Name: __________________________________________ Date: ___________________
Part One: Lead-Ins
Using the thesaurus and your prior knowledge, come up with as many synonyms as you can for the following words:
a. says/said: ________________________________________________________________________
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b. show/shows: _____________________________________________________________________
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c. think/thinks: _____________________________________________________________________
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d. feels/felt: _____________________________________________________________________
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Part Two: Parenthetical Documentation
When writing a formal essay, such as a character analysis, you have to make sure that you document your sources accurately and correctly. If you do not, you will be guilty of plagiarism. Plagiarism can tarnish your credibility as a writer, not to mention the fact that it is illegal! The Modern Language Association (MLA) guidelines detail different ways that you can cite quotations, summaries, paraphrases, and other material used from sources. The following includes different examples of the acceptable ways you can cite sources within your writing.
1. Blend a quotation in with your own words:
Billy felt a bit uneasy as “he could feel her eyes resting on his face, watching him over the rim of her teacup” (Dahl 177).
Your Example:_____________________________________________________________________
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2. Blend a quotation into the middle of your own words:
The heartbeat which “grew quicker and quicker and louder and louder” drove the narrator into a state of absolute frenzy (Poe 205).
Your Example:_____________________________________________________________________
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3. Use a quotation at the end of the sentence:
In the beginning of the story, the narrator explains, “I made up my mind to take the life of the old man and thus rid myself of the eye forever” (Poe 203).
Your Example:_____________________________________________________________________
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4. Citing a passage with dialogue: (only use this if the passage that you are citing is already in quotation marks within the story)
When Billy inquires about the availability of a room, the landlady eerily tells him, “‘It’s all ready for you, my dear’” (Dahl 173).
Your Example:_____________________________________________________________________
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5. Begin your sentence with the quotation:
“True!—nervous—very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am,” exclaims the narrator during the opening of the story (Poe 203).
Your Example:_____________________________________________________________________
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6. Use brackets to add or change information within your quotation:
When Billy questions the landlady about the whereabouts of the previous guests, he asks, “I suppose [Mr. Mulholland] left fairly recently?” (Dahl 177).
Your Example:_____________________________________________________________________
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7. Use of ellipses to shorten a quotation:
Squeaky is clearly protective of Raymond in that she states, “[…] he needs looking after cause he’s not quite right, and a lot of smart mouths got lots to say about that too […]” (Bambara 3).
Your Example:_____________________________________________________________________
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8. When the author’s name is used in the sentence:
Bambara describes Squeaky as “the fastest thing on two feet” (3).
Your Example:_____________________________________________________________________
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