Choose one quotation from a secondary source. This can be the passage you quoted for the last exercise, provided it is a Type 1 quotation (meaning that it presents some kind of judgment or critical thinking) and your peers agreed it was an appropriate choice. You may also choose a different passage from the same source, or a passage from a different source entirely.

Below the quotation, explain how you plan to use the quotation in your essay — starting with whether you plan to extend, apply, logically rebut, or rebut based on evidence. Then go into more detail (three or four sentences should be sufficient) about what specific point (not your thesis) you think it helps you support, how you can apply it in a new way, where the logical flaw is, or what evidence you think the author ignores or misinterprets.

In effect, this assignment is a first attempt at Part I of the Research Project. Use the entries on the sample research project as a model.

This exercise is impossible to do well if the passage you quote does not present a judgment of some kind.

The quotations must be substantial enough to give you something to work with productively in your essay. Typically, that means they are at least one full independent clause. On the other hand, the longer a quotation is, the harder achieving a good ratio of commentary to quotation becomes. For the sake of this exercise, the quotation should be between 15 and 35 words.

Make sure your quotation is grammatically complete and makes sense out of context. If it does not, set it up in such a way that the meaning is clear and the result is grammatical.

Format quotations and cite them parenthetically according to either MLA or APA guidelines. You do not need a Works Cited or References page yet.

Your commentary should be at least 50 words.

Bring four hard-copies to class.