Study English Grammar » conventions

Altering Quotations in Essay Writing

Study English Grammar — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:28:16 +0000

There may be times when you need to add or alter words in a quotation, so that it will make sense in the context of your essay. For example, here we rave added a character’s name to help the quotation make sense: Malcolm muggeridge said that ‘[Macmillan] exuded a flavor of mothballs’. Square brackets are used around the interpolated matter. You might also need to alter a quotation if you are using a quotation with a lower-case letter at the [outset, but want to use it to start a sentence:

(T]he lady’s not for turning’ is just one example of Margaret Thatcher’s striking use of literary allusions for political ends.

Square brackets show that material has been added or altered. As we have noted above, ellipsis marks (three stops) have the opposite function, indicating an omission from a quotation:

a man … is so in the way in the house. (Elizabeth Gaskell)

If you want to omit a line or several lines from a poem you are quoting, you put an ellipsis at the end of the previous line before the omission, as in this example from Donne:

Busy old fooled, unruly sunne... Read more...

The Top 5 English Writing Tips

Study English Grammar — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 00:53:32 +0000

There are numerous things that can go wrong when you are writing, ranging from the isolated word that is spelt incorrectly to an entire sentence that fails ;o make sense. Some of the most common problems, however, are problems usage, of being unclear about, for example, the difference between flaunt and flout, or whether hanged or hung is correct. Writing is all about paying attention to detail, which means making sure that you always get the right words in the right order. But if you do not know the conventions if usage, you are almost bound to come unstuck. We have, therefore, listed below, in alphabetical order, a Top 30 of the niggling little queries about usage.

1. Agree to, agree with

Agree to means that you accept what someone proposes (although you might, of course, agree to differ). Agree with means that one person or thing is in accord with another: agree to that suggestion-, I agree with you about the need for more trees.

2. All right

All right is two words, and means that everything is correct: The spellings were all right Alright is used to mean ‘well’, ‘unhurt’: The s... Read more...