Introductions, Paraphrasing, In-Text Citations (Project Two)

7/30/2019 Introductions, Paraphrasing, In-Text Citations (Project Two)

1/14

The last few

things you

need to know

for your

researchpaper to be a

success.

INTRODUCTIONS,

PARAPHRASING,IN-TEXT CITATIONS


2/14

Most importantly, your intro needs to introduce the material in

your paper in way that interests the reader. Make them want

to keep reading.

HOWEVERdont try so hard to write a flashy intro that you

neglect to actually set up your paper (aka your argument).

Per Writing Today, when we begin reading any text, we ask

ourselves some version of the following questionsso when

you start writing, you should keep them in mind:

What is this?

Why was this sent to me? (assigned, emailed, passed, etc.)

What is this writer trying to make me believe or do?

Is this important?

Do I care about this?

INTRODUCTIONS


3/14

Your introduction should make use of the following moves

the first 3 moves should definitely be a part of your

introduction, although the order is up to you. 4 & 5 are up to

youif you think adding that kind of information will

strengthen your intro, then include it.1. Identify your topic. [What are you writing about?]

2. State your purpose. [Why are you writing about it?]

3. State your main point, thesis statement, or a question you will

answer. [What will you explain or prove?]

4. Offer background information on your topic.5. Stress the importance of the topic to your readers.

INTRODUCTIONS


4/14

In this example from WT Ch. 19, the writer makes all 5 movesand youll

notice that this introduction is more than one paragraph. Yours can be

longer than one paragraph too.


5/14

Grabbers/Hooks

Ask an interesting

question.

State a startling statistic.

Make a compelling

statement.

Begin with a quotation.

Use dialogue.

Address readers as you.

Leads

Scene setter

Anecdote

Case history

Personal sketch

INTRODUCTIONS: ATTENTION GRABBERS


6/14

Conclusions, as you probably know, need to do a lot of the

same kind of work that an introduction must dobut this time

instead of introducing, your wrapping things up.

Conclusions should be short and succinctemphasize what

you really want your reader to take away from your researchpaper.

Conclusions should make use of a combination of the

following moves.

1. Signal clearly that you are concluding.

2. Restate your main point or thesis statement with added emphasis.

3. Stress the importance of your topic again.

4. Call your readers to action (if needed).

5. Look to the future.

BONUS: CONCLUSIONS


7/14

Avoiding

plagiarism

PARAPHRASING

(& SUMMARIZING)


8/14

Paraphrasing is not just res tating the text in your own words

if thats all youre tr ying to do you should probably just use a

direct quotation.

A good paraphrase explains and describes a portion of your

source text in your own words. That means you need not justsay the same thing in a different way, but integrate what the

author of your source is saying with your own argument. A

paraphrase should be used when you can directly bring your

own argument and the information in the source -text together

in a way that is useful to your argument.

WHAT IS PARAPHRASING?


9/14

In a paraphrase any words or phrases that come directly from

your source text should be in quotation markswithin reason,

of course. You dont need to put common words in quotes, but

anything specific to that writer and his/her topic should be

quoted. For a good and bad example of paraphrasing see WT Ch . 26 p.

494-495.

PARAPHRASE CONTINUED


10/14

If you have a significant source that you need to summarize inyour paper, you need to pay attention to the following:

The sources structure

Its tone, angle, or thesis

Its style

Its underlying values Its persuasive strategies

In general, if you want to summarize you should have somemain point or idea from your source that you want toemphasize.

When summarizing, as with paraphrasing, you want to avoidrelying too heavily on the sources original wording (unless youattribute the wording to the source).

For examples of summaries see WT Ch. 26 p 496 -497

SUMMARY


11/14

IN-TEXT CITATIONS


12/14

In MLA style (or any style, for that matter), you need to cite

your sources in your paper as you use themnot just on your

works cited page at the end.

Your in-text citations (parenthetical citations as WT calls

them), will refer your reader to your works cited page andensure that you avoid plagiarism by attributing all of the

information youve gotten from your sources to those sources .

IN-TEXT CITATIONS


13/14

For a source with a known author and page numbers (even if

you got the source online), i n text citations are simple. At the

end of the material youve taken from your source (whether

thats a paraphrase or a quote), you include in parentheses

before the period (or before the rest of the sentence if youmove on to your own idea) the authors last name and the

page number on which the material appears.

IN-TEXT CITATION BASICS


14/14

If you mention the author of your source by name in a sentence,you only need to include the page number in parentheses at theend of the sentence.

If you cite more than one source in a sentence, you may includeboth sources in a single parenthetical citation at the end,separated by a semi-colo n ex. (Irving 649; Elli s 375); or you caninclude the citations where they apply within the sentence. (seeWT Ch. 27 p. 506)

For an extended look at how to write parenthetical citations for avariety of sources, see W T Ch. 27 p. 508. The chart thereexplains how to cite things like multiple authors of one source,sources without authors, etc.

HOWEVER, please note: When you have a source without pagenumbers, i.e. a websiteyou do not need to invent page numbersor include paragraph numbers as the book describesjust putauthors name (or other as your source dictates) in theparenthetical citation.

IN-TEXT CITATIONS: BEYOND BASIC

Documents

Introductions, Paraphrasing, In-Text Citations (Project Two)