By now, you should be so familiar with the quote that you can make these intellectual leaps with the analysis necessary to support your findings. You must not use quotes in your essay without giving proper context. Your words should introduce the quotation properly, which usually appears before the quote.

Writing the perfect introduction for an essay is often the most arduous part involved in creating an essay. While it is true that there are many ways to write an introductory paragraph, there will be times where it will make sense to start a paper with a quotation. Selecting the most appropriate quote, and understanding how to best incorporate it into an outline of your own verbiage is a sure fine way to get your essay off the ground. Don’t abuse direct quotations and insert them sparingly. A maximum of one quote per paragraph is the unspoken rule you must remember here. If you still think you need to include another citation, paraphrase. They recruit the authority of the original authors in your service.

When Not to Start an Essay with a Quote

This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance what is commentary in writing on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial. We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback. Plus, we’re far more affordable than many academic writing services online, and we put more effort in writing high quality essays for all our clients.

The quote may be taken directly from a book or emphasize a unique quality. Your audience determines the effectiveness of the quotation you use. Check to see if your audience is familiar with the person you’re quoting.

What is a Quote?

Particularly if your quote is the first sentence in your paper, be sure to provide 2-3 sentences of explanation and context. There should be a clear sense of why you are choosing to use the quotation and why it is important to how do you quote a website in an essay the rest of your paper. Learn the tips, techniques and strategies to effectively communicate your thoughts and ideas on paper. Apply today to get a comprehensive liberal arts education that will improve your writing abilities.

Single space or double space within the block quotation, depending on the style guidelines of your discipline (MLA, CSE, APA, Chicago, etc.). First, explaining a quote further helps to strengthen your essay. Second, more explanation enables you to present the clarity so you don’t lose a reader, not to mention make your content easy to understand. If you choose to start your essay with a quote, don’t explain to explain its significance in the paper. It doesn’t make sense to start an essay with a long quote that a reader will struggle to remember. Do not forget to include the parenthetical citation of your quote.

Look up the Context of the Quote

Besides giving more freedom, this would spare you from the risk of not being original by citing the same famous personalities as everyone else. Be particularly aware of quotations found on social media such as Pinterest, or on quote aggregators such as Brainyquote. These sources are notorious for mis-attributing and even making up famous quotes. Comma placement before a quotation also causes people trouble. Notice that in ‘The bells on the Monk’s bridle ring «in a whistlynge wynd als cleere…»‘ there is no comma after «ring» and before the beginning of the quote?

1. If you choose to start your essay with a quote, don’t explain to explain its significance in the paper.
2. If you were instead using APA style, you would also have to include the year that the quote was written – in the body of the essay – and again in the corresponding reference page.
3. Given how seriously plagiarism is treated by US academic institutions and society, be very careful with this aspect, if anticipating significant public outreach.
4. Writing is a difficult task, and essay writing is even more daunting.
5. Therefore, it is best to follow quote editing guidelines such as adding brackets or ellipses.
6. To introduce the words of an author, use a descriptive verb followed by a comma.

Quotes are words or phrases that are generally well-known for their original intent. They are usually excerpts from a famous person’s speech or writing. Quotes provide a succinct expression of the author’s point of view, opinion, or response, often how to start commentary used to focus attention on an issue. Your introduction is your first impression, setting the tone for the rest of the paper. However, one of the most effective ones is using a quote. Choose a quote your readers can understand and relate to.

Use Clear, Short Quotes

You need to show that you understand the material from your source by being able to paraphrase and summarize it. If the author’s name appears in how to write commentary in an argumentative essay the introduction to the quote or in the paraphrase, it doesn’t have to appear in the parenthetical reference, as the citations above illustrate.

Thus, her words deserve more exposure than a paraphrase could provide. Giving added emphasis to a particularly authoritative source on your topic. Writing an essay when you have tons of additional assignments to complete can be tough. That’s the case especially when you’re short on time but have a tight deadline to beat. You can simply reach out to us and we’ll help you get your essay assignment completed in good time. Long quotes should be typed on a free standing block and indented at ½ Inch from the left margin.

How Many Quotations Should You Use in Your Essay?

When following APA citation guidelines, you will include the publication year after the name of the writer. Quotations may contain very condensed information that often appeals to emotions or state truths that resonate in readers.

1. Learning how to use a quote as a hook guarantees a smoother introduction and greater chances that your paper would generate interest.
2. Be certain to explain how quotation supports your argument or thesis or how it relates to your topic, how it highlights a problem or portrays situation.
3. Alternatively, MLA requires your quote to consist of more than four lines.
4. Giving added emphasis to a particularly authoritative source on your topic.
5. To conclude, a quotation is a powerful instrument that greatly enhances your essay if used appropriately, and now you know how to start a paper with a quote.
6. When quoting, the author is cited to attribute the text to its original source.
7. Try to keep direct quotes to a minimum in your writing.

Usually, a brief introduction to a long quotation is warranted. In other cases, you might need to provide a complete analysis of the quotation. In this case, it is best to begin with the quotation and follow it with the analysis, rather than the other way around. An essay can seem quite jarring if the quotation does not blend in. No one is interested in reading quotation-stuffed essays.

How to Write Introductions for Synthesis Essays

Begin a sentence with your own words, then complete it with quoted words. Should the quotation speak for the essay or should the essay speak for the quotation? Quotations should add impact to the essay and not steal the show. If your quotation has more punch than your essay, then something is seriously wrong. Your essay should be able to stand on its own legs; the quotation should merely make this stand stronger.

1. Alternatively, employ online search engines with carefully formulated queries, which are much more flexible tools.
2. And notably, the name and page number are not separated by a comma.
3. If the reader needs further explanation on the quote, accompany the quote with a sentence or two to describe the meaning and provide context.
4. Here, we have explained the most effective ways to begin an essay with a quote.
5. You should be clear and informative but not insulting to the intelligence of your reader.
6. If you have decided to use a long quotation, consider paraphrasing, as it usually works better.
7. You could use different strategies to surprise the reader.

An appropriate quotation, properly connected to your topic and cited, makes a strong hook for a college essay. When you restate the information from a source in your own words instead of citing https://twiceagencia.com/who-said-what-introducing-and-contextualizing/ a quote from an article, you don’t need to put quotation marks. But don’t forget to specify all the necessary details after the passage and to provide the analysis of the paraphrase or summary.

Writing skills are critical to success

If the use of language is your primary topic, then you will obviously need to quote users of that language. Used effectively, https://www.mercuri.com.mx/2023/01/17/what-it-means-to-be-an-american-essay/ quotations can provide important pieces of evidence and lend fresh voices and perspectives to your narrative.

Inspirational quotes inspire, they motivate, they encourage, the provoke thought. You might even consider picking an inspirational quote to base your entire essay on. For example, Mark Twain’s famous quote, “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. Discover.” could be used as a topic outline citing a website in an essay for an essay on adult education, starting your own business, or even living the life of an expat. You might be wondering why you should consider using inspirational quotes in your essays. To put it lightly, incorporating the right quotes into your work will not only bolster your argument, but it will also better convince the reader to adopt your point of view.