Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the Lisa's Study Guides, and if you are one of my subscribers,
then you probably would have realized how I haven't been filming on my couch lately, and
I've just been filming against that white backdrop here against my wall. And that's because, to be
honest, I'm a little bit sick of my couch. If you guys prefer this, I mean just let me know.
I don't know, I feel like when I stand up, I can give more of my energy to you guys and it
just makes the filming a lot more fun for me as well. So yeah, I'm thinking of putting up some
posters with puns in the background or famous quotes from authors, things like that. So yeah,
if you're keen then let me know. If you don't care, then let me know too. Whatever.
Let's get into how to find good quotes. Tip one. Do not go onto Google and type in "Good
quotes for X text," because this is not going to work. These type of quotes are generally the most
famous and the most popular quotes because, yes they are good quotes, but does that necessarily
mean that it's going to be a good quote in your essay? Probably not. But why Lisa? Because these
quotes are most likely to be overused by students, by absolutely every single person who has studied
this text before you, and probably every single person who will study this text after you. So
you want to be unique and original. So how are you going to find those "good quotes"? Recognize which
quotes are constantly being used and blacklist them. Quotes are constantly used in study guides
are generally the ones that will be overused by students. So once you eliminate these quotes,
you can then go on to find potentially more subtle quotes that are just as
good as the most popular or famous ones. Tip two. Re-read the book. There is nothing wrong
with you going ahead and finding your own quotes. You don't need to find quotes that are already
existent online or in study guides. Go and find whatever gels with you and whatever you feel like
has a lot of meaning to it. I had a friend back in high school who was studying a book by Charles
Dickens. I haven't read the book myself, but there was a character who couldn't pronounce the word S,
or he had a lisp of some sort, and apparently what my friend did was he found this one word about the
whole book, where this guy with the lisp, only one time ever said S, and apparently that was a
massive thing. So he used that, and see this is something that is really unique and original. So
go ahead and try to find your own quotes. Tip three. Realize that good quotes do not
necessarily have to come from the main character. The main character, yes often does have good
quotes associated with whatever they're saying. But just know that you do have minor characters
who can say something really relevant and have a really good point, and that is just
going to be as strong in your essay, than a main character's quote, which will probably be overused
and overdone by so many other students. Tip four. Develop a new interpretation of
a famous or popular quote. Most of the time, the really popular quotes are analyzed in very
much the same way. But if you can offer a new insight into why it's being said or a different
interpretation, then this is automatically going to create a really good quote, that's
going to offer a refreshing point of view. For example, if we look at the Great Gatsby,
one of the most famous quotes that is constantly being used is, "He found what a grotesque thing
a rose is and how raw the sunlight was upon the scarcely created grass." What most people
will do is they will analyze the part about the "grotesque thing a rose," because that's
the most significant part of the quote that stands out. But what you could do instead is
focus on a section of that quote, for example the "raw". Why is the word raw being used? How
does the word raw contribute extra meaning to this particular quote. This way you're honing in on a
particular section of the quote and really trying to offer something new. This automatically allows
you to investigate the quote in a new light. Tip five. Just remember that the best quotes do
not have to be one sentence long. Some of the best quotes tend to only be really short phrases or
even just one particular word. Teachers actually love it when you can get rid of the excess words
that are unnecessary in the sentence, and just hone in on a particular phrase or a particular
word to offer an analysis. And also that way, when you spend so much time analyzing and offering
insight into such a short phrase or one sentence, it shows how knowledgeable you are about the
texts and that you don't need to rely on lots and lots of evidence in order to prove your point.
So those are my five quick tips on how to find good quotes from your texts. If you liked this
video, then please give me a thumbs up, so I know I should do more of these quote based
videos. If you have any questions then feel free to comment below and request
whatever you want me to cover next. Check out last week's video over there,
where I discussed the three different English subjects that are available for VCE students. And even
if you're not studying in Victoria, Australia, you can still check it out, especially if you're
divided in between different English subjects that are available for you when you're choosing
your particular subjects at school. I hope you all have a lovely week,
and if you subscribe below there, then I will see you next week, Monday after school. Bye.