Incorporating Sources: Quoting, Paraphrasing, Citing: MLA Format Writing Across the Curriculum Mr. Oakley

Incorporating Sources Quoting Paraphrasing

Quoting Repeating EXACTLY what another author or speaker wrote or said

Paraphrasing Putting a short passage from another author or speaker into your own style Paraphrasing should not alter the ideas of the original author or speaker Paraphrasing can be shorter or longer than the original passage

When Should You Quote? The style of the original is impressive The author has credibility that will impress your reader You are going to analyze the wording of the original to make one of your points

Signal Phrases or Author Tags A signal phrase lets your reader know when you are about to use someone else’s ideas (QPS) Sample signal phrases: According to Author Name,… Author Name, economist, writes: As Author Name argues,…

Avoid Plagiarism All use of sources must be CITED Style uses parenthetical citation (not footnotes or endnotes)

MLA Author-page number style Parenthetical citations include author last name and page number (Williams 64) when available. If author name is not available, whatever information is first on the Works Cited page is usually used in parentheses. Signal phrases almost always used

Quotation and Citation: MLA In MLA, whether you quote, paraphrase or summarize, the citation goes in parentheses at the end of the sentence that ends your use of the source. Put the NAME of the author, if it is available, a space, and the page number, if it is available, in the parenthesis with NO other punctuation. Put the final period outside the last quotation mark. (Brown 14).

Paraphrasing Paraphrasing might best be described as translating a passage into a new style. All evidence of the original style, including sentence structure and word choices that reveal the original author’s personal style, should be changed. Some disciplines/instructors require that the order of ideas presenting should be significantly different from the original, too.

Paraphrasing Redux Original: “Teenagers are hurt by raising the minimum wage in two ways.” Bad paraphrase: “Teens are wounded by increasing the minimum wage in two fashions.” Why doesn’t it work? Only a few words were changed. The original sentence structure is still visible.

Paraphasing Redux Cont. Original: “Teenagers are hurt by raising the minimum wage in two ways.” Paraphrase: “For two reasons, increasing the minimum wage negatively affects workers age 16-19.” Hurray!!! The sentence is different, and only the phrase minimum wage remains the same.

Paraphrasing Step By Step Select a passage to paraphrase. Read the passage until you feel like you understand it completely. Set aside the book, try to put the passage into your own organization and words. It may help to imagine an audience of a young child or elderly relative, because they will require a different vocabulary from most sources. You may include words for which there is no good synonym. Check your paraphrase against the original; it should be ACCURATE and IN YOUR OWN WORDS.

Poor Paraphrase Original: The worry on Wall Street is that the housing market is getting so weak it will crimp consumer spending, which until now has helped keep the economy afloat. Paraphrase: The concern on Wall Street is that the housing market is getting so pathetic that it will reduce consumer spending, which up until now has kept the economy from failing (Dixon, 2003).

Good Paraphrase Original: The worry on Wall Street is that the housing market is getting so weak it will crimp consumer spending, which until now has helped keep the economy afloat. Economists are concerned that consumer spending that is now keeping our national economy alive will soon be affected by the troubles in the housing market (Dixon, 2003).

Citing One of the best resources you can use is easybib.com Figure out what information is available to you: What kind of source do you have? Who is the author? Where was it originally published? When?