This helpful article, “The Art of Quoting,”  introduces a method for effective quotation in college writing. Challenges many new college writers face are among the following:

  • Overquoting: this is when a paper relies too much on quotation and does not show enough of the student’s original thought
  • Quoting without analysis: do not just drop a quote into a paper and expect the quote to speak for itself. You must show the reader (your peers or instructor) what this quotation means to you. A strong paper weaves between your ideas and the ideas of others, with more lines of writing spent on your original ideas.
  • Improper citation: this is a big one! You must attribute your quotes in the text with “in-text citations” as well as cite your sources in bibliography or works cited page. You will get more on this later. This skill is what enables you to weave in and out of your ideas and the ideas of others (the weaving idea again).

“The Art of Quoting” offers a template for writing quotes. You must:

  • introduce the writer or source
  • provide the direct quotation or paraphrase.
  • analyze the source, describing what it means and how it fits with or supports the ideas you are exploring in your paper.

These really helpful templates: are on page 46 (one for introducing quotations and and one for explaining quotations) and on page 39 for introducing summaries.

Here is a full citation of this article:

Graff, Gerald & Cathy Birkenstein, “Chapter 3: As He Himself Puts It – The Art of Quoting” in They Say I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing, volume 3, 2014.https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/915212/files/28555152/download?verifier=HJ6SFj8jLsPCvE2TH17gz2aT5deBXImp3ItoFnpD&wrap=1