\1'1"

1',1,,

,iil B

Itrt'tttls,tntl,tr'tltt.tittl.rnr('s, l),llli( lrl.rllv rrr rrrrn,lrlrr tcl,rlron:.lrt;rr' (,oorlrrr,rtr

lJror,vrt tttal<cs Ihc satle kint] ol nrisiu(l!.1)r('r)1, t'\pt'1 1i111' l)r'r lt't liott,ul(l lul l
ing sour when lre learns abottt flaws. It is uot tltat ltt' is rtot .r ;iootl rrr,rrr, lrl

is shown at the start as a persoll of bclicl' .rnrl st.rl)ilit\,. ll('

uncritically accepts his nightmare revelation that evcryont'e lst' is t'vil, lrorl
ever, and he finally distrusts everyone because of this basclcss susl)i(i()n.
He cannot krok at his neighbors without avoiding them like an "anlth('nr,r,"
and he turns away from his own wife "without a greeting" (paragraplr 7()).
Brown's problem is that he equates being human with being unworthy. llv

8r,

cause he

The Use of References and Tenses

in Writi^g About Literature

such a distorted standard of judgment, all of us fail, ancl that is what nrrrkt's
the story so clisturbing.

from Writing About Literature,

10th ed. by Edgar V. Roberts

How to insert Textual Evidence in your essay

How to use Verb Tenses in Lit papers

establishing evidence for the points you make in your essays and essay
Iexaminatio.rl y.-l.r constantly need to rcfcr to various parts of stories, plays,
irld poems. You ilso need to include slrortcr and longcr clutttations and to keep
the time sequences straight within tl.rc works y()tr .lr0 writing about' In addition, you may need to rcfer to biogrirprlrical .rrttl historictrl tlctilils that have a
bearing on the work or works you arc str-rtlying. So tlrirt V()ttt'()wll writing rrray
flow aJaccurately and naturally as possitrlc, iI is ttt.sl itlt1..t'l,ttlI lirl yott to be
sble to integrate ihese references arrd tin.re clistinr'tiotts t lt'ilt'lv irrrtl t',rsily.

Jn

Integrating Passages and Ideas into Your Essay

Your essays should reflect your own thought as yotl stuciy ilnd analyze the
characteristics, ideas, and qualities of an author's work. ln a typical discussion
of literature, you are constantly introducing paraphrase, cluotations, general
interpretations, observations, and independent applications of everything you
are discussing. It is not easy to keep these various elements integrated and to
keep confusion from arising (see also Chapter 18, page 253)'
Tread Carefully to Distinguish Your Thoughts from Those of Your Author

Often the major problem is that it is hard for your reader to figure out when rTtrttr
ideas have stopped and your nutJtor's ht.rve begun. You must thercforc rrrilllllc
your sentences io make the distirrctions clcirr, but you must alstl ble trtl yottr tnaierials so that your reader may follow yotr t'i.rsily. Let trs sct'irtl t'xatrlplc of htlw
such problemr *oy be handlecl. Hcrc, tlre writcr bt'ing tlisctrsst'tl is the Victo'l'ht'
rcference to
rian poet Matthew Arnold (1822-1 SllS)'
Pil51"1g1' l1l()v('s lrotn
ideas.
the
of
lpplit'ation
indt'pctrtlt'rrt
writer's
essay
to
the
ideas
Arnold's
,,Dover Beach,,, Matthcr^,, Arrt<rltl statt's tlrat in past times religious falth was accepted as absolutc truth. l2l lir syrnbolize this idea he
refers to the ocean, which surrounds all latttl, atrtl tlrc srrrf, which constantly
[1] In his poem

