Shakespeare- Hamlet- Essay question- Is Poloniuss speech to his son, Laertes, before he goes to France to study, an appropriate speech for the moment or not? Give two reasons for your answer and use logic and specifics from the play to support it.

How, Why and When to Quote or Paraphrase in Your Paper:

1. What is a quote? Answer: Quoting involves taking a word, phrase, or passage directly from a poem working it grammatically into your discussion. Here’s an example:

In his poem, “Mr.Pig,” James Louis describes his neighbor as a ” most terrible oinking/ greedy fat big pig monster.”  The pig image suggests that James Louis mentions is clearly not a cute little pig but actually a corrupt, complacent middle class man who is interested in preserving his comfortable status.

Notice three things about the example above:

    -The passage from the poem is enclosed in quotation marks.
    -The passage is introduced in a coherent grammatical style; it reads like a complete, correct sentence.
    -The quote is interpreted, not patched on and left for the reader to figure out what it means.
    -If you are quoting from a play, dont use the slash.

2) When should I quote?  Answer: To prove an assertion in your body paragraphs

3) How should I quote poetry?  Answer: When you quote a single line of poetry, write it like any other short quotation. If the piece of poetry you are quoting crosses multiple lines of the poem itself, you may still type them in your text run together. Show the reader where the poem’s line breaks fall by using slash marks.

Example:  In his poem, “Mending Wall,” Robert Frost writes, “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,/ that send the frozen-ground-swell under it.”

Remember the following:

– Avoid long quotes and avoid quoting lines that are irrelevant.

-Never start a body paragraph with a quote.

-Never let a quote stand as its own sentence. You must always transition into a quote with your own words, so make sure there is always a smooth transition into the quote.

-Never throw a long section of the play or the whole text of a poem into an essay at once.

-Never use quotes to make your paper seem longer.

-Make sure the quotes you use fit smoothly and make sense in your essay.

5) What is paraphrasing?  Answer: This is using your own words to say what the author said. To paraphrase the quote used above, you might say something like this:

James Louis describes his neighbor as a big man who isn’t very giving and who looks like a pig.

Important Note:  When writing about poems, it is often necessary to quote the lines of poem directly because the specific language is often very important.

6) But When should I paraphrase?  Answer: Paraphrasing is useful in general discussion (introduction or conclusion) or when the author’s original style is hard to understand. Again, you would need to interpret or explain the paraphrase just as you would a quote.