NOTES ON SETTING UP YOUR QUOTE
LOCATION
The set up for your quotation will be inserted before the
quote that you just wrote. You are
essentially working backwards or reverse engineering because the quote is the
“punchline” to the set up. You needed to
write the quote first in order to establish up front what needs to be said
about it to help the reader. Despite
writing it out of order, the order will be:
Set up for quote, and then the quote itself.
PURPOSE
Your goal is to give the reader of your essay background
information about a scene that your quote takes place within.
QUESTIONS
Ask yourself the following questions:
Q: Am I describing
the entire story (which is wrong), or just the scene itself (which is correct)?
Q: Do I describe
where and when the scene takes place?
Q: Do I need to state
what is physically happening in the scene, or what they are looking at?
Q: Do I identify who
is talking, or who is listening?
Q: How much
information do I need to provide to the reader in order for the quote to make
sense? How much detail should I use?
Q: Is there a
reference to something happening in the scene that I need to set up in
advance? Or would it be better to use
that as part of my Reasoning section?
Q: Am I explaining
what the scene means (wrong – that’s in Reasoning section).
PRESENT TENSE VERBS (MOSTLY)
When writing about a story for an English class, use present
tense verbs only. This gives the reader
the sense that the story is unfolding in front of them live, as opposed to the
past. You may need to fudge some of the
verbs to reflect past actions while still staying in present tense. That’s okay.
But generally stay in present tense as if the story is happening in real
time.
- WRONG
WAY: Scrooge spoke to Jacob Marley. He was his partner who died five years
ago. Marley really scared Scrooge. Scrooge trembled in fear.
- CORRECT
WAY: Scrooge speaks to Jacob
Marley. He was his partner who died five
years ago. Marley really scares Scrooge. Scrooge trembles in fear.
TRANSITIONING TO THE QUOTE
After describing the scene, you will need to identify if
there is a speaker in your quote. You
can do this a couple of different ways as per these examples:
1) USE A
COMMA.
The Second Spirit (The Ghost of Christmas Present) throws
Scrooge’s own words back at him stating in Scrooge’s own voice, “If he had to
die than let him do it and decrease the surplus population,” (272).
2) USE A
COLON.
The Second Spirit (The Ghost of Christmas Present) throws
Scrooge’s own words back at him stating in Scrooge’s own voice: “If he had to
die than let him do it and decrease the surplus population,” (272).
3) IMBED THE
SPEAKER IN THE QUOTE.
The Second Spirit and Scrooge discuss the fate of Tiny
Tim. “Second Spirit (imitating
Scrooge). If he had to die than let him
do it and decrease the surplus population,” (272).