.'Hll

\1,1,,

tt'lr

t l:

lr:,lr(':; onlolltt'r',ttllr':;sll()l':,. 1t'lr\rrorrlrttt, lor\ttrol,l:,.,1 nr1',,lr.,rrr rllrr'r,'rr',

itltirs,trt'.rs; v.rsl,rs Iltt'otcirrt.rrrtl.rs lt,lirrl,rr ,r:, tlrt':;rrr l,,rrrrl llrt':,t,r,lt',r,,rl orr,
lirttc totrstitntly .rrrtl irrcsistibly replenislrt'tl P1'1vP11"q livt's. l.lI r\rrrol,l':, ,,1 nr

lrol ol'the flowing ocean changes, howevcl to a svnrlrol ol Ilrt' t'lrlrirrr', or r',rrr.
thtrs inc'licating l-ris iclca that bclicf and rcligious ccrtaintv wt'rt' lallirrri ,rrr,rr
[5] lt is this personal sense of spiritual emptiness that Amoltl is,rssori,rlirrr',
with his owll times, because what he describes, in keeping with tht'svnll)()l
ism, is that in the present time the "drear" shorelir-re has been left v;rcant bv tlr(,
"melar-rcholy lorrg withdrawing roar" of retreat and withdrawal (lines 25 27)

.rll I

llrr,.,rltntl'l illol,rlronllro\\':, llrctr',trltt oll lt,rl,ttttt'l,t't,tttst'tl tsttol l,lt'tt,l,',

ll is ttctcss,tt'y [o lltt'p.l11'tltt't't'.trlt'r ltt tl)o\rt'ltirttt
\/{)ur'(lis( lr:;r,ron lo llrt'tlrrol,ttiorr, as itr thc following rcvisiotr:

rrrlo llrr.l)r('\'t()1t.,:,r,nl('n( ('.

Wortlsw,orllr's r,r,oocllancl scene is m.rde joyful by tlre surroundinp; flowcrs

.rrrtl thc ge rrtlc breeze, causing his speaker, who states that "The birds around
nre ho;rped and played," to conclude that the natural world has resulted from
a "holy plan" created by Nature.

quotation is made an actual part of the sentence. Tl-ris sort of blendirrg is satisfactorl., provided that the cluotation is brief.
I lcre the

This specimell paragraph combines but also separates paraphrase, irrtcrpn'

tation, ancl cluotatir)n, and it thereby eliminates any possible confusiclu alrorrt
the'origin of the ideas and also about who is saying what. In the first three scrr
tenccs, thc writer uses the phrases "Arnold states," "To symbolize this iclc.r,"
arrtl "Accordirrg to this symbolism," to show clearly that ir-rterpretation is lt'
folkrw. Although the fourth sentence marks a new direction of Arnold's ic'lcls,
iI continues to separate restatement from ir-rterpretatior-1. The fifth sentencc irl
rlit:ates, through the phrase "irr keeping with the symbolism," to explain wh.rt
seems to the writer to be the major idea of "Dover Beach."

lntegrate Materiql by Using Quotation Marks

It is often necessary, and also interesting, to use short quotations frorn vour arr
tl'ror to illustrate and reinforce your ideas and interpretations. Here the prolr

lern of separating your thoughts from the author's is solved by quotation

marks. ln such an internal quotation, you may treat prose and poetry in the
same way. If a poetic cluotation extends from the end of one line to the be.ginning of another, however, inclictrte the line break with a virgule (/), and usc
a capital letter to begin the next line, as in the following:
In "l-ines Written in Early Spring" Worclsworth describes a condition in which
his speaker is unitc.d with the' surrouncling natural world. Nature is a combinatiorr of tl're "thousancl blended notes" of joyful birds (line 1), the sights of
"budding twigs" (lirre 17) and the "periwinkle" (line 10). In the exact words
of the speaker, these "fair works" form a direct "lir-rk" to "The humarr soul that
through me ran" (lines 5 and 6).

