Handling QuotationsA Mini-Lesson on Signal Phrases

and Quotation Sandwiches

Always Use a Transition (or Signal Phrase) to Guide a Reader into a Direct Quotation

Here’s your basic model:

In class, Nancy says, “Practice makes perfect.”Benjamin Franklin explained, “The early bird catches the worm.”

A famous proverb declares, “Time will tell.” A signal phrase consists of a subject and a verb.

Note the punctuation: Comma after the signal phrase and before the quotation. The end punctuation goes inside the quotation mark, unless there’s a page reference, in which case it jumps to the end of the page citation.

Upgrade Your Signal Phrases By Keeping Verbs Vivid!

He declares She states They reveal She insists They whisper He emphasizes

They remark He suggests She asserts

He advises She observes They claim

More Signal Phrase Upgrades:

Many Signal Phrases Are Embedded Into Longer Sentences

In Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie say repeatedly, “We’re gonna live off the fatta of the lan’” (p. 8).

In Of Mice and Men, Slim explains to George, “Ranchers got it tough” (p.65).

Take Note!

The signal phrase, plus the quotation, equals one grammatically whole unit. Keep quotations short in order to create this effect. When using a page citation, the final period jumps to the very end of the sentence.

Want To Get fancy? Move the Signal Phrase Around.

That’s called “Sentence Variation.”

1. Signal phrase before the quotation:In Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie state, “We’re gonna live off the fatta of the lan’” (p.5).

2. Signal phrase after the quotation:“We’re gonna live off the fatta of the lan’,” George and Lennie state (p.5).

3. Signal phrase that breaks up the quotation:“We’re gonna live,” say George and Lennie, “off the fatta of the lan’” (p.5).

The Quotation Sandwich

Here’s the formula for presenting quotations:

Set up the quotation: top slice of bread

Present the quotation/Textual support for your claim: the meat

Comment on the quotation: bottom slice of bread

Quotation Set- Up: Top Slice of Bread

Set up your quotation by providing context or background information.

Do not say: The evidence for this example is, “Ranching life is tough” (p. 8).Do not say: On page 83, Steinbeck writes, “Ranching life is tough” (p.8).

Blah – No – Ugh- Blah –Ugh – No

Set-Up: Provide Context

In Of Mice and Men, Curley’s wife is frustrated and lonely, which leads to her dangerous flirtatiousness. More than once, she refers to the life she wished she had lived, one in the movie industry. In the barn, Curley’s wife shares her lost hope with Lennie. She confides, “Could have been in the movies and had nice clothes. All of them nice clothes that they wear (p. 65).

Set up = blue. Top slice of breadTextual Support (Signal phrase + direct quotation) = red. Layer of Meat

Commentary: Bottom Slice of Bread

More than once, she refers to the life she wished she had lived, one in the movie industry. In the barn, Curley’s wife shares her lost hope with Lennie. She confides, “Could have been in the movies and had nice clothes. All of them nice clothes that they wear (p. 65). For Curley’s wife, the theater represents the glamor, attention, and beauty that are absent to her on the ranch. Her wish for fame and money are as far off as George and Lennie’s wish for the ranch.

Commentary + Green. Bottom Slice of the SandwichNote how the commentary sentence picks up on key word(s) in the quotation (here, the character’s wish to be in the movies) and makes explicit to the reader why those words are important.

And when you put it all together—viola!—your paragraph has its very own quotation sandwich, plus a topic sentence and concluding sentence.

In Of Mice and Men, Curley’s wife is frustrated and lonely, which leads to her dangerous flirtatiousness. More than once, she refers to the life she wished she had lived, one in the movie industry. In the barn, Curley’s wife shares her lost hope with Lennie. She confides, “Could have been in the movies and had nice clothes. All of them nice clothes that they wear (p. 65). For Curley’s wife, the theater represents the glamor, attention, and beauty that are absent to her on the ranch. Her wish for fame and money are as far off as George and Lennie’s wish for the ranch.

And, yes: A body paragraph can have more than one quotation sandwich. The evidence just needs to be organized logically and the presentation of examples should be concise (not wordy).