English Using Quotations Effectively Foundation Lesson About this Lesson Writers of arguments, newspaper reporters, literary critics, and other writers of prose know what powerful rhetorical tools quotations can be when they are used to prove a point, influence an attitude, illustrate a concept, or reinforce an idea. However, inexperienced writers tend to ignore a well-known, essential aspect of the use of quotations they must be introduced so that they are linked to their source and to the rest of the text in the essay so that they are clearly understandable to the reader. This lesson is a logical follow-up to the Dialectical Journals lesson and uses activities linked to those in the journal lesson. Passages for LTF lessons are selected to challenge students, while lessons and activities make texts accessible. Guided practice with challenging texts allows students to gain the proficiency necessary to read independently at or above grade level. This lesson is included in Module 4: From Journal to Essay. Objectives Students will incorporate quotations into their analytical paragraphs effectively. make coherent and logical connections between evidence and commentary using transitions. use punctuation to embed quotes correctly into their sentences. T E A C H E R Level Grades Six through Ten Connection to Common Core Standards for English Language Arts LTF Foundation Lessons are designed to be used across grade levels and therefore are aligned to the Common Core Anchor Standards. Teachers should consult their own grade-level-specific Standards. The activities in this lesson allow teachers to address the following Common Core Standards: Explicitly addressed in this lesson Code Standard Level of Thinking R.1 Read closely to determine what the text says Understand explicitly and to make logical inferences from it. Cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text. Depth of Knowledge i
Teacher Overview Using Quotations Effectively R.2 Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas. R.3 Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text. R.4 Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone. R.5 Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene or stanza) relate to each other and the whole. R.10 Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently. L.2 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing. L.5 Demonstrate understanding of word relationships and nuances in word meanings. W.1 Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence. W.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. W.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research. Analyze Analyze Analyze Analyze Understand Understand Understand Create Create Analyze Implicitly addressed in this lesson Code Standard Level of Thinking L.1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of Understand standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking. L.3 Apply knowledge of language to understand how Understand language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening. W.10 Write routinely over extended time frames (time for Apply research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences. II I II IV Depth of Knowledge I II T E A C H E R ii
Teacher Overview Using Quotations Effectively LTF Skill Focus The foundation for LTF English lessons is the Skill Progression Chart that identifies key skills for each domain, beginning with grade 6 and adding more complex skills at each subsequent grade level while reinforcing skills introduced at previous grade levels. The Skill Focus for each individual lesson identifies the skills actually addressed in that lesson. Levels of Thinking Remember Understand Apply Analyze Evaluate Create Close Reading written, spoken, and visual texts Grammar purposeful use of language for effect Reading Strategies Inference Paraphrase Literary Elements Diction Imagery Theme Tone Literary Techniques Characterization Symbolism Mechanics Punctuation Composition written, spoken, and visual products Types (modes) Expository analytical The Process of Composition Prewriting Structural Elements Introduction thesis Body incorporation of quotes topic sentence use of commentary use of evidence Organization Transition Connections to AP* Students will be required to write well-supported analytical essays on both the AP Literature and AP Language examinations. The ability to smoothly and effectively incorporate quotations and textual evidence is a key skill in writing analytical papers. T E A C H E R *Advanced Placement and AP are registered trademarks of the College Entrance Examination Board. The College Board was not involved in the production of this material. Materials and Resources copies of Student Activity Handout: Graphic Organizer for a Paragraph Using Quotations Assessments The following kinds of formative assessments are embedded in this lesson: graphic organizers frame statements Teachers are encouraged to use the Grade Level Assessments and Posttest style analysis activities, including the following, on the LTF website as additional assessments: Grade Level Assessments 6 th grade The Incredible Journey 7 th grade A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur s Court iii
Teacher Overview Using Quotations Effectively 8th grade The Lamp at Noon 9 th grade A New England Nun 10 th grade Dombey and Son Released Posttests 6 th grade Inkheart 7 th grade The Wind in the Willows 8 th grade The First Betrayal 9 th grade The Poisonwood Bible 10 th grade Rebecca Teaching Suggestions Teachers are encouraged to talk through the examples provided in this lesson to familiarize students with the process of introducing and commenting on a quotation in an effective manner. Students should then practice the skill, using the student activities suggested. When teachers adapt this model lesson to other writing assignments in their curriculum, they might consider using frame statements to guide student practice, removing the writing tool as students become more proficient. The Graphic Organizer for a Paragraph Using Quotations is available on LTF s website under Additional Resources. Answers Answers for this lesson are subjective and will vary. To obtain the maximum benefit of the lesson, ask students to go beyond the expected responses. T E A C H E R iv