Blend Quotations into Your Own Sentences

Using internal quotations still creates the problem of blending materials, for
cluotations should never be brought in unless you prepare your reader for them
in some way. Do tlot, for example, use quotations in the following manner:
Wordsworth's woodland grove is filled with the sounds of birds, the sights
of flowers, and the feeling of the light wind, making for the thought that creatures of the natural world take pleasure in life. "The birds around me hopped
and played."

lndent and Block Long Quotations

'fhe standard for hclw tcl place cllr()tatiolrs sl.rotrlcl be not to cluote within a sentence any passage longer tharn twenty ()r twenty-five wttrtls (but consult your
instructor, for the exact nunlbcr of worcls alkrwabk' nray vary). Quotations of
greater length clemand so much sepilrat(, itttt'ntiott th.rl tlrt'y intt'rfere with
your own sentence. It is possiblc btrt rroI tlr'sir',rlrlt'lo ltitvt'ottt'ol.y(tttr sctttences conclude with a quotatiorl, but yorr slrorrltl rlcvt'r ttt,tkt',ttr cxtt'trsivc
cluotation inthemiddle of a senterrcc. lly tht'tinrt'yorr lirrislt strt lr ,rrr rrttwit'ltly
sentence, your reader will have lost sight ()f h()w it lrr'1',v11. Wltctt yottt tltto[,ttion is long, you should make a point of irrtnrrlut'irrg il ,rrrtl scllirrl', il oll sr'parately as a block.
The physical layout of block quotations shoulcl bc its lolkrw,s: l,t',tvt' lltt'tt
blank lines between your own discourse and the cltl()til t i()tl. I )gr rlrlt' sl),lt t' lllt'
cluotation(tiketherestof youressay),and indentitfive spat't's ltrrttt yottt lt'll
margin to distinguish it from your own writing. You r-rright ttst' lt'wt'r sl),lt t's
for longer lines of poetry, but the standard should always t ,,, ..,',11f it b,rl
"
anced, neat page. After the quotation, leave a three-line space agaill, llllcl rt'
sume your own discourse. Flcre is a specimen, from an essay abottt
Wordsworth's "Lines Written in Early Spring":

In "Lines Written in Early Spring" Wordsworth develops an idea thtrt tht'

world of nature is linked directly to the moral human conscioust-tcss. I lt'

speaks of no religious systems or books of moral values. Insteacl, Irt' tlt'rivt's

his ideas directly from his experience, assuming that the worlcl w.ts lrr,r(l(' l()r'
the joy of the living creatures in it, including human beings ("man"), ,r rrtl llta t
anyone disturbing that power of joy is violating "Nature's holy plarr" itst'li.
Wordswortl-r's moral criticism, in other words, is derived fronr his laitlr irr the

integrity of creation:
If this belief from heaven be sent,
If sucl'r be Nature's l-roly plan,
Have I not reason to lament
What man has made of man?
(lines 21-24)

.tH.t

\yltr'tttlt t l:

()tll('rs, lttx.vcvt'r, rt()t.u) ilctive pf()g,riln) ()l rlir'(\'l ()ulr'(.,)( ll ,rnrl Irt,lI

Wlrcrl cluoting lines of poetry, always remember to cluotc thcnt

rrs

/lirr's. | )r,

lr()t run them together as though they were continuous prose. Whcrr vorr r n'
ate such block cluotations, as in the preceding example, you do rr()F ncc(l (lr r(

'

tation marks.

Today, computer usage is becoming a more established means ctf prcparirrr,,

papers, and therefore computer styling has become prominent in the ht.rncllirrri
of the matters discussed here. If you have style features in your menu, srrt rr
as "[)t'renr Tcxt" or "Quotation," each of which sets block quotations ap.]rl

fronr "Nonnal" text, you may certainly make use of the features. Explain t,
yotrr irrstructor, however, to make sure that your computer corresponds lo
cxp('ctations established for your class.
Use Three Spaced Periods (an Ellipsis) to Show Onrissions

whether your quotation is long or short, you will often need to change solnt'
of the rnaterial in it to conform to your own sentence requirements. you might
wish to omit something from the quotation that is not essential to your poinl
or to the flow of your sentence. Indicate such omissions with three spaced pt'
riods enclosed within brackets t . . . l, as follows:

lVtrlrtt.'.' \l','ttl ltlttttltttt

''lll

l),lsl ('\l)('li('ll(('ol
"link
sotrl Ilt.rl
l
ltt'lttrrltatt
/
.rlrr,rrr. lr.r1,;,1111..,.,, rrr rylrit lr N,rtrrlt'st.t'tttctl ttl
it't
mystical
awtlrcttess
of
a
state
llt'is
rlescribirrg
lltrrrlr,,lr I . . . lrirrrl r',trr."
rvlritlr "1rlt'.rs.rnt th(}Ughts / Bring [himl sad thouehts," ancl make hir.n
"l.rrnt,nt" rnorirl atrtl political cruelty (lines 2-B).

