Antigone Project
Writing About a Quotation
In line 1459-1465, Creon states:
Take me away, I beg you, out of sight.
A rash, indiscriminate fool!
I murdered you, my son, against my will-
you too, my wife…
Wailing wreck of man,
whom to look to
Where to lean for support
Whatever I touch goes wrong-once more
a crushing fate’s come down upon my head!
Interestingly, Creon mentions being “out of sight.” First, explain in what sense Creon has been blind. Then show the significance of Creon’s statement in the play as a whole by comparing his “blindness” with the vision of Haemon, Antigone, and Tiresias (who actually is blind).
Here is a step by step process for how to write about a quotation:
Prewriting:
Explain in your own words the meaning of the quotation. To do this, translate any figurative language, update the vocabulary, and fill in any unstated information that helps gain an understanding of the situation. Always make sure to understand when, where, and why the statement was made.
Writing Paragraph by Paragraph:
Begin your introduction with a thesis statement that tells what quotation you are going to write about and identifies a theme or main idea of the literary work.
In the next paragraph tell the specific meaning of the quotation. Explain how you arrived at your understanding.
In the next paragraph explain in what way the quotation fits into the literary work. For this part you should use specific examples from the story that prove your assertions in paragraph two are correct.
For the final paragraph you should tell how the analysis of the quote has helped the reader to understand better the nature of the literary work as a whole.