Quoting and Paraphrasing Notes

Quoting & Paraphrasing Guidelines

  • Clear and credible PROOF is essential.

Why Quote & Paraphrase?

  • To show proof of your analysis.
  • To provide evidence for your claims.
  • To clear up ambiguity.
  • To point out a super-specific detail.
  • To ensure your readers are keeping up with you.

Quotes

  • A perfect copy-paste of the original words and phrases.
  • A guarantee that those are the author’s EXACT words.

Example Quote

  • Adichie says that a single story of identity happens when we “show a people as one thing.”
  • The phrase “show a people as one thing” is a perfect copy of Adichie’s exact words.

Paraphrase

  • A specific phrase or sentence from a text that you re-write in your own vocabulary – no copying.
  • Your paraphrase will be about the same length as the original sentence.
  • Paraphrasing is much more specific than summary.
  • Paraphrase when you don’t want to/don’t need to quote.
  • Paraphrase must still be cited because you’re referencing an idea that’s not yours.

Example Paraphrase

  • Original sentence: “It is impossible to talk about the single story without talking about power.”
  • Your paraphrase of it: Adichie clarifies that in order to understand how oversimplified ideas are formed, we need to acknowledge the role that power has in the shaping of those ideas.

Frame Your Quotes

  • Use quoting clues for readers so that they know that you’re about to quote and why you’re quoting it.
  • Frame all of your quotes with on-ramps and off-ramps so that your readers transition into the quote and out of it. Use a signal phrase or lead-in before your quote, and then lead out of the quote.
  • For example:
    • Lead-in and get readers ready for the quote, Quote (citation). Lead-out and explain why that quote is important / what it shows us.

Frame Your Quotes Example

  • Adichie explains, “The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete.” In this moment, Adichie employs effective logos as she reminds the audience that the issue is about embracing complexity instead of avoiding it.

Frame Your Quotes - Ethos Example

  • Adichie establishes her ethos right away by including herself in the issue when she describes how Fide was “very poor” and how that became the only lens through which she understood his family.

Keep Quotes Small

  • Try not to quote more than 1 sentence at a time.
  • For every piece that you quote, you have to lead up to it and then analyze it before moving on.

Punctuating Quotations

  • Use a comma after the lead-in when quoting a complete sentence:
    • Adichie explains, “The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete.” In this moment, Adichie employs effective logos as she reminds the audience that the issue is about embracing complexity instead of avoiding it.

Punctuating Quotations - Page Numbers

  • If your source DOES have original page numbers (TED Talks don’t have page numbers), the page number citation goes after the quote:
    • Atwood writes, “It was decided that I should die” (2)(2). This moment shows that the family is approaching their daughter’s situation from a strategic place instead of a place of love and acceptance.
  • Your MLA in-text citation of the page number goes at the end of the quote or paraphrase, before the period.

Cite for paraphrase, too

  • In order to understand how oversimplified ideas are formed, we need to acknowledge the role that power has in the shaping of those ideas (Adichie).

Punctuating Quotations - Blending

  • Use no comma or period if the quotation is a continuation of your sentence – if you’re blending the quote with your sentence:
    • Adichie establishes her ethos right away by including herself in the issue when she describes how Fide was “very poor” and how that became the only lens through which she understood his family.

Punctuating Quotations - The Word "That"

  • The word that incorporates and blends a quote into your sentence, so it doesn’t need a comma after it:
    • Adichie points out that “it robs people of dignity.”

Quoting What a Character Says

  • Use single quotation marks for a quote within your own quote:
    • Adichie refers to what “Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe calls ‘a balance of stories.’”

Shortening Quotes

  • Use ellipses to indicate where you took out words.
    • Adichie argues, “Power is the ability … to make it the definitive story of that person.”

Changing Quotes

  • Use brackets around the word(s) that you added/replaced for clarity’s sake.
    • Adichie echoes her thesis and strengthens her logos when she wraps up her college roommate example by explaining, “What struck me was this: [My roommate] had felt sorry for me even before she saw me.”

Remember

  • Ultimately, this is all about audience clarity. Make sure your readers won’t be confused.
  • You’re not expected to memorize all of this.
  • You are expected to refer to this PowerPoint, our class examples, and other resources to create clean and correct quotes, paraphrases, and MLA citations.