Tip of the Week: Regarding Quotes

quotation marks

In semi-relation to the dangers of tabloids:

Quotes are quite sneaky.  It’s easy to believe that the narrative given in a magazine or written interview is true as long as there are quotes.  Quotation marks indicate the actual words spoken by a person in the actual order they spoke them, and there are real legal consequences if someone decides to pursue a complaint about misquoting.  To be fair, this is usually more trouble than it’s worth, so people often don’t put the effort in to protest, but at least there are clear rules.

The trick is the context of the quote- both the context that gets left out when a quote is used, and the context that gets added when a clever writer places a quote within their own text.  For, example, someone can be asked about their favorite fruit and say, “I like bananas.  I really do like them.”  It’s not difficult for an interviewer to then couch is thus:  Harry Styles was asked about the gay rumors surrounding him.  “I like bananas,” Harry felt the need to let us in on a secret.  The conversation moved on to the effect male chauvinists have on society.  Harry seemed quite interested in the topic.  “I really do like them.”

Becomes completely different, doesn’t it?  And technically everything he said is there in the exact order the words came out of his hypothetical mouth.  This makes it obvious that when reading an article, quotes need to be completely separated out from the rest of the text, which is from the perspective of, and at the discretion of, the writer.  Once isolated, it’s easier to see the actual meaning of the words that were spoken and consider all the possible missing context.

Just a little tip to keep you sane and to tide you over to next week. ;D

 

 

Return2After 2 years, K-pop group Super Junior will be making a comeback this week!  In honor of this event, we will start a profile for them next time.  Woohoo!

 

Only pic (quotation marks) found: http://www.fastcodesign.com/3018353/be-smart-dont-use-dumb-quote-marks

We do not claim any of the cited images as our own and would appreciate notice if the owners would like them removed.  Thank you!

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