Incorporating direct quotes into their own writing can be difficult for students. They may not have read the kind of writing—academic, scientific—which routinely uses direct quotes, so they are unfamiliar with this type writing. And they may not have been taught it explicitly—with lessons, examples, and practice.
If so, where should a teacher begin to teach how to incorporate quotations?
One way is with the image of a hamburger in a bun. The hamburger stands for the direct quote, and the top and bottom buns stand for the “before” and “after” information that is also needed.
The top part of the bun is where you introduce the direct quote by explaining who the quote comes from and why the quote is worth quoting.
For example, suppose you write about democracy, and you want to quote Abraham Lincoln’s definition. You could introduce your quote by writing, “Abraham Lincoln defined democracy in his Gettysburg Address as. . .”
The hamburger part of the image is the direct quote itself: “government of the people, by the people and for the people.” You don’t need to quote a whole sentence—just the part which meets your needs. You might need to rewrite your introductory information to make it work grammatically with your quote. You don’t introduce the quotation by saying, “It says,” or “Here it is,” or “The quote is.”
For example, you don’t say, “Abraham Lincoln defined democracy. He said, ‘government of the people, by the people and for the people.’” This example is not good because the writer does not transition into Lincoln’s quote. A better way is, “Abraham Lincoln defined democracy. He said democracy is ‘government of the people, by the people and for the people.’” Even better is using the word “as” to replace “He said democracy is.” One word instead of four.
The bottom part of the bun is your understanding of the quote and why you consider it relevant. A good example is “This definition is deceptively simple yet eloquent.”
The finished quotation is “Abraham Lincoln defined democracy in his Gettysburg Address as ‘government of the people, by the people and for the people.’ This definition is deceptively simple yet eloquent.”
To recap:
- To use a direct quotation, you must put it in context by identifying who made the direct quote and why it is relevant in the context you are using it.
- The transition from your introductory information to the quotation must use correct grammar.
- Sometimes words of the direct quote must be left out or changed slightly (for example, from singular to plural, from one verb tense to another, from one pronoun to another).
- Any change in the direct quote must be shown either with ellipses or with brackets.
- If several changes must be made, paraphrasing might be a better alternative.
English Writing Teacher 