english composition

Question

which communicates more efficiently to the reader?

A. a quotation in which the only mention of the author being quoted comes in the parenthetical note at the end of the quotation.

 

B. a quotation in which the author of the original work is mentioned in the essay, near the beginning of the quotation.

 

Answer 1

It is all a matter of context, which makes this question difficult to answer without knowing what will be in the quote, the surrounding text, etc. Sometimes it can be useful to introduce the author before the quote, while it can also be good to integrate a quote into your own commentary, without introducing the author or article. I will provide some examples from some of my previous essays below.

A. Anthony Daniels argues that “it is always possible, after all, to argue that any given boundary contributes more to the misery than to the happiness of man” (Daniels).

B. A lot of reactions are determined by the exterior conditions surrounding a person’s life, because “what we think and see in matters of moral and aesthetic judgment is to a large extent determined by our circumstances” (Daniels 10).