Using Sources

Using sources to support your ideas

SynthesizeGather Information

Integrate

Strong academic writing most often requires the use of sources to relay information beyond general knowledge and to support your own ideas and conclusions. You will learn to use sources correctly for effective engagement and to avoid plagiarism.

SynthesizeWhen you synthesize material – between one writer’s opinions and another’s or between a writer’s ideas and your own experiences – you develop new knowledge and create the material that will inform the content of your own writing.

Use the following guidelines when synthesizing the ideas of others.

Respond to sources

Connect sources Develop your own

ideas

Gather InformationAs you read, be sure to assess and organize the information in your sources. This will help you understand and synthesize the ideas.

Take notes about main ideas

Keep accurate records about how to find sources and material

Annotate as you read by underlining or highlighting important passages

IntegrateOnce you have gathered information and synthesized your sources, it’s time to put them to work!You’ll integrate information from your sources in your own essays to support your ideas and conclusions. There are three primary ways we do this:

Summary Paraphrase Direct Quotation

Summary vs. Paraphrase

Summary

When you summarize, you CONDENSE another writer’s ideas or arguments into a few sentences written in your OWN words.

You would summarize an entire chapter, essay, or book. You would NOT summarize a sentence.

Paraphrase

When you paraphrase, you restate the author’s idea in your own words keeping roughly the same length.

You would paraphrase a sentence or possibly a paragraph. You would NOT paraphrase a chapter, essay, or book.

Warning!

Be very careful with summarizing and paraphrasing your sources. You should use direct quotation most often. When summarizing and paraphrasing, follow these tips:

Only summarize what’s important for the reader to know. Remember, the essays you write should be focused on YOUR ideas; your sources’ ideas should be used only for support and context.

Be sure to put summaries and paraphrases in YOUR OWN WORDS. Using words or sentence structure that are too close to the original is considered plagiarism.

You must give credit for ALL uses of others’ ideas or words, including when you summarize and paraphrase. We’ll learn how to do this according to MLA guidelines.

Direct Quotation

When you want to use another’s words exactly as they appear, you employ direct quotation. This indicates the exactness to readers.

Most often, when using the ideas and research of others in your own writing, you will use direct quotation as support.

When to Use Direct Quotation

The language is bold or vivid

The quotation is difficult to paraphrase without losing meaning

The quotation emphasizes or explains the opinion of an expert

The quotation reinforces your own ideas

How to Use Direct Quotations

Only quote the words relevant to your point. You do not always need to quote entire sentences

Use brackets to add words for clarity or to change capitalization (see 348 and 360 LBB)

Use ellipsis marks to omit irrelevant material in the middle or at the end of a sentence (see 345 LBB)

ALWAYS provide a citation any time you use another writer’s words or ideas

Integrate Direct Quotations

Direct quotations must be integrated into the structure of your OWN sentences.

Evidence drawn from sources should BACK UP your own conclusions, not BE your conclusions.

There are some rules and guidelines to learn to help you integrate quotations:

Use commas with signal phrases to indicate a quote

Ensure punctuation is placed properly

Format longer quotes

Signal Phrases

Readers will have a difficult time following your points if direct quotations do not fit within a sentence of your own.

When a quote is not integrated into your own sentence, it is called HANGING or STAND-ALONE.

To avoid this, use signal phrases to indicate to readers that a direct quotation is coming.

*Avoid Hanging/Stand-Alone quotations in all writing!

Let’s look at an example…

“Many teenagers are experiencing anxiety and academic problems due to internet addiction” (Jones 2).

*This quote is HANGING. We don’t know who said it, and the essay writer’s words do not appear in the sentence at all.

How can we correct it?

Psychologist Bob Jones notes, “Many teenagers are experiencing anxiety and academic problems due to internet addiction” (2).

We add a signal phrase! The beginning section of this sentence, before the direct quotation, indicates to readers that a direct quotation is coming. It also tells readers WHO said the words and even provides some context for the speaker (he’s a psychologist).

Signal phrases are the easiest way to ensure ALL direct quotations are integrated. But we do want to avoid the “He said,” – “She said,” repetition.

Check out page 421 of your LBB for a list of signal phrases you can use to integrate your quotes.

Block Quotations

When a quotation runs more than four typed lines, you must use block quote formatting. Maintain regular spacing but start your quotation on a new line and indent one full inch from the left margin. You do NOT need quotation marks with a block quotation, and punctuation precedes the citation.

See page 485 in your LB Brief for an example.

Punctuation Rules with QuotationsThere are several punctuation and formatting rules that apply when using direct quotations. Let’s take a look at the most common ones.

Punctuation

Commas and periods should appear INSIDE quotation marks Example: “There isn’t enough time in the world to learn every grammar rule,” the

student said.

Periods appear INSIDE quotation marks The essay is titled “Learning about Grammar.”

UNLESS the period is following a citation, in which case the period ALWAYS follows the citation Smith argues, “Grammar is fundamental to effective communication” (24). NOTE: Periods NEVER appear before AND after a citation. There’s always only ONE

period

Sometimes, though, you WILL have two punctuation marks: when your quote contains a question mark (?) or exclamation point (!), you will use that mark and also follow your citation with a period The student cried, “All this grammar is giving me a headache!” (Jones 3).

More InformationSee pages 49-424 in LLB to

review the information covered in this Powerpoint

See pages 338-342 in LLB for punctuation rules with quotation marks