Do Nof Change Your Soutce;Reptoduce Quotations Wotd fot Word

Allvays reproduce your source exactly. Although most anthologies moclcrrrize the ipelling of older writers, sometimes the works of British authors
rrray include words llke tyrc and labour. Also, you may encounter "old,p"ilit-rg,, editions in wllich all words-such as Musick, entring, Shart,, sltccifick, 'tr.oas, gttarnnty [for "guarantee"l or determiLl'tl-are spelled and
capitalized exactly as they were cctltLrrit's agc'r. Your principle should be fo
tlu'ltlicate caenlthin;4 exactly ns t1ott t'itttl lf, cvctr if this means spelling words like
urhirr,, as at;hicuc or jLtkt, as iorrl,. A stuclcut orrct' took the liberty of amending the worLl rl? to "and" in thc crlnstnrr'tiorr "irrr I rt,crc" irl an Elizabethan
text. T}re result was inacclrratc, bccarrsc itr itrtrocltrttory t'latrscs nrr really
meant if (or and rp arrd not ond- Dif'ficultir's liLt' this ()tt('ilr(' rilrt', lrttt yclu
canavoidthemif youreproducethctcxtilsv()u lirrtl it.Slrottltl vorr tlrinkthat
something is either misspelled or confusitrg as iI st.ttrtls, y()tl lll.ry tlo otrt'tll
two things:

1.

Under the irnmediate threat of death, Farquhar's perceptions are sharpened

and heigl'rtened. In actuality there is "swirling water [ . . . ] racing madly ber.reatl'r his feet," but it is his mind that is racing swiftly, and he accordingly perceives that tr "piece of dancing driftwood [ . . . ] down the current,, rnoves so
slowly that he believes the stream is "sluggish."

lf your cluotatior-r is very brief, however, do not

use spaced periods, as thev

might bc more'distractirrg than helpful. For example, do not use the spacecl
periods in a cluotation like this:
Keats asserts ihat ". . . a thing of beauty . . ." always gives joy.

Cilarify or correct the confusinp; word or phrasc r,vithirt lrrtre kt'ts, as itt tlre

following:
ln1774,fencing was cousiderecl a "Gentlemany Ii.c.,

ee

ntlcnranlyl sub-

ject."

2.

Use the word slc (Latin for f/rtts, meaning "lt is this way in tlre text") in
brackets imn-rediately after the problematic word or obvious misfake:
,,finnirrg
IJe was just
Isic] his way back fo he.alth" whcn thc next disaster
struck.

Do Nof Oaerquote

Aword of caution: Dtt rrot lrst'forr nttttt.V tluotations. You will

be judgccl

()11

y()Llr

own thought and on the. contintrity ancl clevclopment tlf yotrr owtr cssay. lt is
tempting io include many rltrotatior.rs ou tlrc tht'ory thirt ytltr rtct'tl [o tlsc cxamtles figm the text to illustrirtc irntl sttpport vttttr itlt'as. Nattrrally, it is im-

Instead, make your cluotation without the ellipsis:

Keats asserts that "a thing of bcauty" always givr.s joy.

IIsc square Br&ckets to lnsert Your own Added words

rttttl lttt,.rrt

Irr 'l rrr,... \\lrrllr.rrrtr | ,rrlt li1'11111,," WoRlsrvottlt tt'lt'tslo,l

lllt'rotttr'ltt llr,rl rrr{)l,rlil\,,rrrrl lilr',rr'lolt)(,rl r,, llrl rrrr,,l rnlr.rr.,.lrrrr,,nr(l (.n

li,lllillll,lsl)(\'l ()l tltr'p1r1'111. lI st't'ttts to t'rrr'our',rr',t,,r livr' ,rnrl lll lrvr',rllrlrrrll
torv11,,1

