As we have seen, quotations in your writing need to be introduced and explained. In this discussion, we’ll practice introducing quotations with signal phrases, correctly formatting the quotation, and then unpacking the quotation with a short explanation.

For this discussion post, you’ll use a quotation of your choosing—it could be a favorite quote from someone you admire, a passage from a book you like, a song lyric, or a quote from a movie. The important thing is how you contextualize the quote.

1. First, you need an introduction with a signal phrase. How do we experience this quote? Is it said? Sung? Growled? Does it explain something? Does it reject or refute someone else’s idea?
2. Then we need the quote. If it’s longer than five lines, you could use a block quote, but in this case it would be better to paraphrase and summarize to bring the quote to an appropriate length.
3. Finally, you’ll want to explain how you interpret this quote and why you’ve chosen to share it with the class.

Rubric