Handling Quotations, Integrating Them

Here's the handout from class today on integrating sources in a variety of ways. There's an example of a block quote from a play that you could use as a model for handling long exchanges between characters, should you need to include one. You can look up "block quotes MLA" on Google, too, for other formatting details.

Here's a set of slides on emphasis, too, from our editing work today.

Slideshow: Interpretation Helpers

Here's the slideshow walking you through getting started on the last essay!

Helpers for the Reading Art, Part II Project

Some sample essays:

• Lindsay's, about a play called Boy Gets Girl. Look for her thesis, and how the first statements of her paragraphs, even read by themselves, reveal how her ideas fit together. Lots of evidence in the piece, too—look for how she uses it. She's writing to an audience somewhat familiar with the play, as you should, too, but even for those unfamiliar, we can still understand her argument and enough about the play, thanks to the context and explanations she provides. 
• Igor's, about the same play. Same here: watch how he establishes a context and sets up his thesis, which, just like Lindsay's, is at the opener's end. Watch how clearly he establishes his body paragraph points (and again, how we can read just those statements, even, and still get a sense of his entire argument). He's really good at integrating and commenting on his evidence, too, of which he has plenty. 

You can also look to both of these examples for MLA, and how to both punctuate citations as well as handle longer quotes.

Finally, here's a link to the shooting script for the film, which can help you remember things or look for evidence. But, the actual film is your real source—keep in mind that the shooting script might feature things that weren't in the final cut of the film. Too, there are visual aspects of the film (the cinematography, the editing) that could serve as evidence, too. 

A Quick Comment about the Reading Process Piece

Group, as I comment on rough drafts, I just want to steer you in the right direction here. This particular essay is ultimately about your reading process. It's not about the poem as much as it's about how you made meaning out of it. How did that happen, actually?

Given that purpose, don't organize the body by the order of the poem. The goal is not to merely walk us through the text and share some thoughts on your final understanding of the lines. It's more about you walking us through how you made sense of it. Do you see the difference there? We won't get that exploration of your process if you're just taking us through the poem line by line. So start with what happened when you looked at the piece for the first time. Did you even read through it? Or did you immediately get stuck? When did you first get confused? Did you ever feel like giving up on it? Did you feel any breakthroughs or "aha" moments? That's where you need to push the piece.

MLA for the Reading Process Piece

Don't forget the final draft is due Thursday, 11:59 PM. Here are the slides from today re: how to do the Work Cited and how to work with poem quotations.

Slideshow from Today

Here's the one with the process tips and strategy we're using for our current project about the poem by Pat Mora. I'm also sharing a start of a draft for the project of my own, which is about the Kooser poem we read today. It will give you a sense of how to talk about the poem and your process—and how to quote yourself :)