Ilr, Il,,1rl lirlrt,rrrr

portant to introduce exantplcs, lrrrI yorr slrottltl rt'.rlizt'tlrlt Iotl tnany

within euotations

ll Vorr aclcl words of your own to integrate the cluotation into your own train
ol t list otrrse or to explain words that may seem obscure, put scluare brackets
.nolrrrrl tlrt'sc words, as in the passage at the top of page 283.

quotations can disturb the flow ol'yotrr,l1a,11 [l11r11sltt. ll yorrr ('ssny consists of
mapy illustrations linked togethcr bv lro rttotc tltittt vottr itttrocluctory sen'liv, lhcrcftlre, to create
tences, how much thinking havc yotr acttrallv sltorvtt l
your own cliscussion, using exanlplcs appropliittt'lV Io t'tttlt.tcct your thought
to the text or texts you are analyzing.

l8'l

I1'1r'rr,/r

,ft',

I li

Using the I'rcselrt'll'lrsc ol'Vcrbs Wht'rr

Referring to Actions and ldeas irr a Work

,,\:,.ri,,,.rr,r.rl

1,1

11,,'l'1,',\',rrttltllItcrrl',lrl tttosl rtl Iltt'Iirrrcil 1'otttt:,,'llr,

1'r,

',r,rrl lcrr:,t,t'r, lu:.rr clY lor lrlt'r',rly tlt't.tils.rrttl Iltt'lr.ls[ [t'ttst' lot'ltislolr,,rl ,lt'
l,rrls. Wlrt'rr rn tlrtrrlrl, lrotvt't,t't; (ottsttll ryttttr itts! rttctor.

l-iterary works spring into life with eacll and every re:ading. vrrr nrav lrrtrs ,r:,
sumethateverythinghappeningtakesplaceinthepresent,arrcl whc'rr lvritirrr,,
about literature, you should use the Ttresent tense of ucrhs.lt is corrccl [o s,r1
"Mathilde and her husband roork and economize [not "utorketl and ccorrorrri-ttl"
for ten years to pay off the 18,000-franc debt that they undcrtttka fnctt " rnrrh,t
took"l to pay for the lost necklace."
When you consider an author's ideas, the present tense is also prope,r, r,rr
the principle that the words of an author are just as alive and current toc1.r1,
(and tomorrow) as they were at the moment of writing-even if this same .r r i
thor has been dead for hundreds or even thousands clfyears.
Because it is incorrect to shift tenses inappropriately, you may encountt,r'
a problem when you want to refer to actions that have occurred prior to tlrt'
tir.rre clf the main action. An instance occurs in Bierce's "An occurrence at on,l
Creek Bridge" where the narrator explains an event that occurred shortly before the time of the action. In such a situation, it is important to keep details
in order, and thus you may use the past tense as long as you keep the rela
tionship clear between past and present, as in this example: "Farquhar hatl
clenrly planned to blow up the bridge after the union spy spoke to him, anri
hence he is therefore nora liaing his last moments on earth." This use of the past
influencing the preselrt is acceptable because it corresponds to the cause-ancleffect relationship brought out in the story.
A problem also arises when you intnrtluce historical or biographical de.tails about a work or author. It is appropriirtc to r-rse the past tense for sucl-r cletails as long as they actually clo bt'lorru to the past. If you have occasion trr
rt'ft'r to any <lf thc plays ol'shakcspt'art', as an example, it would be correct to
st,t [t' I lr;r t "SIr:r kt'spt',r rt' I ive'd I rorn I 564 t<t 1676" clr that ,,Shakespeare wrote
Ilrrrtrltl ittitlrottl 1599 l(r(X)."ltisals1;permissibletomixpastandpresenttenst's r'vlrt'rr v()u (rr('tn',rtirrg Iristorical facts about a literary work and are also
corrsitlt'rirrg it .rs a living text. Of prime importance is to keep things straight.
I lt'r't' is ir l.rlragraph cxan-rple showinp; how past and present tenses may be
u sccl whcn i.rprpropriate:

MLA Recommendations
for Documenting Electronic Sources

Because Hnmlet was first performed in about 1600, Shakespeare most probablv wrote it shortly before this time. In the play, a tragedy, sl-rakespeare treats
an act of vengeance, but more importantly he demonstrates the difficr-rlty of
ever learning the exact truth. The hero, Prince Hamlet, is the focus of this difficulty, for the task of revenie is assigned to him by the Ghost of his father.
Though the Ghost claims that his brother, Claudius, is the murderer and the
usurper of the Danish crown, Hamlet has no easy way of verifying this clain-r.