English Using Quotations Effectively Foundation Lesson Writers of literary analysis should learn to incorporate quotations as evidence to support their assertions. To use quotations effectively, you should consider the following strategies: Make an assertion (an opinion statement that the author intends to support with evidence.) Supply the evidence: Introduce the quotation by naming the speaker/narrator and explaining briefly the situation/context of the quotation; quote a word, phrase, line or lines from a text or source (should support the assertion and be included in the same sentence as its introduction); and document the quotation with the author s name and page number inside parentheses. All of this information should be in the same sentence. Comment on the quotation by writing several sentences explaining how the evidence supports the assertion. This process works best after a reader has carefully annotated a text and explored its possible meanings through writing in a dialectical journal. Read carefully this passage from The Scarlet Ibis by James R. Hurst. Then complete the activities that follow. Doodle was my brother and he was going to cling to me forever, no matter what I did, so I dragged him across the burning cotton field to share with him the only beauty I knew, Old Woman Swamp. I pulled the go-cart through the sawtooth fern, down into the green dimness where the palmetto fronds whispered by the stream. I lifted him out and set him down in the soft rubber grass beside a tall pine. His eyes were round with wonder as he gazed about him, and his little hands began to stroke the rubber grass. Then he began to cry. Here is an example Character Analysis Journal examining Doodle. Evidence (quotation or detail and context) Inference Commentary Quotation: His eyes were round with wonder Sensitive, appreciative Doodle reacts as he gazed about him, and his little hands emotionally to the wonders of nature, moved to began to stroke the rubber grass. Then he tears of joy at the beauty of simple things. He began to cry (Hurst 191). is attuned to nature and in awe of its beauty. Context: Doodle s brother has taken him to a beautiful place. Quotation: My lies were scary, involved, and usually pointless, but Doodle s were twice as crazy. People in his stories all had wings and flew wherever they wanted to go (Hurst 193). Context: To help pass the time, Doodle and his brother make up stories. Imaginative, dreamer Doodle s fantasies reveal his vivid imagination as well as his desire to be able to move freely and easily. Through his imagination he can escape the physical handicaps that hold him down in real life. 1
Student Activity Using Quotations Effectively The next step is to write an assertion (a statement that you intend to prove through the use of evidence) that is suggested by the inferences you have made in your dialectical journal. Example assertion based on the journal above: Doodle is a sensitive and appreciative young boy who is moved by the beauty of nature. Now you are ready to put the process to work by writing a body paragraph based on an assertion, evidence, and commentary. Graphic Organizer for a Paragraph Using Quotations (Use this structure to plan an analysis of any text.) Assertion: Doodle is a sensitive and appreciative young boy who is moved by the beauty of nature. Introduction to the quotation, quotation, and documentation: When Doodle s brother takes him to a beautiful place in the woods, he looks around, [h]is eyes...round with wonder, and the scene before him causes him to cry (Hurst 191). Commentary: Doodle is moved to tears of joy at the beauty of simple things. His emotional reaction reveals that he is attuned to nature and in awe of its beauty. Sample Paragraph Doodle is a sensitive and appreciative young boy who is moved by the beauty of nature. When Doodle s brother takes him to a beautiful place in the woods, he looks around, [h]is eyes...round with wonder, and the scene before him causes him to cry (Hurst 191). Doodle is moved to tears of joy at the beauty of simple things. His emotional reaction reveals that he is attuned to nature and in awe of its beauty. 2
Student Activity Using Quotations Effectively Activity One: Writing a Character Analysis Practice: Below, you will find another passage from The Scarlet Ibis and a dialectical journal entry about the character of Doodle. Use the inferences, evidence, and commentary in the dialectical journal to construct an analytical paragraph, using the skeleton paragraph below the chart as a model. My lies were scary, involved, and usually pointless, but Doodle s were twice as crazy. People in his stories all had wings and flew wherever they wanted to go. His favorite lie was about a boy named Peter who had a pet peacock with a ten-foot tail. Peter wore a golden robe that glittered so brightly that when he walked through the sunflowers they turned away from the sun to face him. When Peter was ready to go to sleep, the peacock spread his magnificent tail, enfolding the boy gently like a closing go-to-sleep flower, burying him in the gloriously iridescent, rustling vortex. Yes, I must admit it. Doodle could beat me lying. Evidence (quotation or detail and context) Quotation: My lies were scary, involved, and usually pointless, but Doodle s were twice as crazy. People in his stories all had wings and flew wherever they wanted to go (Hurst 193). Context: To help pass the time, Doodle and his brother make up stories. Inference Commentary Imaginative, dreamer Doodle s fantasies reveal his vivid imagination as well as his desire to be able to move freely and easily. Through his imagination he can escape the physical handicaps that hold him down in real life. In James Hurst s short story The Scarlet Ibis, the narrator depicts the character of Doodle as (Write your assertion here.) Doodle and his brother often (Provide the context here.), and the narrator tells us that, while he made up stories, they were nothing compared to Doodle s whose stories were twice as crazy and filled with people who flew wherever they wanted to go ( ). (Write the commentary from the right-hand column of the journal entry that links the evidence to the assertion.) 3
