The Writing Center Student Success Center

Interpreting Sources

Table of Contents

Three Types of Sources

Tertiary Sources

Primary Sources

Secondary Sources

Direct Quotes

Hanging Quotes

Successful Quoting

Integration Tips

Block Quotes

Plagiarism

Paraphrasing

The University of Texas at Dallas

This presentation was created for the Writing Center at the University of Texas at Dallas. It is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0.

CREDITS

Presenter: Shelby Vincent

Content Author: Justine White and Thomasina Hickmann

Revisions: Thomasina Hickmann and Cheri Mullins

Design: Cheri Mullins, Enrique Dryere, Justine White, Kaley McGill

Writing Center Coordinator: Thomasina Hickmann

Three Types of Sources

Primary sources offer first-hand information

about the subject under discussion.

Secondary sources are analyses of primary

source material.

Tertiary sources provide summaries of or

commentaries on secondary sources.

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Tertiary Sources

Use tertiary sources

to gain a general overview and better

understanding of your topic

to weed through large amounts of information

quickly and efficiently

Use tertiary sources for research only and not

as evidence to support your analysis.

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Examples of Tertiary Sources

Textbooks

Magazines

Reference books

written for the

general public

The World Almanac

Psychology Today

World Fact Books

Encyclopedia

Britannica

Primary Sources

Use primary sources

to explore your subject

to gather direct evidence for your claim

to serve as a basis for the formulation of your

argument

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Examples of Primary Sources

Diaries

Letters

Interviews

Artifacts

Scientific Reports

Legal Documents

Film

Visual Art

Musical Compositions

Literary works

Plays

Poems

Fiction/Nonfiction

Secondary Sources

Use secondary sources

to situate your research within a larger context

to support your interpretation or refute those

with whom you disagree

to keep up with current theory, find models for

your research, or discover other viewpoints and

alternative theories

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Examples of Secondary Sources

Scholarly Journal

Articles

Book-Length Critical

Commentaries

Biographies

Scientific reviews

Specialized

Reference Works

Primary vs. Secondary Sources

Primary Sources

Shakespeare’s “Sonnet

18”

Three Essays on the

Theory of Sexuality by

Sigmund Freud

Letter written by Marilyn

Monroe to Joe DiMaggio

Secondary Sources

Michael Pacholski’s

analysis of “Sonnet 18”

Anti-Oedipus by Gilles

Deleuze and Félix

Guattari

Norma Jean: The Life of

Marilyn Monroe by Fred

Guiles

Source as Both Primary and Secondary

Ex: 1850 review of a book published in 1849

The review is a secondary source because it

presents an analysis of a primary source (the

book).

Yet the review is also a primary source because

it expresses the cultural perspective of someone

living during the same historical period in which

the book first appeared.

Secondary Sources - Indirect

An indirect source is a concept, analysis, or

conclusion expressed by one source but located

in another. It is secondhand information.

Use indirect sources only when the original

source is unobtainable.

Use indirect sources sparingly.

Direct Quotes

Use a direct quote

when you find the wording particularly

memorable

when you need to present the original wording

as evidence

when you want to refute specific words or

phrases taken from the source

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Paraphrase and Summary

Paraphrase when you want to pay close

attention to the author’s reasoning but don’t

think the section warrants a direct quote.

Summarize when you want to give a general

overview or highlight major points of a

discussion.

Hanging Quotes

The source material must be connected to what

you say because

without the proper framework, the source’s

relation to your argument is unclear

it is better to risk overanalyzing the source’s

relevance than to leave your reader in doubt

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Successful Quoting

Elements of Integration

Introduction

Quote

Interpretation

Commentary

The challenge, as college professor Ned Laff has

put it, “is not simply to exploit students’

nonacademic interests, but to get them to see

those interests through academic eyes.”

