Ways to Use Quotes: Adding Brackets
You may have seen brackets, like these [ ], used in math class to group a set of numbers together. Writers use brackets, too, only for different reasons. Brackets can help you to change your quotes so that they fit better into your sentences, which helps you write more easily and makes your writing sound better.
Listen to Abe Lincoln, below. Can you find the three three ways you can always use brackets and the one way you should never use brackets?
Listen to Abe Lincoln, below. Can you find the three three ways you can always use brackets and the one way you should never use brackets?
Brackets are useful for changing a word or phrase within a quotation so that the quote fits better into your sentence when you use a quote as evidence. Brackets can be used to:
You should never use brackets to change a word or phrase that would change the meaning of a quote. If you find yourself needing to change your evidence to fit your claim, take a look at your claim; the way you answer a question on an Open Response should be based on the evidence you can find in the text, not the other way around.
Check out this worksheet for a full explanation of using brackets, as well as some exercises to help you practice using them!
- Change a pronoun (he, she, it, we)
- Change the tense of a verb (past, present, future)
- Add a clarifying word or phrase to help your reader understand your quote.
You should never use brackets to change a word or phrase that would change the meaning of a quote. If you find yourself needing to change your evidence to fit your claim, take a look at your claim; the way you answer a question on an Open Response should be based on the evidence you can find in the text, not the other way around.
Check out this worksheet for a full explanation of using brackets, as well as some exercises to help you practice using them!
Click here to move on to the next skill, Annotating your text.