Student Activity Using Quotations Effectively Activity Two: Writing an Analysis of Tone or Mood through Diction and Imagery Practice: Below, you will find another passage from The Scarlet Ibis and a dialectical journal entry. Use the journal entry to construct a body paragraph analyzing diction and imagery in the story. Use several of the quotations and the pre-written commentary in the right-hand column to support the assertion that has been written for you. It was in the clove of seasons, summer was dead but autumn had not yet been born, that the ibis lit in the bleeding tree. The flower garden was stained with rotting brown magnolia petals, and ironweeds grew rank amid the purple phlox. The five o clocks by the chimney still marked time, but the oriole nest in the elm was untenanted and rocked back and forth like an empty cradle. The last graveyard flowers were blooming, and their smell drifted across the cotton field and through every room of our house, speaking softly the names of our dead (Hurst 189). Evidence (quotation or detail and context) Quotation: It was in the clove of seasons, summer was dead but autumn had not yet been born (Hurst 189). Context: In this introductory paragraph, the narrator describes the setting. Quotation: dead, rotting, graveyard, dead (Hurst 189) Context: same as above Quotation: empty, untenanted (Hurst 189) Context: same as above Quotation: oriole nest...like an empty cradle (Hurst 189) Context: same as above Quotation: graveyard flowers their smell drifted speaking softly the names of our dead (Hurst 189) Context: same as above Inference Commentary The word clove suggests a rift or splitting. It seems to suggest there was a definite divide between the seasons marked by some other more personal split or loss, possibly a death. The words dead and born also support this idea. The diction reinforces the idea that someone has died. Even the narrator s memory of the setting reflects the impact of the loss. Suggests loss: Something is missing. Even the bird nest is empty. Comparing it to a cradle makes you wonder if a child has died. It creates a feeling of pain and yearning for what is missing. Personification of the flowers seems to imply that nature reminds the narrator (all of us) about those we ve lost. A sense of remembrance and peace underlies the sadness. Assertion: To create a tone of loss and regret, the author of The Scarlet Ibis constructs a pattern of language related to loss and regret through his word choice and use of imagery. In the beginning of the story, the narrator (Provide the context here.) The narrator describes the time of year as the clove of seasons with summer dead but autumn not yet born. The time of year is associated with (Provide commentary.) The narrator uses words associated with loss, such as (Provide another quotation here that supports the assertion.) 4
These words Student Activity Using Quotations Effectively (Provide commentary.) The speaker s figurative language also suggests loss and regret. (Write a sentence of your own that includes some quotations from the journal supporting this assertion. Then add commentary.) 5
Student Activity Using Quotations Effectively Activity Three: Writing an Analysis of Theme Practice: Below, you will find another passage from The Scarlet Ibis and a dialectical journal entry. Use the journal entry to construct a body paragraph exploring a theme of the story. Use the quotation in the left-hand column and the pre-written commentary in the right-hand column to support an assertion that seems logical to you, given the commentary in the journal. It seemed so hopeless from the beginning that it s a miracle I didn't give up. But all of us must have something or someone to be proud of, and Doodle had become mine. I did not know then that pride is a wonderful, terrible thing, a seed that bears two vines, life and death. Every day that summer we went to the pine beside the stream of Old Woman Swamp, and I put him on his feet at least a hundred times each afternoon. Evidence (quotation or detail and context) Quotation: But all of us must have something or someone to be proud of, and Doodle had become mine. I did not know then that pride is a wonderful terrible thing, a seed that bears two vines, life and death (Hurst 192) Context: The narrator looks back on the time when he tried to teach his brother Doodle to walk. Inference Commentary The narrator confesses his need to make Doodle better in order to give himself something to be proud of and to receive recognition for his actions. Because he is speaking about an event that happened in the past, he looks back on it with the insight of an adult who has struggled with the consequences of his prideful actions. It s not that pride in and of itself is bad, but he has realized that too much pride can lead people to do things that can have devastating results. Assertion: The author of The Scarlet Ibis, James Hurst, suggests through the actions of his characters and his use of language the theme that 6
Student Activity Using Quotations Effectively Graphic Organizer for a Paragraph Using Quotations (Use this structure to plan an analysis of any text.) Assertion: Introduction to the quotation, quotation, and documentation: Commentary (explanation, interpretation, analysis) linking the quotation to the assertion: 7