Paraphrasing and Using Quotations in the Body of Your Text

To incorporate material from sources into your essay, you paraphrase the

source, or you quote the source.

Quoting• What is a quote?

• Quoting involves taking a word, phrase, or passage directly from the story, novel, or critical essay and working it grammatically into your discussion. Here's an example:

Example: Quote

• In “The Scarlet Ibis” the narrator states, “I thought myself pretty smart at many things, like holding my breath, running, jumping, or climbing . . .” (Hurst 351).

Example: Quote and Interpretation

• In “The Scarlet Ibis” the narrator states, “I thought myself pretty smart at many things, like holding my breath, running, jumping, or climbing . . .” (Hurst 351). The narrator clearly values physical strength and the ability to participate in physical challenges.

Notice

• The passage from the novel is enclosed in quotes and the author and page number is indicated in parentheses

• The passage is introduced in a coherent grammatical style; it reads like a complete, correct sentence

• The quote is interpreted, not patched on and left for the reader to figure out what it means

When should I quote?

To make a particularly important point

When a passage or point is particularly well written (apt!)

To include a particularly authoritative source

How should I quote?

All quotes must be introduced, discussed, and woven into the text

A good rule of thumb: Don't let your quotes exceed 25% of your text

Paraphrasing

• What is paraphrasing?

This is using your own words to say what the author said. You also must interpret the paraphrase. To paraphrase the quote used above, you might say something like:

Example: Paraphrase and Interpretation

On the first few pages of the short story the narrator characterizes himself as strong and able when he enumerates his many physical skills (Hurst 351). The narrator clearly values physical strength and the ability to participate in physical challenges.

• When you paraphrase, you change the language of the source into your own language. Do not change a few words; change the entire sentence structure

Compare the Original Text to the Paraphrase

• Original text/Quote: “I thought myself pretty smart at many things, like holding my breath, running, jumping, or climbing . . .” (Hurst 351).

• Paraphrase: On the first few pages of the short story the narrator characterizes himself as strong and able when he enumerates his many physical skills (Hurst 351).

When should I paraphrase?

Paraphrasing is useful in general discussion (introduction or conclusion) or when the author's original style is hard to understand

Again, you need to interpret the paraphrase just as you would a quote

Mixing a Paraphrase and a Quote

• Often you can combine a paraphrase and a quotation, which can be very effectiveOriginal Text: “I thought myself pretty smart at many things, like holding my breath, running, jumping, or climbing . . .” (Hurst 351).

• Paraphrase: On the first few pages of the short story the narrator characterizes himself as strong and able when he enumerates his many physical skills including “running, jumping, or climbing” (Hurst 351).

Helpful Verbs When Quoting or Paraphrasing

• Remember, many verbs can be used to introduce quotes and paraphrases. For example: writes, says, argues, claims, insists, questions, responds, reports, admits, answers, explains, suggests, hints, implies, reveals, disputes, etc.

Now that I have included my quote and/or paraphrase into my text, how do I let the reader know the source where I got the ideas or information?

A Road Map for the Reader

• You must properly direct your reader to your Work Cited page with a parenthetical citation! This citation will tell your reader exactly where to go on your Work Cited page to find the source of this quote. The Work Cited page, in turn, directs your reader to the source.

In-text Citation (aka) Parenthetical Citation

• In MLA style, referring to the works of others in your text is done by using what's known as parenthetical citation. Immediately following a quotation from a source or a paraphrase of a source's ideas, you place the author's name followed by a space and the relevant page number(s)

• Example:Human beings have been described as "symbol-using animals" (Burke 3).

• Use the same form of citation for a paraphrase

• When a source has no known author, use a shortened title of the work instead of an author name. Place the title in quotation marks if it's a short work, or italicize or underline it if it's a longer work

• If you indicate the author of the material you are paraphrasing or quoting, you do not have to reflect his or her name in the parentheses

Human beings have been described as "symbol-using animals" (Burke 3).

• Your in-text citation or parenthetical citation will correspond with an entry in your Works Cited page, which, for the Burke citation above, will look something like this:

• Burke, Kenneth. Language as Symbolic Action: Essays on Life, Literature, and Method. Berkeley: U of California P, 1966.

Last Words of Advice

• Use quotes and paraphrases that best support your thesis

• Use the interpretation of your quote and paraphrase to connect back to and give support to your thesis

• Remember a citation is a road map for your reader. You must give your reader (in this case your teacher) sound directions or the reader may get lost.

Source

The Purdue OWL Family of Sites. 26 Aug. 2005. The Writing Lab and OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. 25 Sept. 2008 <http://owl.english.purdue.edu>.