In this section of They Say I Say, new methods of introducing and explaining quotes are shown. Once again, the book uses an outline style formatting to teach the reader how to use quotes properly without making it over-complicated. Much of this was review for me, as it was taught repeatedly since my sophomore year of high school how to properly introduce and explain quotes in the context of an essay. However, it did teach me a few new ways of introducing quotes that are less awkward than some of the ways I have used prior. For example, using introductions like “X agrees when he/she writes”, rather than just saying “x says..”. Another interesting concept is blending your own words with the authors, which integrates the quote into your writing more seamlessly. I also found it interesting how the book gave examples on how not to introduce quotes. By saying a quote is someone’s idea, or saying outright that it is a quote, is redundant and unnecessary, as well as just awkward. When it comes to explaining the quotes, much of it is again review from high school. It does state that it is better to over-explain a quote rather than not explan it enough, which isn’t something I had really thought about.
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