HOW TO INTRODUCE AND COMMENT ON A QUOTE
A text quote should never appear all by itself in a sentence of its own. Don’t float your quotes! Anchor them with analysis.
INCORRECT:
John Proctor is a true tragic hero. “For now I think I do see some goodness in John Proctor. Not enough to weave a banner with, but white enough to keep it from such dogs” (110).
TO PROPERLY INTRODUCE A QUOTE, YOU CAN:
1) After some analysis, briefly identify the context of the quote (Who is speaking to whom at what moment in the play?) and use a comma between the context and the quote.
EXAMPLES:
After he has ended the affair with Abigail Williams, he struggles desperately to be a man of good values and integrity again. He tells Abigail, “I will cut off my hand before I’ll reach for you again” (23).
But his true heroism comes out in Act III when he willingly gives up his good name and admits to his adultery with Abigail in order to prove that the girls are lying and the court is unjust. Wholly humiliated, he unselfishly admits, “I have known her sir, I have known her!”
When even this does not succeed in ending the injustice, and John is accused of witchcraft, he is left with a final opportunity to preserve his dignity and fight injustice in Act IV. He can give the undignified lie that he has compacted with the Devil and live his life a hypocrite, or he can refuse to confess, preserve his friends’ and his own good names, and protest the corrupt court. He regains the dignity he has lost, telling the court and his wife, “for now I think I do see some goodness in John Proctor. Not enough to weave a banner with, but white enough to keep it from such dogs” (144).
2) Use a colon (:) and connect the quote to some commentary or analysis.
EXAMPLE:
In Act II, he angrily expresses his frustration when his wife Elizabeth still has suspicions about his behavior: “Let you look sometimes for the goodness in me and judge me not!” (55).
The key is to briefly provide the context for the quote, letting us know who is speaking and at what moment of action in the play.
YOU DON’T HAVE ANALYSIS UNLESS YOU HAVE COMMENTARY
Quotes and references to the text can’t tell us, the readers of your essay, why they are significant or how they relate to your main ideas. That is why you must provide commentary for each reference/quote you use. Commentary explains how what’s happening in the quote/reference to the text proves or adds to the main idea of the paragraph. You can place commentary before or after a quote or reference to text. Weave your analysis and your quotes together in a seamless argument. The result is elegant, high-quality writing.
Activity: Look back at the body paragraph above. What sentences represent analysis of the supporting quotes?
NOTE: Commentary is NOT plot summary.