Week Seven: What to Do When You Quote
Last week, we discussed different ways to use the passages that you cite
in your essays and we invited you to think of those moments where you
cite other people's words as moments where you are demonstrating what
you can do with what you've read. In placing this emphasis, we mean to
stress that citation is an intellectual rather than a mechanical activity.
And, because we think of citation in this way, it influences how we read:
for whether we are reading student papers or published essays, we always
pay particular attention to those moments when the writer is citing someone
else. These moments can show how the writer's mind works on a problem,
what the writer thinks counts as evidence, and how the writer engages
with other writers.
The most common misconception we've found in the first year writing course,
though, is that there are "correct passages" to cite. So, as
you think about what passages you should cite in your own work, you should
realize that there are no correct or right or perfect passages out there
in the assigned readings waiting for you to choose them; there are just
words on the page or on the web which are available to be worked on by
you. It is your job as a writer to show why the words you've selected
to discuss are important and worthy of further discussion. Thus, there's
no way to guide you to the "right" passages to cite. What we
can do in what follows is provide you with the questions that can help
you to work on the passages you're considering citing, questions that
will help you assess whether or not the passages are worth including in
your own essays.
Please note: you'll note find discussed here the mechanics of citation
(i.e., where the quotation marks go and other punctuation matters). For
a full consideration of these issues, please refer to the grammar handbook
required for the course.
As you think about which passages to bring into your own writing, ask
yourself the following questions about what you've read:
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What passages in the assigned reading do you think the author wanted
you to focus on? Are there passages that the author has made to stand
out in some way-through the use of italics, say, or by indentation
or by placing under a heading?
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Is there a passage where the author introduces a new term or concept?
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Is there a passage where the author uses a familiar term-like "evolution,"
"dialogue," or "war"--in a new way?
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Are there passages where the author is saying something that you
find surprising?
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Is there an example that the author uses that stands out in your
mind?
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Are there passages that you had trouble following? Places where you
think the author's argument isn't persuasive?
You'll note that these questions are meant to help you think about working
with two different kinds of passages: those where you feel the author
is doing new and interesting work and those where the author's writing
has caught your attention. Both sorts of passages provide opportunities
for you to explore the implications and the significance of what the author
in the assigned reading has written; both sorts of passages give you material
that you can work on with your own writing.
When using passages from sources in your essay, you have two choices:
to provide the passage as a direct quotation or to paraphrase the passage
in your own words. A direct quote incorporates the exact words from the
text (set off by quotation marks or, for passages more than four lines
long, through indentation) into your essay. A paraphrase articulates the
same idea or information provided in the source text, but puts it in your
own words (i.e. it does not use the exact words or phrases found in the
source). Here are some guidelines for choosing when to quote directly
and when to paraphrase.
As a rule of thumb, you should consider using direct quotation when:
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you want to draw attention either to the particular words the author
has chosen to use or to the particular way the author has chosen make
his or her statement;
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you are referring to the author's use or definition of a specific
term or concept;
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you have chosen a passage that is central to your own argument;
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you plan on staking out a position that relies on a shared understanding
of what the author's writing means.
As a rule of thumb, you should consider paraphrasing what you've read
when:
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you feel that the language the author has used in the selected passage
is not significant or does not warrant particular attention;
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you are going to present factual information or data that is not
likely to be disputed;
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you want to condense an idea that the author expresses at length.
For a particularly good example of an author choosing when to use direct
quotation and when to paraphrase, refer to Lila Abu-Lughod's essay, "Honor
and Shame," in The New Humanities Reader. Note how Abu-Lughod sets
off the passages where she is citing directly from what Kamla has written
and follows those passages with her own extended interpretations of what
she has made of Kamla's words. At these moments, Abu-Lughod is showing
what she can do with the words of another. Elsewhere in "Honor and
Shame," Abu-Lughod paraphrases Kamla's thoughts, when she does not
wish to draw attention to Kamla's specific words or phrases; at these
moments, Abu-Lughod is using paraphrase to get to the next stage of her
own argument.
