Difference between revisions of "Quoting out of context"
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"Putting words in someone's mouth" is another example. Sometimes, even a subtle change in wording can radically change what the speaker meant to say. | "Putting words in someone's mouth" is another example. Sometimes, even a subtle change in wording can radically change what the speaker meant to say. | ||
| − | For example: | + | For example: as quoted in an advertisement for the film ''Be Cool:'' |
| − | + | :"...Travolta is as smooth as ever..." —Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times | |
| − | + | The actual review: | |
| + | :"[John Travolta's character Chili] Palmer is back in 'Be Cool,' and although Travolta is as smooth as ever, the picture is a bust, a grimly unfunny comedy with no connection to reality, and worst of all, running on and on for two dismal hours."<ref>[http://gelfmagazine.com/archives/the_blurb_racket.php The Blurb Racket], ''Gelf Magazine''</ref> | ||
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| + | Here is a subtle example. What is wrong with this? | ||
| + | :"Beauty is truth, truth beauty" wrote the Romantic poet John Keats in "Ode on a Grecian Urn." That famous citation, which expresses 19th-century Romanticism's trust in feeling over reason, is pertinent in the case of Anne Carson's newest volume...<ref>Berstein, Richard (2001), "Books of the Times: Beauty is Truth, and Sometimes Betrayal," February 14, 2001, p. E1</ref> | ||
| + | What can be wrong with this, probably the most famous line Keats ever wrote? The missing context here is an additional set of quotation marks: the actual closing lines of the poem are: | ||
| + | When old age shall this generation waste,<br> | ||
| + | Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe<br> | ||
| + | Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say'st<br> | ||
| + | 'Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all<br> | ||
| + | Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.'<br> | ||
| + | It is not the narrative voice of the ''poem'' that says "Beauty is truth, truth beauty." It is the ''urn'' that says this ''to'' the narrator. The narrator is certainly ''moved'' by the urn, but it is by no means clear that the narrator fully agrees. | ||
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Like, "Most pollution comes from trees," a remark attributed by Anderson supporters to [[Ronald Reagan]] during the 1980 presidential campaign. | Like, "Most pollution comes from trees," a remark attributed by Anderson supporters to [[Ronald Reagan]] during the 1980 presidential campaign. | ||
Revision as of 16:50, April 21, 2007
It's too political. (Discuss)
An out of context quotation is a kind of discrediting attack which attempts to "use a person's words" against them. "Putting words in someone's mouth" is another example. Sometimes, even a subtle change in wording can radically change what the speaker meant to say.
For example: as quoted in an advertisement for the film Be Cool:
- "...Travolta is as smooth as ever..." —Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times
The actual review:
- "[John Travolta's character Chili] Palmer is back in 'Be Cool,' and although Travolta is as smooth as ever, the picture is a bust, a grimly unfunny comedy with no connection to reality, and worst of all, running on and on for two dismal hours."[1]
Here is a subtle example. What is wrong with this?
- "Beauty is truth, truth beauty" wrote the Romantic poet John Keats in "Ode on a Grecian Urn." That famous citation, which expresses 19th-century Romanticism's trust in feeling over reason, is pertinent in the case of Anne Carson's newest volume...[2]
What can be wrong with this, probably the most famous line Keats ever wrote? The missing context here is an additional set of quotation marks: the actual closing lines of the poem are:
When old age shall this generation waste,
Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe
Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say'st
'Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.'
It is not the narrative voice of the poem that says "Beauty is truth, truth beauty." It is the urn that says this to the narrator. The narrator is certainly moved by the urn, but it is by no means clear that the narrator fully agrees.
Like, "Most pollution comes from trees," a remark attributed by Anderson supporters to Ronald Reagan during the 1980 presidential campaign.
Or, "She has stated that she is not impartial or balanced." (referring to Ann Coulter). Her political opponents seized upon this misquotation as an "admission" that she is partial or unbalanced in her writing, as a way of accusing her of political bias. What she actually said is that she does not pretend to be that way. [3]
References
- ↑ The Blurb Racket, Gelf Magazine
- ↑ Berstein, Richard (2001), "Books of the Times: Beauty is Truth, and Sometimes Betrayal," February 14, 2001, p. E1
- ↑ Aloi, Daniel. "Conservative pundit Ann Coulter '84 to speak May 7". Cornell University Chronicle. April 17 2006. Retrieved on July 10 2006.