INTEGRATING OR EMBEDDING (SUPPORT) TEXTUAL
EVIDENCE
Weaving textual evidence into an essay is a skill that you can practice and learn to do well. You should
study good models. Reading a newspaper can help you. Journalists are experts at integrating quotations
into their text. They must attribute quotations to their sources as well. Even though they’re not quoting
literary texts, they do follow similar guidelines for embedding their quotations.
Learn these rules for integrating your textual support:
You need to supply context for the full or partial quotation. This means to set it up somehow, or
transition into the quotation with your claim.
As a general rule, don’t start the sentence with the quotation.
Use quotation marks around anything you take from the text, even isolated words.
When you weave in the cited text, you must end up with a grammatically correct sentence. If you
have to change tense or wording, use [brackets] around the parts you change.
If the quotation or cited text is not self-evident and you must still explain it, why did you include the
quotation? What does it show or prove?
Use slashes (/) to separate lines of poetry from one another.Some model phrases to consider:
The writer (poet) or speaker argues, claims that, suggests, etc.________. His description of
“_____.”
“_____” reads quickly, even frantically. This narrative pace suggests that _______.
When _______(author) writes that _____________, she shows how “_____.”
The imagery in stanza four contrasts with stanza one. “_____” suggests something, while “______”
is clearly meant to _________________________.
____________(Character’s name) feels trapped by her situation. She “_____.”
“_____,” “_____,” and “_____” are words commonly heard in church, which gives the passage
_______________.When you read student essay samples from the AP Central website, look specifically
at how the writers of top score essays incorporate evidence from the text to prove
their point.