Introduce the quotation or paraphrase by setting it in context. For a nonfiction source, identify the author the first time you cite the source. For a literary source, identify the speaker or writer and the position of the quoted piece in its work for every quotation. There are three ways to introduce quotations or paraphrases:

1. You can use a full sentence followed by a colon to introduce a quotation.

Coming upon the witches, Macbeth unknowingly echoes them: “So foul and fair a day I have not seen” (1.3.39).

Economist Grant Houston lays the blame on bad government policy:  “subsidies to corn growers keep the price of corn artificially low” (122).  

2. You can use a lead-in naming the author or character, followed by a comma.

Often since his walk, the speaker confides, “They flash upon that inward eye/ Which is the bliss of solitude” (21-22).

According to Sanchez, parents are furious about the ban on bake sales at schools (“PTA Focuses on Food” 16).

[No quotation marks in this example because it’s a paraphrase.]

3. You can also begin a sentence with your own words and complete it with quoted words. In this case, do not use a comma before the quotation.

Mr. Bennet, however, is “among the earliest of those who waited on Mr. Bingley” (7).

Houston argues that “tariffs on imported sugar unfairly subsidize US sugar growers” (248).

1. The paper is not JUST comparing and/or listing your topic.

   1. If you're writing on technology, what about technology are you trying to say? Society’s dependence on it? The positive or negative effects of technology? Must show the HOW and WHY.
      
      

2. Every example must be set up and broken down

   1. Use the MEAL Plan for your body paragraphs: MAIN IDEA, EVIDENCE, ANALYZE, LINK

   2. This means that you are introducing each MAIN idea/topic, providing your EVIDENCE, ANALYZING or explaining how that evidence relates to your topic, and then LINKing to the next paragraph.

   3. This is not a template- this is a concept/guide!

   4. Don’t dump all the examples from the book in one paragraph...give them room to breathe. Also by breaking them apart, you’ll have more to write!
      
      

3. Use literary present tense!
   
   

4. Spell out “television” first, then use TVs
   
   

5. Avoid:

   1. Very

   2. lots

   3. First person

   4. Second person

   5. Contractions

   6. This quote, This shows...try to explain without starting every sentence with this.
      
      

6. Use signal phrases…

   1. When first introducing another source

      1. EX: In the article “The Fifties,” author Jane Meyers states: “....

   2. Don’t say the article says...an article can’t speak.

   3. When using a signal phrase from the novel, put the character who is saying the quote. Bradbury is not a character in the book. If it’s narration, just leave the quote by itself.
      
      

7. When using pronouns, an antecedent must come first in each new paragraph.

   1. WRONG: They use technology in the book…

   2. RIGHT: The citizens of society use technology in the book…. They abuse it…
      
      

8. Formatting Titles

   1. Books = italics

   2. Articles = “Quotes”
      
      

9. Works Cited must be last page of paper

   1. Put cursor after last line. Insert → Page Break. Do your Works Cited here.

   2. See the handbook page 36 for a sample
      
      

10.  MLA!

    1. Heading (student, teacher, class, date)

    2. Header (LastName 1)

    3. Title - try to make as original and creative as possible
       
       

11. Citations!

    1. Every body paragraph should have at least one quote...and every quote/paraphrase from a source needs an in-text citation...or it’s plagiarized!