As English students we have all experienced the fear and difficulty of integrating "IT" into our essays of literary analysis. One English professor interviewed recently, aptly referred to "IT" as the "Alien Monster"- that essential piece of evidence which informs the analytical intent; that great authoritative voice that shapes, steers, and supports all literary criticism; that integral facet of the student English essay that confounds and confuses; the piece of information most feared by English students, and commonly referred to as the "direct quotation".

The use of direct quotations in literary analysis represents a common problem of student submitted essays in university English courses. In literary studies the quotation constitutes an essential source of "evidence", which, according to many instructors, is often integrated in a manner which disrupts the stylistic flow of the writing, and undermines the analytical intent of effective rhetorical discussion. In an e-mail message dated November, 6, 1999, Associate Professor of English at the University College of the Cariboo, Dr. Will Garrett-Petts, cites the issue of integrating quotations as a common problem that pervades student English essays, and one that represented an important topic of discussion at a recent English Program Committee meeting. Further discussion with UCC English Instructors Dr. Darrel Laird, Dr. Henry A. Hubert, and Rod Michell confirmed this sentiment. Thus, there seems to be sufficient student and faculty concern regarding this problem to warrant an investigation that will arrive at recommendations directed to the less "experienced" student writer, and address common problems associated with the use of quotation in literary analysis.

This study proposes to identify common stylistic and analytical aspects of quotations in literary analysis, and to illustrate how more experienced student writers stylistically and analytically integrate quotations effectively into their discussion. By comparing the writing of lower and upper level students in this regard we will identify specific reoccurring problems, and offer recommendations directed at less experienced writers with the intention of alleviating these concerns. Our analysis and discussion of integrating quotations into a literary analysis essay will be focused under the two main headings of: 1) Stylistic grace and effectiveness, and 2) Effective use of the quotation as literary evidence.

To support our findings and gain a background understanding of the most common problems student writers experience when using direct quotations, we have accessed a variety of background sources including relevant literature on the subject from books, the World Wide Web, and interviews with several university English instructors and students. One conclusion we came to when searching for relevant sources on this topic, was that, although there was much information on the subject of quotation mechanics, there was very little on how to integrate the quotation effectively from both a stylistic or analytical perspective. Hence, this study will focus on these aspects of integration quotation, and simply suggest only reference material for the mechanical aspect as an appendage to the literature review section.

What the Instructors Think . . .

Interviews with UCC faculty English instructors, Rod Michell, Dr. Henry A. Hubert, and Dr. Darryl Laird were done the week of November 22, 1999, and investigated their opinions concerning the common problems lower level university students experience with quotations. They were asked to focus their advice on common problems associated with the stylistic and analytical aspects of quotation usage in English literary analysis essays specifically, and the information they offered reinforced and concurred with our own findings in most respects.

All instructors interviewed agreed that the average lower level university student writer is usually lacking in basic skills associated with effective quotation integration. Each instructor suggested various reasons for this, but one of the most prevalent comments had to do with the scant amount of time spent on quotation usage in High School English courses. One instructor expanded on this notion by suggesting High School English Instructors are usually burdened with excessively large class loads, and simply did not have enough time to cover the topic of quotations adequately. In any case, we noted several common points of experience among our three instructor interviewees, and what they saw as common problems. They also offered advice to remedy the stylistic and analytical integration of quotations into English literary analysis essays. It was this information which narrowed our analytical focus into four categories.

One common problem noted by all three instructors, was the clumsy grammatical integration of the quotation into the text. Verb tenses seem to be the hardest grammatical facet to master, a common task when one is "grafting" one part of a text into another. Another common feature of the less experienced writer’s essay was the use of a quotation that did not fit into the context of the argument; either stylistically, analytically, or both. Either the quotation did nothing to support the argument, or it was in "block" form when a snippet of information would do, or in a snippet form when a longer "block" quotation would serve more appropriately. One instructor commented that many students would use quotations more effectively if they remembered to "integrated quotations with a scalpel rather than a shovel". Another prevalent problem on which there was consensus, was an issue of leaving a quotation to "speak for itself", or, a "floater", as one instructor referred to it. This is the quotation that is truly alienated from the rest of the text by either being improperly introduced, or just "plopped" into the essay without any afterthought or explanation. All the instructors interviewed agreed that the integration of quotations is a facet of student paper writing that needs to be examined, and that any student writer who knows how to integrate quotations with "grace", is at a definite advantage when writing any English literary essay.

