The 70/30 Rule
Spend more time analyzing evidence than presenting it. If quotations take up most of a paragraph, the reader has too little of your explanation to judge the argument.
Four-Step Formula
1
Introduce the evidence with brief context: who is involved, when it happens, and the situation.
2
Present a quotation, paraphrase, or precise reference to an event.
3
Analyze the choice that carries the claim. If the evidence is a quotation, that may be diction, tone, or metaphor: why these words? If it is a paraphrase or an event, explain why this moment, and how the text presents it.
4
Connect the analysis to your thesis. Phrases such as “this reveals” or “the effect is” can help you start that explanation.
Weak vs Strong Embedding
Weak: "Hamlet says, 'To be or not to be.' This shows he is thinking about death."
Strong: Hamlet’s soliloquy exposes his paralysis: “To be or not to be” turns the question of action into a philosophical debate about death. He delays the responsibility he cannot face by debating it in abstract terms.