Patterns Part 1: Do Quote Sandwiches Bite?

Teaching writing to middle schoolers and high school freshmen requires a number of things: patience, understanding, clarity, and patterns. Each writing genre has its own patterns, and teaching students these patterns or formulas, helps provide them with the basic construction blue print needed to build their essays.

"Quote sandwiches" are one of the formulas that I never fail to teach my students. They are an existing pattern for introducing evidence in essays. Students are instructed to "sandwich" the quotes that they have selected for evidence with two "pieces of bread" - the first piece being the context for the quote they are sandwiching, and the second being the analysis of the quote and the explanation of how the quote supports their argument.

The "quote sandwich" pattern helps because it promotes student understanding of the aspects required for a piece of evidence to effectively support their argument in an essay. That is, without the necessary context, the evidence will not make sense, and without a proper explanation, the reader may be left wondering how the evidence supports the writer’s claims.

So how could such an effective pattern and student writing tool be problematic? Well, if you build an essay with formulas, the outcome can often be a formulaic essay. This is fine in sixth and seventh, and even eighth grade. Students are in the process of mastering the skill, and a competent but formulaic essay at these stages is far preferable to an unsubstantiated mess of rambling ideas.

The challenge lies in working with freshmen. Some students mastered the pattern of quote incorporation in middle school, but many have not. As a result, it is necessary to cover the pattern of quote incorporation in class, insuring that students who haven't acquired the skill can do so. But it is equally crucial to find a way to teach this concept in a way that prevents student writing from being formulaic.

Quote sandwiches might be an important meal in middle school, but the more refined palates of high schoolers calls for a new and improved menu.