What the Students Think . . .

The ten students interviewed were the same students who each supplied this study with a lower and upper level literary analysis essay. They are all currently upper level English Majors. This being the case, each one can now be considered an upper level "experienced student writer", and each one generally expressed confidence in his or her ability to integrate quotations effectively when writing for the particular genre of literary analysis (Appendix 1).

Several students remarked on how they had received instruction on integrating quotations from either high school or university instructors. In terms of effective integration, the student’s number one concern was how to integrate quotations without disrupting the flow of their own writing. One student commented on how she liked to "plop" her quotation into a sentence rather than give it a proper introduction. Other students commented on the content of the quote, and making the analytical value of the quote their primary concern.

When asked to comment on one significant difference between their use quotations today as compared to the way they used them as less experienced, lower level writers, there was an unanimous consensus that the more experienced student writer is more selective in their use of quotations. As a result, most students believe that they are more apt to paraphrase than use direct quotations. This seems to be an attempt to keep the essay in the writer’s own voice, as much as a strategy for quotation usage.

Cooney, Seamus. "Handling Quotations: Achieving Accuracy and Coherence."

Writing Papers of Literary Analysis. January 1998. 12 Nov. 1999

"Handling Quotations: in papers about Literature." Writing Techniques Handbook.

"Integrating Quotations from a Literary Test into a Literary Analysis Paper."

Writer’s Handbook. Nov. 1997. The University of Wisconsin-Madison

This web-site is a valuable resource for information on any type of writing concern. The section on quotations is extensive, but actually this site represents an exhaustive research and advice resource on writing topics of any description. The section on quotations includes sections such as: "The Purpose of Quoting"; Patterns for Incorporating Quotations into Sentences"; and a good section on "Clarity and Readability; Some Guidelines".

These reviewed sites all provide links and information on many aspects of writing literary analysis essays, however, everyone should have a good source to the specific mechanics of integrating quotations into a text. Two good sources for this type of information and most other grammatical and mechanical aspects of writing are:

Lunsford, Andrea, Robert Connors, and Judy Z. Segal, eds. The St. Martins’s

We analyzed twenty student essays, with each of ten students supplying one lower level and one upper level sample. The papers were analyzed using four evaluative questions listed below; two questions relating to the Analytical usage of the quotations being examined, and two questions relating to the Stylistic component. This study focused on direct quotations for the data analysis.

Each one of these questions received a rating between (1) for the poorest grade, and (5) for the most efficient, skillful use of the quotation pertaining to the respective analytical category (Figure 1- Analysis of Data). Thus, each paper’s analysis resulted in four ratings A 1-2; and B 1-2, which were subsequently used to compute upper and lower level averages for each category from the total rating figures (Figures 2 and 3).

The choices for our categories and the selection of criteria with which to rate the samples was greatly influenced by our background studies. Instructor interviews, student interviews, and literary material accessed mainly on the "Web", gave us more than sufficient grounds to choose the four categories as such. An explanation of those four categories follows, but actual examples of grade 1 and grade 5 samples are included in the "Recommendations" section at the end of this presentation.

One instructor we talked to said that the question in this regard usually comes down to one asking themselves if they should be using a "scalpel of a shovel" when they incorporate a quotation into an essay of literary analysis. If a quote is too small it can amount to an insignificant illustration of what is being said in the piece of literature being analyzed, rather than a significant piece of evidence. On the other hand, if the quote is too large, say, in the case of block quotes, or using full sentences when a couple of words will do, the danger may exist of the inexperienced writer letting the quotations overpower the essay and relegate the writer’s own argument to a position of insignificant background material.

