11 Writing a Quote Sandwich
The Basic Quote Sandwich
● Top “Slice of Bread:” Context, explanation, introduction
● Filling: Material quoted directly from a source
● Bottom “Slice of Bread:” Analysis, explanation, connection to your thesis
Avoid “Dropped” Quotations
Even though teachers may have students’ best interest in mind, traditional models of education ignore the humanity of students, allowing teachers to treat their students as objects rather than people. “The capability of banking education to minimize or annul the students’ creative power and to stimulate their credulity serves the interest of oppressors, who care neither to have the world revealed nor to see it transformed” (Freire 1970, p.258).
Some sandwiches are better than others:
● Formally introduce sources
● Use signal phrases
● Explain difficult ideas
Same material using the “sandwich” method
In Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Paulo Freire (1970) argues that, even though teachers may have students’ best interest in mind, traditional models of education ignore the humanity of students, allowing teachers to treat their students as objects rather than people. Freire says, “The capability of banking education to minimize or annul the students’ creative power and to stimulate their credulity serves the interest of oppressors, who care neither to have the world revealed nor to see it transformed” (p.258). When teachers participate in banking education, they only serve to perpetuate the status quo.
Making a more substantial sandwich:
● Establish an idea that your selected quote will support or comment on
● Provide some context for your reader
● Explain how your discussion of the quote furthers your own aims
A solid quote sandwich
In Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Paulo Freire (1970) argues that, even though teachers may have students’ best interest in mind, traditional models of education ignore the humanity of students, allowing teachers to treat their students as objects rather than people. Education, for Freire, ought to be about transforming the world, and bringing students to awareness of their role in doing so. This “critical consciousness” would result in students becoming “transformers of the world” (p. 258). However, what Freire calls the banking concept of education prevents students from ever developing this kind of consciousness. Freire says, “The capability of banking education to minimize or annul the students’ creative power and to stimulate their credulity serves the interest of oppressors, who care neither to have the world revealed nor to see it transformed” (p.258). When teachers participate, consciously or unconsciously, in banking education, they are not serving the interests of their students. Instead, banking education only adapts students to the world as it is, serving to perpetuate the status quo.
Write Your Own!
Use the Quote Sandwich Builder worksheet to write your own quote sandwich.
QUOTE SANDWICH BUILDER:
1. What point do you want to make in this section of your paper?
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2. In a brief sentence, explain why you think the quote you’ve selected helps you make
this point.
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3. Is there any additional context your reader needs to understand the author’s ideas?
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4. Who is speaking? Write a signal phrase.
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5. Your selected quote goes here.
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6. Paraphrase the ideas in your selected quote, beginning with “In other words…”
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7. Write a sentence or two that explains the connection between the ideas in the quote
and the point you are trying to make in this section of your paper.
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