To say that students need to see their

interests “through academic eyes” is to say that

street smarts are not enough. Making students’

nonacademic interests an object of academic

study is useful, then, for getting students’ attention

and overcoming their boredom and alienation, but

this tactic won’t in itself necessarily move them

closer to an academically rigorous treatment of

those interests. On the other hand, inviting

students to write about cars, sports, or clothing

fashions does not have to be a pedagogical cop-

out as long as students are required to see these

interests “through academic eyes,” that is, to think

and write about cars, sports, and fashion in a

reflective, analytical way, one that sees them as

microcosms of what is going on in the wider

culture (Graff 204).

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Successful Quoting: Introduction

The introduction

Introduce the

speaker.

Blend your words

with the speaker’s.

Build credibility.

The challenge, as college

professor Ned Laff has put it, “is

not simply to exploit students’

nonacademic interests, but to get

them to see those interests through

academic eyes.” To say that students need to see their

interests “through academic eyes” is to say that street

smarts are not enough. Making students’ nonacademic

interests an object of academic study is useful, then, for

getting students’ attention and overcoming their boredom

and alienation, but this tactic won’t in itself necessarily

move them closer to an academically rigorous treatment of

those interests. On the other hand, inviting students to

write about cars, sports, or clothing fashions does not have

to be a pedagogical cop-out as long as students are

required to see these interests “through academic eyes,”

that is, to think and write about cars, sports, and fashion in

a reflective, analytical way, one that sees them as

microcosms of what is going on in the wider culture (Graff

204).

Successful Quoting: Interpretation

The interpretation

If necessary,

explain what the

author means in

relation to the topic

that you are

discussing.

The challenge, as college professor Ned Laff has put it, “is

not simply to exploit students’ nonacademic interests, but

to get them to see those interests through academic eyes.”

To say that students need

to see their interests “through

academic eyes” is to say that street

smarts are not enough. Making

students’ nonacademic interests an

object of academic study is useful,

then, for getting students’ attention

and overcoming their boredom and

alienation, but this tactic won’t in

itself necessarily move them closer

to an academically rigorous

treatment of those interests. On the

other hand, inviting students to write about cars, sports, or

clothing fashions does not have to be a pedagogical cop-

out as long as students are required to see these …

Successful Quoting: Commentary

The commentary

Analyze your

reference to the

source in relation

to your central

argument.

…interests an object of academic study is useful, then, for

getting students’ attention and overcoming their boredom

and alienation, but this tactic won’t in itself necessarily

move them closer to an academically rigorous treatment of

those interests. On the other hand,

inviting students to write about

cars, sports, or clothing fashions

does not have to be a pedagogical

cop-out as long as students are

required to see these interests

“through academic eyes,” that is, to

think and write about cars, sports,

and fashion in a reflective,

analytical way, one that sees them

as microcosms of what is going on

in the wider culture (Graff 204).

Tips for Successful Integration

Blend your words with the source’s, using a tone

and language that carefully reflect the original

material.

Professor Smith criticizes…

Critic Robert Black predicts that…

Dr. Jones questions the usefulness of…

Researcher James Reed complains that…

Integration Tips

Mix things up.

Begin by interpreting.

In Zen everything has an innate

Buddha nature; it only needs to be

awakened. Buddha nature is another

word for the divine connection we all

have to the Godhead or Spirit. The

only way to awaken one's true nature

is to look within. Buddha nature

cannot be found outside the body nor

can it be discovered through

intellectual study. Huineng the Sixth

Patriarch reflected that "Deluded, a

Buddha is a sentient being /

Awakened, a sentient being is a

Buddha" (Yampolsky 180). The

Buddha nature is awakened through

enlightenment (White 3).

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Block Quotes

Integration calls for

the same elements

but a different format.

introduce with a

sentence followed by a

colon

begin on a new line,

indent only on the left,

and use no quotation

marks except when

including material

quoted by your source

Grammarian and author Joseph Williams

argues that there are specific guidelines for

sentence length and variation:

Those who can write individually clear

and concise sentences have achieved a

good deal, and much more if they can

assemble them into coherent passages.