This seems to be a very common problem according to our research. An instructor we interviewed use the analogy of a lawer in a courtroom to explain this problem. He said that many less experienced student writers are like a lawyer who lays a gun down on the evidence table in a courtroom and then simply walks away from it and sits down without explanation. Many student writers seem to take this approach, expecting the quotation to speak for itself, as it were, instead of thoroughly discussing a piece of information which constitutes important "evidence" in literary analysis essays.

Two problems hampered the validity of this study. One problem was a relatively subjective interpretation of the quotation when we were rating the scores. Although we tried to mitigate this problem by referring to outside sources for information on what constituted proper quotation usage, there is still a certain degree of personal evaluation present in these findings. This problem is perhaps most effectively qualified in our "Recommendations" section where we show what we defined as good and bad examples of quotation integration pertaining to the four separate categories. Another problem was the small sample size of only ten participants and twenty actual samples of student writing. Due to time constraints, however, we feel that a larger sample population would have been unmanageable. We realize that the size of the this population relegates this study to a "mock" examination of the topic.

The "explanation and discussion" section also showed a slightly higher overall improvements rate (23%), perhaps designating a function of higher education; that which requires one to think critically.

An interesting sidelight of the study was the revelation that more experienced writers tended to use smaller pieces of sentences and commonly integrated a word or a phrased excerpt to the quoted material into their own essay. Block quotations, seen quite often in lower level papers, were an anomaly in the upper level essays, and the students own testimony mentioned in the interview section of this study reinforces the finding that upper level students are more selective in the quotations they use.

Student’s "grammatical/syntactical" use of quotations and the use of the quotation in the "appropriate context" improved equally (20%).

This section is dedicated to illustrating where the student may have difficulties integrating quotations into literary analysis essays through the use of explanation and example.

As one professor described it, there is an uncertainty among less experienced writers regarding the exact function of the quotation, and all the instructors and other expert sources were adamant about establishing one fact concerning the function of the quotation in a literary analysis essay: The quotation must be thought of as a piece of evidence that is going to support your argument, and as not an "alien monster", but as a source of vitalization for any piece of literary writing. The quotation provides a necessary "proof" of the credibility of the analysis simply through grammatical and syntactical grace, and appeals to the authority of the text.

A1). Is the quotation appropriate for the context of your argument?

While the quotation represents a voice of authority, it’s important that the quotation not assume authority over your ideas. Students have a tendency to assume that since the quotation is written by an outside authority, quite likely a renowned writer, then the quotation must be worthy of inclusion even though it is irrelevant to the discussion. This is an easy pattern to slip into. Unnecessary quotations may tally up the word count, but weaken the student’s argument. Several of the students interviewed commented that the biggest difference in their writing in the upper levels involved more paraphrasing. This seems to be a result of less reliance on the quotation to do the arguing and more personal analysis on the part of the student. Below are two examples, the first example struggles with the concept of using the proper quote in the proper context, but the second example embraces the idea:

One can see that the integration of this quote is both clumsy from a stylistic perspective, and does not directly address the specifics of what the "qualities of the courtly lover" are. This "indirect" use of a direct quotation denotes a student who has handed authority of the argument over to the text, and has taken a passive "observation" posture in writing this essay.

In this example, the quotation is "tailored" to the discussion, and thus, the context that surrounds it. Emphasizing the smooth inclusion of the quotation analytically and stylistically into the text, is the author’s discussion of specific words from the quotation. To some students this technique may seem like a redundant presentation of material, but the hallmark of a more experienced student writer seems to be the ability to squeeze everything they possibly can out of every word quoted, and that often means re-quoting certain material.

