How often to quote in English essays?

ApeLove

My teacher acts as if you don't need to quote too often in the comparative, but that in the poetry essays and single text she seems to want a quote in every other sentence. Is this correct?
For example, with poetry, I know certain quotes and use them sparsely but my teacher wants:

'Dickinson uses the effective metaphor of a little bird to symbolise the transcendental quality of hope "quote". She uses powerful verbs to convey hope's faithfulness "quote". We come to realise the reliance of the poet on this little bird "quote" and this idea is continued right through to the touching last line "quote".'

Is that not far too much?

JamJamJamJam

ApeLove wrote: »

My teacher acts as if you don't need to quote too often in the comparative, but that in the poetry essays and single text she seems to want a quote in every other sentence. Is this correct?
For example, with poetry, I know certain quotes and use them sparsely but my teacher wants:

'Dickinson uses the effective metaphor of a little bird to symbolise the transcendental quality of hope "quote". She uses powerful verbs to convey hope's faithfulness "quote". We come to realise the reliance of the poet on this little bird "quote" and this idea is continued right through to the touching last line "quote".'

Is that not far too much?

I was looking at the Chief Examiner report for 2001 today. I know 2001 is a long time ago, and I thinnnk it was the first year of the new course, so maybe things have changed a bit. But it can't be too different because it's the same course. They give exemplar material, and the comparative answer was given full marks with no quotes at all (as far as I remember). At the same time, it will probably look impressive to have some quotes, but it's not really that urgent. I'd say your teacher's right about that.

For poetry, I don't think you need to quote in every 1 or 2 sentences at all! Like, yes, quotes are great because they show you know what you're talking about and they can demonstrate your point nicely, but every sentence could be a bit excessive. It sounds like you realise this :cool: If anything it might distract you from what you're saying in your answer if you're telling yourself "Oh no, oh no, oh no! I've written 6 whole words and not a single one of them was a quote!! Oh dear God!!" They generally ask for quotation or reference in English. So, yeah, quote where you feel you should quote, so that it develops your answer, but don't feel that you'll lose marks for not quoting

partyatmygaff

Insert a quote only where it makes sense and is necessary to back up your point. This rubbish of learning off reams of quotes and then inserting them at set intervals throughout your answer doesn't make sense.

Chuchoter

I quote exactly whats relevant and I leave out sections of a stanza that aren't. I have roughly 2 quotes per poem per point, but they are short and to the point. I don't normally quote massive sections unless they are important.

Violafy

For the comparative, you don't need many quotes at all. Probably one or two important one-liners per paragraph - you probably wouldn't even need to learn them off as you'd know them just from reading/watching the text.

For poetry and the single text, more are needed, but definitely not every sentence. A few per paragraph is enough. Also, instead of always just saying something and then giving a quote to back it up, incorporate the quote into the same sentence. For example:

It is clear that Hamlet's anger and melancholy is partly due to his mother's superficial grieving and haste in marrying Claudius, as he feels that "a beast that wants discourse of reason / would have waited longer".

Instead of:
It is clear that Hamlet's anger and melancholy is partly due to his mother's superficial grieving and haste in marrying Claudius.
"Oh, god! A beast that wants discourse of reason / would have waited longer"

It just flows better, and it's good to have some variation.

Bbbbolger

For poetry I'd say it depends what you're writing about. Let's say you're writing about one particular theme in a poet's work. I'd say you'd need at least one quote from every poem you mention in relation to this theme. That would be about 2-4 quotes per issue. You would do this for every aspect you have to answer on e.g. tone/theme/imagery etc.

For comparative we've been told you need very few quotes. References to the time in the text are important though e.g. in the third scene/chapter 22/around 47 mins into the film.

For Hamlet (or whatever your one text is) I'd quote similarly to the poetry. Have a quote or two for every main point you write.