Using expletives in an essay
Good day everyone!
Just a background, I am writing an essay that is formatted with APA styling.
In my paper, I have the word "shit" in it; essentially in this part of the essay, I am discussing that human beings must fulfill their lower needs before dabbling into the philosophy.
I am discussing an enviro NGO's development strategies in Post-2008 Greece. I discuss the Greek economy, the poverty, the humanitarian crisis, etc. I then explain that the environmental NGO's strategies of ad campaigns are not effective because when people are struggling day to day trying to make ends meet, they couldn't care less about the future because they are so distracted by the present, myopic, if you will. I then give a personal story at the dinner table with an elder explaining "You must eat before you shit." I then explain this quote and relate it to myopia.
My question to you guys is this:
Is using expletives appropriate? Even if I am quoting an individual and the quotation itself fits within the purview of my argument.
Edit: I also forgot, my professor read my essay about a week ago and she did not say anything about that expletive. Maybe that was because my essay was still in the editing phases and she thought I would edit it out, or she did not notice it, or lastly she did not care. Sorry for forgetting that detail.
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2 answers
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When I taught ENGL100, I advised students to minimize quotes (still maximize citations for their summaries and paraphrases unless it was to indicate "poetry or precision".
The quote you indicated definitely would count under "poetry" -- any attempt to rephrase it changes its meaning too significantly.
If there is a firm rule in the class against specific words, then I would do the NYTimes thing and write it with as few letters dashed out as possible: "sh_t," "sh--" or "s---" all get the point across, but are increasingly neutered.
Another option would be "[defecate]" -- the square brackets indicate a substitution or addition. If Bruce Wayne is talking about his good friend Clark, he may say "Clark is the best at karaoke, his voice is super!" but you may quote it as "Clark [Kent] is the best at karaoke." If he slipped and said "Superman is the best at karaoke," or if he was unclear in that one sentence ("He's great at karaoke") you can save the secret identity (or clarify who "he" is) by saying "[Clark Kent] is the best at karaoke" --
(I see Lauren Ipsum already covered the square brackets some -- I just wanted to add more context on the land of square brackets)
I would advise against adding "[sic]" (Latin for "thus") after the quote, because that's more commonly used to show "there's an error here, I know it, you know it, but I wanted to preserve the flavor." I might use it if the elder misspoke, but it seems clear that he knew what he meant to say, and the influence the would would have. If you wanted to indicate that a Martian awkwardly askedwhere the bathroom was on this boat, you might say "Where does one ship on this ship?[sic]" However, others may view "shit" as a colloquialism that should get the "sic" treatment. Check your style guide, perhaps?
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Given your quote in context, the obscenity works. It's blunt and to the point, and since you are in fact pointing out that people don't have time or energy for philosophy when they're starving, it's rather apropos.
If you're genuinely worried about the expletive, don't use a halfway substitute. Make it clear what you're censoring by using the correct term, and your readers will understand what you've done:
"You have to eat before you [defecate]."
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