====== Working with texts ======

===== Always write about a text, a movie, a play … in the present  =====

|<100% 50% >|
^✅ Correct^ ❌ Wrong^
|“The author **writes**” …|“The author <del>wrote</del> …”|
|“Joe **speaks** very quietly in this scene.”|“Joe <del>spoke</del> very quietly in this scene.”|
|“The two characters **argue** with each other …”|“The two charaters <del>argued</del> with each other …”|
|“The writer **questions** if …”|“The writer <del>questioned</del> if …”|

<WRAP box>
This is called the **literary present** — check out **[[https://www.thoughtco.com/literary-present-verbs-term-1691251|some more details about it]]**. 
</WRAP>


===== Always give line references to support your argument  =====

==== Example text ====

> {{example-text-reference.png?nolink|}}
> 
> Source: “[[https://www.economist.com/leaders/2021/09/11/the-real-lessons-from-9/11|The real lessons from 9/11]]”, The Economist, 11.09.2021


==== Reference in your own text ====


|<100% 33% 33% >|
^✅ Correct^⭕️ OK, but not ideal^ ❌ Wrong^
|//The author writes that many US citizens are in a “mood of fatigue and apathy” <wrap hi>(l. 7)</wrap>.//\\ \\ ▶ Best option because the **line reference is clear** and still as **unobtrusive [unaufdringlich]** as possible. The **literal quote** [wörtliches Zitat] at the end is marked by **quotation marks**  [Anführungszeichen]|//The author writes <wrap hi>in line 7</wrap> that many US citizens are in a “mood of fatigue and apathy”.// \\ \\ ▶ Not ideal because the line reference has too much weight by making it part of the sentence structure, the literal quote does have quotation marks – so this option is not wrong but also not as good as the first one|//The author writes that many US citizens are in a mood of fatigue and apathy.//\\ \\ ▶ Wrong because \\ (a) there is **no line reference** at all and \\ (b) the last couple of words are a **literal quote** that is **not marked by quotation marks**|


==== How to write line references ====

There are some abbreviations [Abkürzungen] for writing line references that you should know: 

|<100% 10em 16em >|
^What you write^What it means^Further explanation^
^l. 7|line 7|refers to [bezieht sich auf] just that one line|
^l. 7 f|line 7 and exactly **one following line**| refers to lines 7 and 8|
^l. 7 ff|line 7 and the following line**s**|refers to lines 7 and //some// lines after it|
^ll. 7 – 10|lines 7 to 10|refers to exactly those four lines, the double “l” is for the plural “lines”, it’s usually not used with the “ff” abbreviation|