Explain every quote
Quotations are not self-evident! Furthermore, do not simply rephrase a quote. Look behind the words and answer the question, “What ideas or meanings do these words convey?” Explain how this piece of evidence is significant to the text as a whole:
• What does it show us about a character/event in this context?
• How does the character change?
• Is the author trying to comment on a bigger theme?
• Can we juxtapose this piece of evidence with another example in the text?
• Can we extend this example (it may be a motif; a recurring idea) by commenting on another example in the text?
Quotations are not self-evident! Furthermore, do not simply rephrase a quote. Look behind the words and answer the question, “What ideas or meanings do these words convey?” Explain how this piece of evidence is significant to the text as a whole:
• What does it show us about a character/event in this context?
• How does the character change?
• Is the author trying to comment on a bigger theme?
• Can we juxtapose this piece of evidence with another example in the text?
• Can we extend this example (it may be a motif; a recurring idea) by commenting on another example in the text?
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Click on the image below
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Using quotations
If you have a tendency to include long quotations in your essays with straightforward comments, try to integrate just the key words from the quote to make the analysis more fluent.
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If you have a tendency to include long quotations in your essays with straightforward comments, try to integrate just the key words from the quote to make the analysis more fluent.
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For example, if your writing looks like this :
Firstly, "Through the brazen crash and clatter there went on high note, shrill and sustained, that was like a sword in the brain.", shows how loud, and noisy the bells are.
Firstly, "Through the brazen crash and clatter there went on high note, shrill and sustained, that was like a sword in the brain.", shows how loud, and noisy the bells are.
It would be better as :
The noise of the bells is “brazen” suggesting that it is bold and dominant in personality; the harsh alliteration of “clash and clatter” is also quite forceful.
By using the simile of “like a sword in the brain” the author clearly presents the bells as a direct and violent threat to the man's physical and mental safety.
This breaks up the quote and allows you to select just the important parts to discuss in your essay.
from:
https://sites.google.com/a/hiroshima-is.ac.jp/our-class-noticeboard/11-english
The noise of the bells is “brazen” suggesting that it is bold and dominant in personality; the harsh alliteration of “clash and clatter” is also quite forceful.
By using the simile of “like a sword in the brain” the author clearly presents the bells as a direct and violent threat to the man's physical and mental safety.
This breaks up the quote and allows you to select just the important parts to discuss in your essay.
from:
https://sites.google.com/a/hiroshima-is.ac.jp/our-class-noticeboard/11-english
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This video clearly explains how to use quotes in your writing:
Integrating quotes into a literary analysis part 1
Integrating quotes into a literary analysis part 1