Warm-Up Question
Reflect on the following prompt and record your answer in your writing space:
What experience have you had with quotation in your past writing? How did you approach it? What was the point of quotation in that context?
Activities
Activity #1: Focus
Choose a key term or unique form of expression to quote (mark it in bold font).
“Virginia Tech, like all universities, is made up of countless parts in flux. The buildings, teachers, students, administration, and curriculum all change. Even the name has changed from Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College. How can we grasp this complex flurry of moving parts? One way to understand it is as an activity system: a set of common goals and tools that unite us and direct our activity to achieve those goals” (Becker).
Activity #2: Condense
Condense the following quote using ellipses ( . . . ):
“My favorite movie is Hot Fuzz, by which I mean it is my favorite feature film as opposed to short films or television series. Also, I mean it is my favorite film that is primarily fictional in nature, because I don’t really think of non-fiction documentaries as movies. Anyways, why do I like it so much? Mainly because it is smart and super funny” (Becker).
Activity #3: Emphasize
Emphasize a word or phrase using italics (and include “; emphasis added” in the parenthetical citation):
“I don’t know if Radiohead is the best nineties band still making music today, but they’re certainly my favorite” (Becker).
Reflect: how did your emphasis alter or enhance the meaning of the sentence?
Activity #4: Mark
Mark the typo with [sic]:
“Whether at a community college or a state universe, students are the heart and soul of campus culture” (Becker).
Activity #5: Blend
Blend these two quotes into a single sentence, using brackets [ ] to revise grammar as needed:
“In his self-report card, which is mostly critical and harsh, Vonnegut still expresses pride in his earlier novels, including Slaughterhouse Five and Cat’s Cradle” (Becker).
“Vonnegut was a harsh critic of his later work; for example, despite the novel’s status as a fan favorite, he hated Breakfast of Champions” (Timson).
Quotation Toolkit © 2019 by Tim Becker is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
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