Quote Sandwich

What’s a quote?

For our class, we’ll use the term ‘quote’ to reference when you mention a line or two from one of our articles or our ovel. When we write about a text, it’s important to back up our opinions with examples. We copy 1-2 lines as ‘proof’ of our opinion and proof of our understanding of what the author is saying But when we copy these lines into our response/essay/answer we must put quotation marks around the line borrowed; if we don’t, it’s considered plagiarism. We use quotation marks to shows our reader that these are not our lines, but the author’s.

However, quoting effectively is not as simple as just adding a quote into your sentence or paragraph. Instead, you need to integrate your quote. “Hit and run” quoting is when you randomly insert a quote and then suddenly move on to the topic. Using a “Quote Sandwich” (see below) will help you avoid this by quoting using a 3 step process 1. Introduce, 2. Quote, 3. Explain.

Before you do anything: Find! Locate a quote that you want to use. Depending on what is being asked of you, this could be something that is surprising or interesting to you, a place that confused you, or it could a passage that shows something, like a characteristic of a character. In responses this might be support for your interpretation.

Step 1: Introduce! Introduce the quote with signal phrases and reporting verbs. Signal phrases introduce the title and type of work (for example “In the article…” or ‘”In her novel..”). Reporting verbs get paired with the author (Smith argues….She states). These phrases depend on the type of reading you are working with. If it is a novel, you wouldn’t say “In the article”, because it’s not an article. This can be a confusing distinction, so when in doubt “writes” or “states” is a good reporting verb, for example: “Staples says…” or “Atwood writes…” Use the last name when referring to the author, and the first name when referring to the character if you’re writing about a novel. Verbs should be in present tense.

Step 2: Quote! Use quotation marks around the phrase or sentence you have quoted. Anything more than two words that you have copied from the original reading needs to be in quotation marks like: “ ”

Step 3: Explain! Explain this quote, which will depend on what’s being asked of you. Why is it surprising? Why is it confusing? How does it show this characteristic? Even though it may be obvious what’s going on in the scene that you choose, you still want to explain it. Explain what the scene was, and then explain why it’s significant for your paper.

Original: Toby walked through the alley. He was scared, but knew his way. P. 76

Quoted: In This Boy’s Life, Toby seems confident. For example, he states, “I was scared, but I knew my way” (76). This shows that Toby is confident, and even mature, because he continues on his journey even though he is scared.

-Notice that I have a signal phrase, a reporting verb, quotation marks, and the page number. I also have explanation.