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To support your points, you need to use quotations and examples. Quotations should be kept short and to the point. Using just a few words is more powerful than copying out chunks of text: it shows you are being selective. You should also be careful to copy accurately.

Put the quotation inside your own sentence, rather than putting it in the middle of a page and then commenting on it. This is called embedding a quotation.

So rather than:

"He flew like a butterfly." This is an example of a simile, which shows that he was light and graceful.

Or:

The author uses similes, eg "he flew like a butterfly."

You would write:

The author uses the simile of the boy flying "like a butterfly" to convey the impression that he is light and graceful.

The words from the text are embedded as part of your sentence – they make sense as a whole.

Making the most of quotations

A close analysis of the language in the quotation can be used to support your point.

There are several ways you can do this:

• Focus on a word from the quotation and write about why it was chosen by the writer.
• Write about the connotations of the word, eg the word ‘snake’ could have connotations of evil and might be used to create an ominous atmosphere.
• The context of a word will also be important when you are analysing its effect. How the word is used in the sentence and paragraph may affect the connotations of that word.
• The quotation may contain a metaphor, simile, or other language technique – what is the effect of the technique?
• Make sure you name the literary technique as part of your analysis.
• Remember that you don’t need to give a definition of the technique (just focus on the effect).
• Do the language choices in the quotation link to other parts of the extract? Can you see a pattern in the way the writer is using language?
• What is the reader’s response to the language in the quotation?