ShmoopTube

00:04

[Coop and Dino singing]

00:13

Quotes are everywhere – on statues, walls, Twitter, shaved into your dog… [Quote shaved on a dog]

00:21

…Don't do that last one.

00:22

But quotes aren’t just great for motivation and inspiration; they also play another very

00:27

important role: they serve as evidence. [Woman picks up box of evidence in court]

00:29

And not just evidence that the person who said the quote was super smart and successful.

00:33

Let’s say you read a book and you’re pretty sure you know exactly what it’s all about.

00:37

You can’t wait to tell the world what you’ve learned, but you can’t just expect people

00:41

to believe you with no evidence. You need quotes to back up your ideas. [Boy approaches girl in the corridor]

00:45

When we quote a text, we're including a tiny part of it in what we're writing, so even

00:49

if a reader hasn't read the text you're writing about, the quote will provide evidence for

00:53

your ideas, right there in black and white. [Boy reading text]

00:56

…or glittery purple, if you’re so inclined. Take a look at this quote from A Long Walk

01:00

to Water about Uncle Jewiir:

01:03

Depending on what we're writing about, this quote could be used as evidence for a lot

01:07

of different conclusions.

01:08

We could say that Uncle Jewiir helped to calm Salva, and nobody could tell us we’re wrong

01:12

because it's right there in the first sentence.

01:15

If you included this quote in an essay, you'd have great evidence to support your point. [Box of evidence]

01:18

You could even use this quote as evidence for an idea that isn't quite as directly stated.

01:23

Say you were writing an entire essay about the character of Uncle Jewiir, trying to give

01:27

your reader a sense of what this guy was like. [Jewir walking in a wasteland]

01:29

Could this quote help you out?

01:31

Well, the quote doesn’t directly describe Uncle Jewiir’s character – it doesn't

01:35

say he was cheerful, or grumpy, or a big fan of model airplanes – but it does describe

01:39

his behavior.

01:40

The fact that Uncle Jewiir spent all morning talking to his nephew, trying to calm him

01:44

down is pretty good evidence that the guy was compassionate and caring. [Jewir with his nephew]

01:47

Bam – all the evidence you need for your “Uncle Jewiir was compassionate and caring” essay.

01:51

So now we know that a quote doesn't have to be on the base of statue to be important!

01:55

…Hm. Maybe we should've started with that… [Man stood with a statue]

01:57

that might've saved your parents a lot of hard work…

Full Transcript