JOURNAL 3
Read the chapter “The Art of Quoting” (pp. 42-51) of They Say / I Say. What did you find interesting about this chapter? Did you find anything in the chapter helpful or useful? Did you learn anything new?
Thinking back, I’m not entirely sure when we were first introduced to using quotes/evidence in our writing. I remember quoting poetry and short stories in middle school, so the process probably started somewhere around seventh grade. Our school system really drilled the writing process into our heads, so by the time we got to high school, we knew exactly what was expected of us. That concept was always huge for the teachers in our district: preparing us for the impossible high school academic experience. Since I have had an understanding of how to incorporate text into writing pieces for a little while now, I can’t quite say that I learned anything completely new from this chapter of They Say I Say. I did, however, look at the art of quotation in a light I hadn’t seen it before. After reading the chapter, three ideas stuck with me which I hadn’t thought in that way of before. First, there is an art to including quotes that is difficult to grasp. There’s an unspoken balance that a writer must maintain when it comes to quoting outside sources. Quoting too little will give the audience the sense that the author knows everything. When we write, we often have to do a little research so we can provide background information on the topic we’re talking about. A lack of quotes infers that the author didn’t need to do any research, or can explain anything they did research better themselves than providing the raw text from which they found their information. On the other hand, too many quotes is just as worrisome; a paper drowning in quotes makes it seem like the author doesn’t have any thoughts of their own to add to their supporting evidence. I had never thought about this equilibrium of evidence before. My second takeaway was on page 44, which mentioned that some writers assume quotes can speak for themselves. I think in some cases, this can be true. However, in writing, it is important to explain any included evidence to help relate the idea back to the main thesis of the project. Leaving the evidence by itself with no explanation doesn’t do any justice for the paper overall. The quote may be extremely supportive for the paper, but it doesn’t serve any purpose unless the writer connects it to their main idea. My last takeaway from this chapter is the difficulty of choosing quotes to include in a piece of writing. When you think about it, it can seem like an impossible task. For me, I just went with whatever words/phrases/sentences etc. resonated with me from a particular text we were studying at the time. Finding textual support is actually so much bigger than that, though. You have the task of finding the perfect combination of words that says what you’re trying to say, but using different words… and they had to be said by someone else already. You have the wealth of all the literature in the world, but you have to narrow it all down to a few sentences that will support your paper in particular. Then, you have to explain why this perfect combination of words supports what you’re thinking by using your own words. It really is a bizarre concept at its core. I’m glad that this chapter opened my eyes to this idea, among others, when it comes to quoting and using textual evidence.
