USING SOURCES EFFECTIVELY:
Quotation, Paraphrase (or indirect quotation), & Summary
It
is important in literary analysis to explain, support and illustrate your general points with specific
quotations and paraphrases from the primary literary work of narrative
fiction to demonstrate how and
why you arrived at your thesis interpretation.
The weightiest kind of “evidence” in literary interpretation is
citation and analysis of specific passages and examples from the primary literary work itself.
See Worksheet, part C.
In your Literary Analysis Paper, you are encouraged to apply
and incorporate relevant "Context" information (see
Worksheet, part B)
and others' literary critical opinions (see
Worksheet, part D), gained
from course (and any "outside") sources.
When deciding where,
whether, and how to quote, paraphrase, and/or summarize, consider this
advice:
·
Quote
or paraphrase only as much of a text as is needed to make your point.
·
Accompany
all citations (quotations,
paraphrases, summaries) with your own interpretative commentary to
make the relationship between citations and your own analytical points explicit.
Don’t
assume your readers will read and interpret a quotation the same way you do:
rather, you must guide readers with your own explication of the quotation or
paraphrase.
Don’t expect your readers to understand automatically how the quotation, paraphrase,
or summary is relevant or significant to your interpretation. It’s your job to point out connections and explain the importance.
·
Don’t
substitute lengthy plot summary for literary analysis and interpretation of
a story.
As Charters advises, "Quoting
passages from the story to support your interpretation is always more
effective that giving a summary of events. Summarizing the plot is a
common error of inexperienced essay writers" (1022).
You
should summarize (re-tell in your own words) what happens in a literary work
only if that sequence of
events helps you make one of your analytical points.
Accompany any such plot summary with meaningful interpretation of why or how the event
sequence seems significant or relevant to a point you are trying to make in
your essay.
·
Quote passages from a literary text or another critic’s opinion
only if you understand them well enough to interpret them and explain
how/why they are relevant to key points of your own interpretation.
(That is, don’t
quote others' words just because they sound good or only
because you think they will impress Cora.)
·
When you do cite other critics’ opinions, do so judiciously
to make the
citations serve your own purposes.
Eloquent
and insightful critic’s words may indeed help you make a key point
effectively. Perhaps a
literary critic has given you a good idea that you want to apply to or build on in your
literary work. Citing an
established critic in the field who shares your opinion can lend
authority to your interpretation. Even
citing a dissenting opinion that conflicts with your own can be used
effectively to show why you find alternative interpretations unsatisfactory.
[MS Note:
the following is an example
of a "blocked" quotation: indent 10 spaces quotations of 5 lines or
longer:]
Quote verbatim when no one can say it
better. Nevertheless, you can often save a lot of words by paraphrasing.
Cite a critic when he supplies you with a good idea that you want to build
on, illustrate and endorse. Cite a critic who agrees with your own
interpretation or evaluation as an appeal to authority; this move will help
convince your readers, because you are, in effect, signaling, "Hey, I'm not
alone in this belief. After all, Professor Jones, a published critic and
well-known expert, believes it too!" You may even wish to cite a critic's
dissenting opinion that opposes your own viewpoint in order to answer the
critic's opposition. Such a strategy is better than ignoring valid
contradictory or opposing views altogether. (Lyons
and Agatucci)
·
Keep
your own voice, thesis purpose, and interpretive ideas in the forefront of your
Literary Analysis Paper.
Certainly
you may draw upon many resources, profit from the serious work on the
subject that others have already accomplished, and incorporate other’s
opinions in developing your own interpretations.
Just don’t let the voices and opinions of others drown out your own
voice, thesis purpose and interpretive deas. The primary emphasis
throughout your paper should remain on what you think, serving your
thesis purpose, your thoughtful
interpretation and analysis, arrived at after careful study of the selected
literary work, author, relevant context information, and others' critical
opinions.
·
In the introductory paragraph(s) of your Literary Analysis
Paper, you should not only identify the author and work to be analyzed, but
also "place" them
(at least briefly)
in meaningful context
--e.g. of time and place; of biographical circumstances or
stage of the author's life; of literary genre; of literary period or
movement which the work represents; of the author's literary influences and
aesthetics; of literary reputation and/or trends of critical opinion, etc.
As Charters
observes, "Literature does not exist in a vacuum. Created by a human
being at some particular time in history, it is intended to speak to other
human beings about ideas that have human relevance" (1030).
·
However
interesting and provocative biographical or other contextual information
about an author or a literary work may be, use it only if it is relevant to
your interpretation and helps you make your interpretive points.
"In
writing an essay based on a unified central idea [thesis], . . . you must
ask yourself how knowing the facts of an author's life can help you
understand that author's story" (Charters
1030).
As
Charters
explains,
you should
be able to develop cause-and-effect connections that explain how particular
"characteristics" of the story seem to "originate from causes or sources in
the author's background--[e.g.] personal life, historical period, or
literary influences" (1030). Your goal is to show how awareness of
such contextual information can help you and your readers better understand
this literary work of narrative fiction.
·
Treat
an author’s own interpretation of her/his own work as a special, but not
necessarily the only “right” or possible, interpretation.
Trust
the art, not the artist, D. H. Lawrence has advised. Great writers are not always great literary critics.
What an author says s/he did or intended to do in a literary work is
indeed special testimony and may offer valuable insights about the
conception, technique, meaning of the literary work in its time and place.
But at least some degree of writers’ creativity operates on
unconscious/subconscious levels, and their texts often deliberately leave
interpretive “gaps” that readers can, will, must fill as co-creators of
meaning. And as new generations
of readers of different times and places experience and (re)interpret the literary work, its
meaning and impact will also evolve and change.
Works Cited
Charters,
Ann,
ed.
The
Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction.
Compact 6th ed. Boston:
Bedford-St. Martin’s, 2003.
Lyons, Greg,
and Cora Agatucci (Professors of English, Humanities Dept.,
Central Oregon Community College).
"Writing About Literature: Fiction and Film." Assignments:
Humanities Instructional Resources. Humanities
Dept., Central Oregon Community College, 2002.
[Accessed] 27 Oct. 2002.
URL: http://www.cocc.edu/humanities/HIR/Assignments/writing_about_literature.htm
See also:
Midterm Preparation & Participation:
Worksheet & Seminar #3
-
Week #6
URL:
http://www.cocc.edu/cagatucci/classes/eng104/worksheet.htm
Literary Analysis Paper
[Midterm] -
Week #7
URL:
http://www.cocc.edu/cagatucci/classes/eng104/midterm.htm
Writing about Literature: Fiction and Film
URL: http://www.cocc.edu/humanities/HIR/Assignments/writing_about_literature.htm
Citing Sources Correctly (MLA Style)
-
Week #6
URL:
http://www.cocc.edu/cagatucci/classes/eng104/citingsources.htm
Cora's ENG 104 Course Web
Site:
Index
Fall 2002
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Using Sources Effectively
URL of this webpage:
http://www.cocc.edu/cagatucci/classes/eng104/usingsources.htm
Last updated:
20 October 2003
This webpage is maintained by Cora
Agatucci, Professor of English,
Humanities Department, Central Oregon
Community College
I welcome comments: cagatucci@cocc.edu
© Cora Agatucci, 1997-2001
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