Quote Analysis

I wrote an essay for my most recent history class, discussing the state Japan was in during and after World War II. I supported my main points by synthesizing sources and using quotations from various historians to give a thorough understanding of history in Japan at that time.

First quotation:

“they ruled as Mandarins themselves” (Dower 560).

I integrated this quote by putting it at the end of a sentence that was describing how Americans ruled Japan. It was placed specifically to end the sentence. It was not directly introduced, but instead went along with the topic of the paper, which was introduced earlier. Therefore, the audience understood the context of the quote without my introducing it by a specific name. 

Second quotation: 
I integrated and explained the quote by first discussing my point on how the Japanese were able to rebuild and reinvent their lives. I discuss this for a few sentences and then I add the quote after the summary for support. I introduced it only briefly by saying who it was written by before blending the quote into the end of my sentence. Blending the quote also made it easier for me to relate it back to my text, which supported the ideas discussed in the quote. The rest of the paragraph looks at specific cases of how the Japanese changed their lives, connecting back to my words as well as the author's.  

It blended with the text in order to give a smooth transition and a strong image to how the Americans acted instead of just describing it. This quote is certainly short, but evokes a specific reaction to support my point: the Americans did not rule Japan well. I expand on the ideas described in the quote after it, giving specific examples that tie in with the point of my words as well as the author's. 

“testimony to human resilience that the great majority of Japanese transcended exhaustion and despair to refashion their lives in diverse and often imaginative ways” (120).