But a writer who can’t write clear

sentences longer than twenty words or

so is like a composer who can write

only short jingles. No one can

communicate complex ideas in short

sentences alone, so you have to know

how to assemble a sentence long and

complex enough to express complex

ideas, but still clear enough to be read

easily. You can do that, if you know

some principles of sentence

construction that go beyond SUBJECTS

and VERBS, CHARACTERS and

ACTIONS. (166)

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Revised Quote

Ask yourself

questions about

clarity and relevance.

Reduce long block

quotes to the most

useful and concise

information.

Consider

paraphrasing or

summarizing instead.

When discussing sentence

length and variation,

grammarian and author

Joseph Williams argues that

“no one can communicate

complex ideas in short

sentences alone, so you

have to know how to

assemble a sentence long

and complex enough to

express complex ideas, but

still clear enough to be read

easily” (166).

Paraphrase and Summary

Focus on the concepts relevant to your research,

synthesizing the material.

Reword the source’s language.

Refashion the source’s sentence structure.

Express the source’s meaning.

Enclose any language belonging to the source within

quotation marks.

Provide a source citation.

Plagiarism

Original Text

Once civilizations had emerged in

various parts of the world, food

helped to connect them together.

Food-trade routes acted as

international communications

networks that fostered not just

commercial exchange, but cultural

and religious exchange too. The

spice routes that spanned the Old

World led to cross-cultural

fertilization in fields as diverse as

architecture, science, and religion.

Plagiarism

As Tom Standage explains, after

civilizations developed in different

regions of the world, food helped

to link them together. Food-trade

routes served as international

networks, facilitating not only

commercial exchange but also

cultural and religious exchange.

The Old World spice trade

influenced such diverse fields as

theology, science, and the fine

arts (x).

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Plagiarism

Although the plagiarized version expresses the

source’s meaning and includes a suitable

citation, it violates the other conventions of

paraphrasing.

It retains the source’s sentence structure and

appropriates language that belongs to the

source (signified by the underlined words)

without enclosing it within quotation marks.

Paraphrasing

Original Text

Once civilizations had emerged in

various parts of the world, food

helped to connect them together.

Food-trade routes acted as

international communications

networks that fostered not just

commercial exchange, but cultural

and religious exchange too. The

spice routes that spanned the Old

World led to cross-cultural

fertilization in fields as diverse as

architecture, science, and religion.

Legitimate Paraphrase

As Tom Standage explains, food

served as a link among nascent

civilizations. In the Old World, the

trade in food meant expanding

commercial opportunities, yet it

also meant the intercultural

transmission of ideas. Because

transporting food over long

distances relied on extensive

“communications networks,” it

promoted changes in belief

systems as well as developments

in the fine arts and scientific

thought (x).

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Paraphrasing

By contrast, the legitimate paraphrase

represents an acceptable version of the source.

The new version not only credits the source but

also conveys its meaning without unfairly

appropriating its language or relying on its

sentence structure.

WORKS CITED

Graff, Gerald. “Hidden Intellectualism.” They Say / I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing. 2nd ed. New York: Norton, 2010. Print.

Standage, Tom. An Edible History of Humanity. New York: Walker, 2009. Print.

White, Justine. "An Evolutionary Analogy for Enlightenment." MA Thesis. University of Texas at Dallas, 2009. Print.

Williams, Joseph M. Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace. 6th ed. New York: Longman, 2000. Print.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Booth, Wayne C., Gregory G. Colomb, and Joseph M. Williams. The Craft of Research. 3rd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago, 2008. Print.

Bullock, Richard, Maureen Daly Goggin, and Francine Weinberg. The Norton Field Guide to Writing with Readings and Handbook. 2nd ed. New York: Norton, 2010. Print.

Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 2009. Print.

Fowler, Ramsey F., and Jane E. Aaron. The Little, Brown Workbook. 11th ed. New York: Pearson, 2010. Print.

Graff, Gerald, and Cathy Birkenstein. They Say / I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing. 2nd ed. New York: Norton, 2010. Print.

Turabian, Kate L. A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations: Chicago Style for Students and Researchers. 7th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago, 2007. Print.