At this point, you can see that part of the work that you do while reading
is making decisions about which passages are important and what you think
warrants further consideration. Once you've made your initial decisions
about the passages you are going to work with, you will then need to focus
on how you bring those passages into your own writing. We would like you
to think about using the words that you surround the cited passage with
as showing, in some way, the work that you have done on the cited passage.
Here's one way to make your work with the cited passage clear:
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In the sentence before the quotation you are going to work with,
identify the author of the passage and introduce the key ideas that
you want the reader to notice. For example, a quote from Jane Goodall's
essay could be prefaced as follows:
Goodall's surprising contention is that
understanding the behavior of chimpanzees requires human empathy.
As she puts it, "one cannot watch chimpanzee infants for long
without realizing that they have the same emotional need for affection
and reassurance as human children" (307).
The introductory sentence makes a statement about Goodall's position:
it notes that her contribution to the study of animals is "surprising."
The cited passage provides an example, in Goodall's own words, of the
automatic response of humans studying chimpanzees in the wild.
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In the sentence immediately after a direct quote, explain in your
own words what you think the writer means by that comment. To continue
with the example above:
Goodall's surprising contention is that understanding the behavior
of chimpanzees requires human empathy. As she puts it, "one
cannot watch chimpanzee infants for long without realizing that
they have the same emotional need for affection and reassurance
as human children" (307). While in
instances such as this one, Goodall feels identifying with the chimpanzees
is automatic and possibly even natural, she does not believe that
human empathy alone can help one understand the entirety of human
behavior. There are aspects of the behavior of male chimpanzees
that Goodall feels will be forever beyond her understanding and
there are other behaviors, such as the deep grief one feels over
the loss of a loved one, that she feels you cannot understand in
the behavioral life of chimpanzees until you have experienced them
in your own life (307).
The sentence following the direct quote establishes that the writer
understands that Goodall's position is nuanced: she's not saying that
all you need is to empathize and you'll understand the chimpanzees.
With the final sentence, the writer, paraphrasing Goodall's words,
makes clear how Goodall qualifies her own position.
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Be sure to explain in detail how the quote or paraphrase that you
have worked on has affected your position. Perhaps the passage raises
a question about your own argument; perhaps it supports a point you've
been trying to make: your job is to make it clear why you feel the
passage warrants attention. To return to our example one final time:
Goodall's surprising contention is that understanding the behavior
of chimpanzees requires human empathy. As she puts it, "one
cannot watch chimpanzee infants for long without realizing that
they have the same emotional need for affection and reassurance
as human children" (307). While in instances such as this one,
Goodall feels identifying with the chimpanzees is automatic and
possibly even natural, she does not believe that human empathy alone
can help one understand the entirety of human behavior. There are
aspects of the behavior of male chimpanzees that Goodall feels will
be forever beyond her understanding and there are other behaviors,
such as the deep grief one feels over the loss of a loved one, that
she feels you cannot understand in the behavioral life of chimpanzees
until you have experienced them in your own life (307). But,
if what Goodall claims were true, it would seem that are some chimpanzee
behaviors that she can't understand because she is a woman. To understand
which behaviors are beyond her reach--and to determine whether or
not they are important--we need to look more closely at her discussion
of the limits of human empathy.
The sentences that conclude this paragraph show the writer exploring
the consequences of Goodall's argument. Does it matter that human
empathy is limited? That it makes some behavior intelligible, but
not others? These are issues, presumably, that would be taken up in
the paragraphs that follow the paragraph in our example.
Note that working on just one sentence from Goodall's essay has resulted
in a lengthy paragraph, a paragraph that ends not with a judgment
about Goodall, but with the emergence of a question. This is how we
would like you to think about your work with the passages you cite:
your goal is use the passages to take your discussion somewhere that
it couldn't go otherwise. Think of your citations, in other words,
as a way of moving your own discussion forward.
The act of quotation is a moment where you make your own work with
the assigned readings visible; it is where you show what you can do
with what you've read. There are no perfect passages to cite; it is
your own work on the passages you elect to cite that determines whether
or not those passages are "perfect" for your argument. Your
job is to show that you can do more than just agree or disagree with
what you've read: your job is to show that you can use what you've read
to think thoughts that are new for you.
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