Start Your Essay?
Embedding direct quotations in your essay is a great literary tool to reinforce your arguments and nurturing ground for developing the main ideas and further contemplation of the topic. However, using quotations also hides lots of pitfalls.
The statements of a brilliant thinker within your field are considered a way to make your essay stand out from the piles of other writings. No wonder a major number of students fall for that and aspire to use quotations from eminent persons. Nonetheless, over the course of time, using aphorisms within writing became the synonym for “triteness”. So, we collected some tips which will help to use quotations properly, make your statements more haunting, and not evoke sights in your essay readers.
However, if you don’t want to puzzle over all these rules but still want to stay on the safe side and not become accused of plagiarism, you can always reach out to the help of our essay proofreading service.
Table of Contents:
How to Start an Essay with a Quote?
It seems pretty compelling and pathetic for almost every student to cite someone at the very start of their paper. So, you probably also think that you can start an essay with a quote and be on a roll. However, in reality, there is no more worn-out way to start an essay. Firstly, the words said by another person don’t make you appear an egghead or well-read. In the age of the internet, it is worth nothing for everyone to open the first website that comes across and copy some quotes.
Moreover, starting an essay with a quote may make you appear passive and show that you don’t really understand what you are writing about. Putting quotations in such places often makes an impression that you try to replace analysis rather than support it by using quotes. Try to understand that the teacher or professor wants to see your thoughts and understanding of the topic. In order to distance yourself from the cited words and maintain your active voice in the essay, stick to the following phrases:
- According to [Name] …
- [Name] argues that “…”
- [Name] highlighted that “…”
- The argument of … is that “…”
- [Name] provides a compelling insight into the issue …
Although creating the introduction is probably the most arduous part of writing an essay, integrating citations into the main part of the text also has some specialties. Below you will find more advice that can help to nail your writing.
Don’t use too long quotations
Embedding long quotations will make your writing swamped with the statements of other people and show a lack of your own word count. If you find a quote that perfectly matches your paper, don’t just “copy-paste” it. It’s much better to select the most striking part of the quote than to paraphrase and analyze the rest. Such an approach will show both that you have read some literature on the topic and that you have your own thoughts and understanding.
Always support your quotes with argumentation and examples
Don’t give quotes a role that isn’t assigned to them in your text: quotes shouldn’t speak for you. They can’t stand as an explanation for your argument as such. On the contrary, the quotations must be surrounded by personal reflections. The citation must serve as a ground for further analysis. You can choose the quote that supports your major arguments and develop it into further ideas. Or choose the one that contradicts your previously made statements and try to prove this quotation wrong.
To recap, it’s crucial that citations in the text must be accompanied by your personal thoughts, arguments, and examples.
Stop citing Shakespeare
It’s essential to pick up the most appropriate quote that will fit well into the general text canvas and complement your ideas instead of interrupting them and confusing the reader. Don’t go for the quotation just because it’s famous. While searching through dozens of quotes, keep in mind that citations must be the glue used to tie the statements and arguments in your paper. This way, you definitely won’t suck up on choosing the right one.
Another piece of advice, or rather prayer – don’t use inspirational quotes from your Facebook account. It had become a platitude a long time ago. Also, steer clear of hackneyed and ubiquitous citations from well-known writers or philosophers. Today, you won’t surprise anybody with it, especially considering the fact that you don’t even have to read the full text to provide these quotes.
Cite Properly
Although using citations is quite a common practice, only a handful of people really know how to write a quote in an essay correctly. It’s always worth following some rules whenever you are using words that are in fact not yours. The neglection of indicating the original source can lead to accusing you of committing plagiarism. The most common referencing formats are APA, MLA, and Harvard. They usually include the second name of the author, the year of work publishing, and the page from where you took the quote. It’s quite a broad topic to cover these styles’ peculiarities in this article. So, if you are interested in the proper citation, use additional sources to find out more.
To Conclude
As you can see, citing only seems to be easy. In reality, it’s pretty tricky and takes a lot of details into consideration. Below you can find some popular questions that also bother those who are in the process of writing their paper.
FAQ
What size of citation is desirable?
As was already mentioned, it’s better to avoid using long quotes. It’s actually preferable that your citation doesn’t exceed one line. This way, you will have enough space for your own thoughts.
How many quotes can I use?
Overusing quotes is a terrible idea, because it will make an impression that you can’t paraphrase well. Generally, one quote in every 750 words is a maximum that you should reach.
Can I quote my grandmother?
If it fits in the overall picture of your essay and doesn’t sound too cliché, then yes. However, it is still desirable to avoid such things as it was already done a thousand times before.
Can I use quotes inside quotes?
If you can replace it somehow, do it. Because it’s a pretty tempting thing which is accompanied by specific rules. Usually, the chance to write a poor example of such a quote is significantly higher than to do it properly and well-sounding.
