1. Connecting Quotes to Meaning
AEC Method and Analysis of a quote

2. AEC Method A
Assertion: Make a point E
Evidence: use a text reference
**Blended quotes are preferred over paraphrase. C
Commentary: Make a connection to meaning that is worth something

3. Let’s say you have already chosen a quote or the quote is given on a test.
Before you begin writing, give the quote a good reading or two. Let’s use this quote from chapter 12 of Lord of the Flies as an example: “Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of a true, wise friend called Piggy.”

4. Introducing the Quote
A good place to start writing is to introduce the quote by telling the context: What is going on in the story when the quote is said? Who is the speaker if it is not the narrator? To whom are they speaking?
The naval officer has just found Ralph and the rest of the boys. The narrator is describing the scene to the reader.

5. Incorporating and Commenting on the Quote
Remember, your quote is evidence of an assertion you’re making.
I want to assert that at his rescue, Ralph is overcome with grief at the realization that the beach, meant to be a beautiful, restful place became a war zone and that Piggy, an innocent, good person was killed. Now that the adults have arrived, he finally is able to express weakness.

6. Here’s the whole package.
Quotation: “Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of a true, wise friend called Piggy.” My analysis: At the end of chapter twelve, the remaining boys are rescued by a naval officer, who compares the boys’ being trapped on the island to a popular television show. At that moment, Ralph is able to let down his guard and express the bottled-up fear, frustration, and grief at all the evil that have occurred on the island, particularly the murder of Piggy, who embodies innocence and wisdom. The narrator describes to readers that “Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of a true, wise friend called Piggy.” When the officer makes light of the situation, Ralph’s tearful reaction is a testament that the time spent on the island has not been in any way relative to a comical television show. Indeed, the savagery of Jack and Roger and the willingness of the littluns to follow them have revealed to Ralph, a child when he arrived on the island, the reality that evil exists in the world and that even the innocent are subject to victimization. In fact, though he has survived, his innocence, like Piggy’s life has been stolen because of the terrors he has experienced.

7. Choosing a quote
The quotations that you incorporate into your essay should all support the thesis statement.
QUOTATIONS ARE EVIDENCE OF YOUR THESIS! They serve to validate what you want to prove, so make them WORTH SOMETHING!

8. Considering the prompt
On the next slide is a poem. While you read it, imagine that you have been given a prompt that asks you to discuss imagery and point-of-view.
First, read the poem simply to read it.
Then, read it again. On your paper, note specific words and phrases that call up imagery and point to clues about the speaker.

9. “Those Winter Sundays” Robert Hayden
Sundays too my father got up early and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold, then with cracked hands that ached from labor in the weekday weather made banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him. I'd wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking. When the rooms were warm, he'd call, and slowly I would rise and dress, fearing the chronic angers of that house, Speaking indifferently to him, who had driven out the cold and polished my good shoes as well. What did I know, what did I know of love's austere and lonely offices?