One instructor referred to this problem as placing the quotation on a pedestal before walking away. Another professor took a psychological point of view, suggesting that students know that the audience ( the prof.) knows the text inside and out, and that the instructor reading the essay will not be interested in being told something they already know. The quotation is left to explain itself. Another instructor used the analogy of a lawyer walking away from an important piece of evidence in the courtroom without explaining to the jury what the significance of the evidence is to his or her legal case. Again, the quotation constitutes an integral piece of evidence in any literary argument!

There is such a thing as an illustrative quote which is used to give the reader a flavor of the piece’s tone, but even these should be explained or expanded on so that the writer’s argumentative authority is maintained and the reader is not left to make their own interpretation of your evidence. Again we offer some examples:

Each sentence in this quote seems to be trying to prove a different argument. Even out of context with the rest of the paragraph, it is easy to see how the discussion does not make effective use of the quoted material. In this case the reader is left to make his or her own interpretation.

This quotation is introduced appropriately, and is immediately referred back to offering further explanation relating to a character named Gregor (Gregor, in case you were wondering, is an adolescent boy who has turned into a gigantic fly. Read on!).

One problem of stylistically integrating the quotation into a literary analysis essay, is simply because it is an "alien" piece of material. In a sense, it is the writer’s task to "graft" two pieces of foreign writing together when using a direct quotation as a piece of literary evidence, and to do it as smoothly, and with as much grace as possible. According to our interview background material and the result of this study, grammatical and syntactical coherence are common reoccurring problems of quotation integration in student essays. One of the best ways to test for the "clunker" of poor stylistic integration, is to read the section out loud. Does the quotation make sense or does it stick out like an alien from another planet. If the alien makes you feel uncomfortable then replace and rewrite. Sometimes all it takes is just a little more awareness.

B1) Is the Quotation Properly Introduced?

Sometimes the smallest of changes can help to clarify a quote, such as is the case with this following example:

The student has used an effective quotation, but has simply plunked it onto the page without making any allowances for its introduction. Let us see what the tiniest of changes does to the stylistic integration of this quotation.

This sentence is obviously an extreme example of clumsy quotation integration, which could be made much smoother simply by rewording the introduction.

Other examples of awkward syntactical and grammatical quotation integration, often have to do with awkward and unparalell verb tense structures. For example:

There are two verb "problems" with this excerpt: "walking" for "walk", and "a" for "the"; and also, the colon which is part of the original text does not need to be inserted here since it disrupts the stylistic flow of the sentence.

It is important to remember that there are various devices for shaping the quotation to fit into your own stylistic requirement. For example, the use of square brackets [ ] to insert or change any words in the original quotation. Brackets may be used to change a verb in the quotation to make the tense match that of the surrounding text, for instance.

Writing Papers of Literary Analysis. January 1998. 12 Nov. 1999

"Integrating Quotations from a Literary Test into a Literary Analysis Paper."

Writer’s Handbook. Nov. 1997. The University of Wisconsin-Madison

Lunsford, Andrea, Robert Connors, and Judy Z. Segal, eds. The St. Martins’s

Dr. Darrell Liard. His office, November 18, 1999.

Dr. Henry A. Hubert. Rm. 208, November 24, 1999.

Rod Michell. His office, November 22, 1999.

Student Samples (some of the papers were not dated - also, a student interview is represented by each set of lower and upper level essays supplied to the study)

Student 1, "Growing With Education."

Student 1, "Manfred’s Dilemma Upon the Mountain of Junfrau: Act I Scene II Soliloquy." 6 April 1999.

Student 2, "Clarity Over Time: The Evolution of Frankenstein."

Student 2, "Shedding Some Light on the Darkness of the Underworld Descent, Quite Literally." 1 March 1999.

Student 3, "Life Around the Room."

Student 3, "Social Interaction and the Bridge of Hunger." Fall, 1999.

Student 4, "Misjudgment in ‘Ancient Lineage’."

Student 4, "A Discourse Analysis of Lampman’s ‘Winter Evening’." 7 October 1999.

Student 5, "Aylmer’s Fall From Grace in Nathiel Hawthorne’s ‘The Birthmark’." 3 July 1996.