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View Full Version : What do you think of quotation? Is it bad?


Clover_K
10-02-2007, 07:12 PM
Some people say that using quotes shows that you're not as smart as you think you are. I don't know if I agree. (All I know is that I have to finally stop quoting Wilde, though.) So... what do you think?
chckn648
10-02-2007, 08:10 PM
I would say that it depends on the context. Do you use quotes because you can't come up with anything to say on your own, or do you use them to make a point and add to what you're trying to say?
syiah
10-03-2007, 02:37 AM
I disagree, generally.

If you're able to use a quote and tie it logically into an argument, I'd say it's an excellent display of your reasoning skills. It shows that you comprehend the meaning of the quotation, and know how/where to apply its message.
Though, if you're just spewing forth random phrases that are totally without context, then it's a bit silly. :D
NikolaiI
10-03-2007, 02:50 AM
Quotation is not bad, unless you use it too much.

In a book I'm reading, the second chapter begins with a paragraph where each sentence is a quote. After that, there's not any quotes for the rest of the chapter. To say the author's unintelligent because the first paragraph was only quotes, would be idiotic. If each paragraph were laced with quotes, it would be annoying.

I don't think it's really right to call someone smart or dumb, anyway. Are they smart all the time? Are they dumb all the time? To paraphrase the book mentioned above, it's not our character that determines how well we do on a math test, for example, but our skills. I would just say that anyone who says people who use quotes are not as smart as they think they are, is not as smart as they think they are.

It's not whether or not someone uses quotes that makes a work (essay, story, letter) good or bad, but other things: coherency, fluency, beauty, and cohesiveness. In this, it is important that every word be used well, etc. To judge an author's intelligence, we may look at a work's quality, but this quality is not determined by the use of quotes, but perhaps how everything, including the quotes, works and fits together.