"That's what she said"

Writing with quotations in college is much different than in high school. In high school I usually looked for a quote that kind of related to what I was talking about and just wrote it in my paper. This is much different in college. In college the quote should help enforce what you are writing.

In high school quotations were mainly used to fill a quota. Our teachers said that we were required to use at least three quotes per paragraph. We never really understood what we were supposed to be using them for. I would just write a sentence, then the quote, and then another sentence linking it to my thesis. Looking back on papers I wrote in high school, I see how poorly I used quotations.

In college, the usage is much more beneficial to your writing. When you use a quote, you should make sure it enforces your point. Quotes should be used to help your paper, not just prove that you read the book. In college I also learned that you should analyze the quote as well. After you write the quote, don't just say how it relates to a thesis, but explain the quote in your own words. What is Plato trying to say? Why did Darwin use those words?

I have only written one paper for core, and I hope I have used these things. I have not yet handed it in, and I am going to fix all the quotes I used. I need to make sure I analyzed the quotes and not just summarize them. I will know how well I did next week when I get it back.