1. Introducing Quotations A guide to successful quoting

2. What is a quotation? Quoting simply means repeating what someone else has said or written. When a character says something in a play or novel s/he is speaking but when you repeat what the character says in your writing or in oral work you are quoting the character. When you want to include words or phrases taken from a poem, play or prose you are quoting. When you do this you must use quotation marks (‘inverted commas’) to show that it is not your work.

3. Why quote? Imagine you are a lawyer and your essay is your way of convincing a jury (your teacher or examiner) of your argument. A lawyer might be interesting, persuasive and thought provoking but without evidence a jury is never going to be sure that what the lawyer is saying is true. Quotes and examples work like evidence in a court case – they convince your audience that what you’re writing is accurate.

4. Why quote? Continued supportQuotations, then, are used to support your own ideas; they should not take the place of your ideas nor should they be used to tell the story. Quotations are a useful way of exploring how theme, character and language are used in a text or a particular part of it. You should usually provide some kind of context (where does it come from / fit into the text?) for the quotation and comment on what is interesting about it.

5. How to use quotations Using a quote is like building a sandwich or burger: The first bit of bread is like your introduction for your quote. After making a point, give some context for the quote and explain how it illustrates your argument. The second piece of bread is like your comment on your quote. Why is it interesting? What does it reveal about character/language/plot/ a certain literary technique etc? The quote is the meat in the middle of the sandwich. It might be yummy but it tastes better between two bits of bread!

6. Layout of quotations P oint E xample / Quotation E xplanation PEE!

7. Organising Quotations Make your point Follow it with a quotation Put your quotation in ‘ …’ If it is a short quotation, it should be placed within your sentence and should be introduced with a comma (,) If it is longer than 6 words, it should be introduced with a colon (:); placed on the next line and double- indented Complete your quotation by making a comment on it.