Here, the historical details are presented in the past tense, but all the details
about the pray Hamlet, including shakespeare as the creating author whose.
ideas and words are still alive, are considered in the present.

Alrtrncltrnt technology is currently available to assist in research, and thesc fat ilitics are increasing almost daily. Wllile many libraries offer variecl clatrtlrirscs that enable researchers to locate information easily, the main tl-rrtrst oi
tt'chnology is nclw the exploration of the World Wide Web. Through the ttsc
o[ vtrrious search engines, you simply nccd to enter the name of an author, il
tiLle, or a topic, upon which you will bc linked to a host of resources frorn all
over the world-home pagcs of spccific tttttltttrs, literary organizations, and
works on various topics by cotrtertrpor.try writcrs. Ytru'll find a good deal of
what you're searching frlr in only .r lt'lv rrrirrrrlt's. Atr inrpol[i1v11caveat is that
nlany sources still re.main in printt'tl jorrrrr,rls ,rrttl nttrg,rzitrr's Iltitt trtly ()r may

rrotbeontl'reWeb.Torntrkcyortrst'alt'ltt's tltot'ottrilr, lltr'tt'lotr',

.tltttr ttrttsl

tttTtr

ttcglect ttt sL:srch t'ttr Ttrintcd irtt'ttrtrttrtiott.

This appenclix provides gcncral grrirlt'lirrt's lot t'lct ltorti( s()ttr'( r't il,tliotts,
itr-rd therefore is intended to augmetrt tht'st't'tiorr {itlt'rl "l)ot tttttt'ttlirrl', \irrlr'
Work" in Chapter 18. For general inform.rtiott ort t il,rtiott 11'( ()nlnr('rr(l,tliotts
by the Mcrdern LanguageAssociatior-r (MLA), sct' lost'Plr ( 'il',rltli, N1l .\ lltttrrl

for Writcrs of Research Pape rs,5th ed. (New Vrrk; M | ,n, l()()()).
Because electronic information technology is clt'vt'lttpirrr', stt r'.rpitllv, p;irrI
ed style manuals have had difficulty keeping up with Iht't'lt.tttt',t's ll vott ,lo
a Web search looking for information on these styles, ch.rttet's.rlt'tlr.rl Ilrt' rrt
formation you discover will vary from site to site. Thcrcfort', yott ttt't'tl [tr
know the basics that are required for the citation of your sollrces.
Wrcn referring to electronic sources, it is aitsl to type eztery lcttcr, rrrrtrtbcr, sVttr
bol, dot, underline , nnd space nccuratcly. Recovery systems are unforgiving, arttl
mistakes or omissions of any sort make it impossible to retrieve y()Llr s()rrr( ('.
Electronic Sources can be transitory because someone, somewhere, lrltlsI kt't'1'r
up the sources (by updating information and paying fees). Therc's lr() strirr
antee that sources will remain there, sc'r printing a copy of sourccs yott pli111 11v
cite will make your citations both definite and accurate.
The style generally accepted in the cyber world, anci tht' ()ll(' r('coll.lmended by the Modern Language Association, places anglt' brackt'ts (< >) before and after Internet addresses, or uniform resource locators (LJ l{l ,s). lf you
see brackets around an address you want to use, do uot ttst' tlrt'tn ils part of
the address when yc'lu are seeking retrieval. Also, sinct' a Irrttltber of wordprocessing programs now support the use of italics, yotl cill.l trst' italics as a regular practice. Some researchers, however, still prefcr ttttticrliues, and if your
programs (or typewriter) cannot produce italics, clf cottrsc use underlines. If
in doubt about which to use, consult your instructor.

book