. We want them to run and jump with us but they do not. They sit and talk about the things we do. Sometimes one of the dogs, annoyed past tolerance, catches a squirrel in his mouth and crushes him. But then the next night they are back, all the squirrels, more of them. Always more.

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In the middle of Stephen’s joyous description of the race, we are introduced to the “squirrels.” Stephen “want[s the squirrels] to run and jump with [the other dogs]” Sadly, the squirrels don’t participate—instead they “sit and talk” and cruelly criticize the dogs’ performances and efforts.

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Now, Let’s Introduce Our Quote And Own Them Using Brackets & Ellipses Add A Cogent So What?

• In the middle of Stephen’s joyous description of the race, we are introduced to the “squirrels.” Stephen “want[s the squirrels] to run and jump with [the other dogs]” Sadly, the squirrels don’t participate—instead they “sit and talk” and cruelly criticize the dogs’ performances and efforts. Clearly, Eggers is commenting on the arrogance & cowardice of individuals who have the audacity to critique the efforts of others while refusing to participate themselves. Furthermore, Eggers is demonstrating that there those in life that are so consumed with fear, they refuse to “run” or “jump,” and because of this refusal to participate in the race, they lash out and attempt to bring done those courageous enough to participate in the game.

Time to Edit!!!

• Go back to the introduction you composed last week.
• Does your introduction have pithy quotes?
• Did you introduce your quote, did you “dump” it?
• Use brackets and ellipsis to “Own Your Quote.”
• Does your introduction present the reader with a pellucid & cogent “So What?”
• After making the appropriate edits, conference with Mr. Thom!!!