Opening Arguments, Textual Evidence, Citations, and Textual Analysis

(From a paper turned in for Dr. Masters’ ENGL 2130 Class)

In stark contrast to Tom Buchanan’s brutality and superhuman strength as a member of the upper class is Fitzgerald’s portrait of George Wilson, an emasculated peasant who signifies the adversity of the American working class. The narrator, Nick Carraway, uses fantastic, surreal imagery to describe the hellish space George Wilson’s garage, which is “on the edge of the wasteland” (24). He then describes his first impression of Wilson: “The proprietor himself appeared in the door of an office, wiping his hands on a piece of waste.  He was a blond spiritless man, anemic, and faintly handsome.  When he saw us a damp gleam of hope sprang into his light blue eyes” (25). Although Wilson is a business owner, Nick can only see him as an inescapable part of the larger landscape; he is a piece of waste wiping his hands on another piece of waste. The image of an “anemic” and “faintly handsome” man implies a slight degree of sympathy for this man whose station has relegated him to the infertile “valley of ashes” (23), which has deflated his spirit and defeated his resolve.

When writing about literature, always write in the present tense. The only exception occurs when you write about a character reflecting on the past or in relation to the past. For instance, “When Vivian thinks back to her childhood, she remembers that her father treated her as a small adult rather than a vulnerable child.” Notice, however, that the majority of the sentence is still in the present tense.

Avoid referring to the quotation you’ve cited as a quotation, which is awkward and unnecessary. Awkward: “In this quotation, Fitzgerald uses images of waste and garbage to symbolize Wilson’s place in the social order.” Improved: “The pervasive imagery of waste and garbage symbolizes Wilson’s lowly place in the social order.”

Italicize (or underline, if handwriting) the titles of longer works like novels, films, plays, albums, and short story or poetry collections, and put short works in parenthesis (short stories, poems, songs, etc.). For instance: Brittany's album Oops, I Did It Again never quite lives up to the promise, brilliance, and sophistication of its title track, "Oops, I Did It Again."

Block quotations

If a quotation is longer than 40 words, use a block quotation, which should be double-spaced and indented 1” (a tab-stop is ½”). Also, unlike an internal citation, where the punctuation mark comes after the parenthetical citation, in a block quotation the period precedes the parenthetical citation. The reason for this is that block quotations do not have quotation marks around them. Quotation marks only appear in a block quotation if they appear in the passage you’re citing, such as when the author has put a word or a phrase in quotations.

Example

            (Imagine that this paragraph begins with a really cool argument about Raymond Carver’s short story “Feathers,” since all paragraphs will begin with original claims that the writer then must prove.) When Jack and Fran arrive at Bud and Olla’s, a peacock leaps in front of them, inspiring a sense of awe in the couple, which Jack, the narrator of the story, describes:

The bird moved forward a little. Then it turned its head to the side and braced itself. It kept its bright, wild eye right on us. Its tail was raised, and it was like a big fan folding in and out. There was every color in the rainbow shining from that tail. (8)

The peacock represents a whole bunch of interesting stuff. (Without changing paragraphs, you would then analyze the meaning of the quotation, examining specific details that help you to prove the paragraph’s larger claim.)