Integrating Quotes Into Your Papers

INTEGRATING QUOTES INTO YOUR PAPERS When you want to show support for something that you are writing, you can use facts, reasons, examples, and details, but you can also use quotes. To do this, you need to know how to integrate them into your writing correctly so that the ideas “flow” smoothly into your paper. One easy way to do this is by using PIE! 1. State your POINT. 2. INTRODUCE and ILLUSTRATE the quote. 3. EXPLAIN how the quote supports your point. PIE- State your POINT In most papers that you write, you will need to make your point (main idea) clear through a thesis statement (for essays) or a topic sentence (for paragraphs). Points can also be made within the body of a paragraph or essay in the form of supporting points. When you make a point, you must show the reader that it is right. To do this, you can use facts, reasons, examples, details, and quotes. Example Outline of Point and Support for it Point Community colleges are better for students than UCs because of the price. Support Quote: According to the state chancellor, “Within two years, the community college student will have saved almost $15,000 more than the UC student has.” PIE- INTRODUCE and ILLUSTATE your quotations. A quotation should never suddenly appear out of nowhere. Introduce the quote by naming the author with last name and then first name. After that, you only need to use the last name. Also, use: a signal phrase: According to . . . , In her article, In the opinion of, and a reporting verb: argues writes observes notes remarks adds declares informs us alleges claims states comments thinks affirms asserts *Note that the word you choose helps orient your reader toward your opinion. "Jones says" is neutral; "Jones informs us" is positive, and "Jones alleges" is somewhat negative. Example Quote Introductions: According to Dwight Bolinger, “in a society where women and farmers are regarded as inferior, sex differences and occupational differences become class differences” (99). Elizabeth Wong comments, “The language was a source of embarrassment. More times than not, I had tried to dissociate myself from the nagging, loud voice that followed me wherever I wandered in the nearby American supermarket outside Chinatown” (291). Malcolm X writes, “I was so fascinated that I went on- I copied the dictionary’s next page. And the same experience came when I studied that. With every succeeding page, I also learned of people and places and events from history” (89). Ways to Integrate Quotes 1. You can begin with an explanation of text before the quote. a. Even though Ms. Wilmot appears to love her children to the rest of the world, “when her children were present, she always felt the center of her heart go hard” (120). 2. You can begin your quotation in the middle of the writer's sentence. a. Ms. Wilmot, “always felt the center of her heart go hard when her children were present” (120), but to the rest of the world, she appears a loving mother. 3. You can begin with a quote immediately. a. “She always felt the center of her heart go hard” (120) demonstrates how Ms. Wilmot appears a loving mother to the rest of the world while inwardly feeling little for her children. 4. You can leave out some words to condense the quotation. Use three dots (ellipses) with spaces between them to show missing information. a. "The surf . . . beat against the shore" (Jones 788). 5. To integrate a quote that is more than four lines, indent ten spaces from the left. Do not use quotation marks 6. It’s possible to move right into a quote without using a signal phrase, but be sure that the grammar of the quote flows with the grammar of your writing. PIE- EXPLAIN how the quote supports your point. Do not quote someone and then leave the words hanging as if they are obvious. What is your interpretation or opinion of it? Quotations are like examples. Discuss them to show how they support your point. Use the following phrases to help you transition from the quote to your explanation of it. Example Phrases for Explaining Quote: Here we see that/In other words This statement shows Clearly, then, We can conclude from this that This tells us that From this we can understand that PIE (point, introduction/illustration, explanation) Example in Action P Being a student-athlete carries with it much more than academics and athletics. It’s an identity that many cannot empathize with. Introduction & Illustration In her study of Division I student-athletes, ethnographer Julie Cheville notes the identity-related challenges that come with playing a team sport: “the perpetual dilemma for players and coaches is to recognize and sustain identities of difference in the midst of public pressures to be the same and conceptual pressures to think the same” (55). Explanation In other words, student-athletes must struggle to maintain their own senses of self while still integrating seamlessly into the team. Studentathletes are not the only ones involved in this identity struggle; rather, “public pressures” and “conceptual pressures” can work against their own and their coaches’ abilities to see them as individuals. Practice: Make PIE paragraph with a paper you are currently working on. Use any source that your instructor allows you to use. Point: _________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ Introduction + Illustration ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ Explanation ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ *To learn how to use quotation marks, please see handout on Quotation Marks. Always remember to cite the text and author you are using. To learn about citing, please see Citation handout.