How To Include Quotes In Your Paper
It is essential that every research paper include quotations from relevant primary texts. In my classes, it is impossible to get any grade above a B- without providing adequate references to the material you are discussing. And
How To Include Quotes In Your Paper
It is essential that every research paper include quotations from relevant primary texts. In my classes, it is impossible to get any grade above a B- without providing adequate references to the material you are discussing. And, in such a case, in order to get a B-, the rest of the paper must be close to perfect.
Most students intuitively understand the importance of quotes and go out of their way to include them in their papers. However, many students, even when they go out of their way to include quotes, misunderstand how to incorporate them into their writing and do more harm than good. When misused, quotes can be disastrous. They may break up the flow of the text instead of contribute to the narrative. When used as space-fillers instead of idea enhancers, they can make the author seem lazy and sneaky. And, more often then not, when no adequate transition is provided, they may seem disconnected from the rest of the paper and end up being very distracting.
The Purpose of Quotes:
(1) Quotes highlight main points. Writing a summary of a philosophical text can be very difficult. Writers tend to over-emphasize the general and under-emphasize the specific. Quotes force the author to refer to specific philosophical claims and, when used properly, narrow the discussion to a specific premise, assumption or conclusion.
(2) Quotes provide precision. Philosophical language is very specific. When students describes theories in his or her own words -- and all students must do this, it is an essential part of any paper -- the student has a tendency to move away from the specific terminology used by the philosopher who is the subject of the paper. Quotes return the reader to the language of the philosopher and demand that the author stay true to the terminology.
(3) Quotes provide focus. We all have a tendency to follow our train of thought too far in a paper. Sometimes, we find ourselves writing comments that are only tangentially related, and the reader has a difficult time seeing the relevance of the comments. Quotes force the author to stay on topic. They provide a link to the main argument and a link to the primary text.
(4) Quotes offer evidence. All research papers and summaries are interpretations of philosophical work. Even if the student doesn't realize it, he or she is putting forth their own views on the text they are discussing. There is rarely any "objective" or "perfect" summary of a sophisticated philosophical text and interpretations will differ. The quote, when properly constructed, is a way of providing proof that the philosopher can be understood as saying that which the author claims. If the quote supports the author's interpretation, than the larger argument of the paper is more believable.
(5) Quotes indicate that you did your homework. Lets face it, all your school papers are tools of assessment, and one of the thing that professors look for is whether or not you did the reading, and whether or not you are prepared for class. The first thing that comes to my mind when I read a paper that has no quotes in it is that the author has not read the texts, and that the lack of references is an indication of a lack of preparation. When a paper contains an adequate number of quotes, and these quotes represent numerous different sections of the reading, I am more inclined to assume that you are well prepared for your work.
The Proper Format of The Quote:
Any quote which is longer than three lines must be "indented". A longer quote must be distinguished from the rest of the text. The standard form for a research paper is double spaced. the left and right margins should not be any larger than an inch wide. Yet, a quote longer than three lines in length should have a larger margin and should be single spaced. Most word processors have tools that will indent the quote automatically. For example, on later versions of Microsoft Word, the the indent and un-indent icons are located on the right hand side of the tool bar.
A paper with an indented quote should look like this:
In one major respect, the libertarian theory of justice is identical
to the theory of justice presented by Adam Smith. For Smith, inactivity
also preserves justice. Smith argues that the activity of justice does
no "positive good." (Smith, pg. 81.) He writes that in most instances,
"mere justice is but a negative virtue, and only hinders us from
hurting our neighbor " (Smith, Pg. 82) Smith writes:
The man who barely abstains from violating either the person, or the estate, or the reputation of his neighbors, has surely very little positive merits. He fulfills, however, all the rules of what is peculiarly called justice, and does every thing which his equals can with propriety force him to do, or which they can punish him for not doing. We may often fulfill all the rules of justice by sitting still and doing nothing. (Smith, pg. 83)
Both libertarian theory and Smithean justice require abstention
from violation of the rules o