Incorporating quotations into a paragraph
  punctuation

Quote a short passage of that states the point you are agreeing or disagreeing with.

Your paragraph should follow this format:

[Sentence 1: topic sentence] Thoreau praises living close to nature, but he doesn’t go far as to camp out in nature. [Sentence 2: Lead-in to the quote] He writes about building his house, and the fact that it protected him from the elements. [Sentence 3: A sentence that includes the quote] “I began to occupy my house on the 4th of July,” he says, “as soon as it was boarded and roofed, for the boards were carefully feather-edged and lapped, so that it was perfectly impervious to rain . . . .” [Sentence 4: Tell why you include this quote] As you can see, he was careful in the way he constructed his house, and he did wish to be protected from the elements when necessary. [Sentence 5: Expand on your point by adding more information to strengthen the support] It is also interesting that he did not actually move to the woods until this house was ready for him to live in. [Sentence 6: Reminder of how this relates to your main idea] So it is apparent that while he loved nature, he wasn’t willing to live in a cave, or even a tent.

Notes about including quotations:

1. As you think about integrating quotations, keep looking for ways to be more concise and lively:

First Draft: In The Prince Machiavelli states that the general requirement of a prince is to “endeavor to avoid those things which would make him the object of hatred and contempt.”

Revision: In The Prince Machiavelli states that a prince should “endeavor to avoid those things which would make him the object of hatred and contempt.”

2. Make sure your quotations fit grammatically into the paragraph. They can’t simply be stuck in anywhere. Like any other elements of writing, quotations must be incorporated so that the sentence as a whole makes grammatical sense. For example, a quotations that’s an independent clause must not be spliced onto another independent clause:

First Draft: Hawking is at heart a scientist, “I think there is a universe out there waiting to be investigated and understood.”

Revision: Hawking is at heart a scientist: “I think there is a universe out there waiting to be investigated and understood.”

3. Useful words for introducting a quotation:

suggests
implies
testifies to
indicates
argues (that, for)
shows
demonstrates
supports
underscores

4. It’s important to explain what it is about the quote that you want the reader to notice. What’s your point? The revision does a much better job of helping the reader make sense of the quotation and how it helps the writer’s arugment:

First Draft: Iago says to Othello, “Who steals my purse steals trash; . . . / . . . / But he that filches from me my good name / Robs me of that which not enriches him / And makes me poor indeed” (3.3.157-61).

Revision: Drawing Othello further into his web, Iago suggests that public embarrassment would be intolerable: “Who steals my purse steals trash; . . . / . . . / But he that filches from me my good name / Robs me of that which not enriches him / And makes me poor indeed” (3.3.157-61). Iago, of course, is utterly contradicting his earlier declamation to Cassio on the folly of reputation (2.3.256-61).