Original Passage “Students frequently overuse direct quotation in taking notes, and as a result they overuse quotations in the final paper. Probably only about 10% of your final manuscript should appear as directly quoted matter. Therefore, you should strive to limit the amount of exact transcribing of source materials while taking notes” (Lester 46). Lester, James D. Writing Research Papers. 2nd ed. (1976): 46-47.

Paraphrase Restate the passage in your own words. Make sure to include all of the relevant details.

Summarize Restate the main idea of the passage in one or two sentences. You do not need to include all of the relevant details.

A Legitimate Paraphrase In research papers students often quote excessively, failing to keep quoted material down to a desirable level. Since the problem usually originates during note taking, it is essential to minimize the material recorded verbatim (Lester 46).

An Acceptable Summary Students should take just a few notes in direct quotation from sources to help minimize the amount of quoted material in a research paper (Lester 46).

A Plagiarized Version Students often use too many direct quotations when they take notes, resulting in too many of them in the final research paper. In fact, probably only about 10% of the final copy should consist of directly quoted material. So it is important to limit the amount of source material copied while taking notes.

Compare Students frequently overuse direct quotation in taking notes, and as a result they overuse quotations in the final research paper. Probably only about 10% of your final manuscript should appear as directly quoted matter. Therefore, you should strive to limit the amount of exact transcribing of source materials while taking notes. Students often use too many direct quotations when they take notes, resulting in too many of them in the final research paper. In fact, probably only about 10% of the final copy should consist of directly quoted material. So it is important to limit the amount of source material copied while taking notes.

Citing Sources Any information you give within your essay that is not “common sense” needs to be cited. Citing sources is a way of acknowledging the hard work and professionalism of writers and researchers. Put the citation in parentheses at the end of the sentence containing the cited information. The parentheses should go inside the sentence. If using a direct quote, the parentheses should go after the end quotation mark and before the period. Use the author’s last name or the title of the work you are citing. If using a print text, include a page number. If using a web source, page number is not necessary. The URL or web address is not required in MLA style.

Correct or Incorrect? 1. Dublin is the largest city in Ireland and has a population of over four million (Aker 15). 2. Michigan has the longest continuous coastline of any state in the lower forty-eight. (Clark) 3. “The United States is the fourth largest country in the world (“Geography of the US”).” 4. “California has a climate similar to north central Italy” (Medley 45). 5. New York City was originally founded by the Dutch in the 17th century and was called New Amsterdam (a brief history of NYC. 6. North Carolina was named after King Charles II of England (Little). 7. Australia is considered an “island continent”. 8. The Central American country of Belize was formerly known as British Honduras (Julian 44.) 9. “The Athabascan people of central Alaska have approximately 200 words for snow” (“Words for Snow”). 10.Texas was an independent republic before it became a US territory and later, a state. Wertz

Answers 1. Correct 2. Incorrect (citation goes inside the sentence) 3. Incorrect (parentheses come after the quotation mark) 4. Correct 5. Incorrect (no end parentheses, title not in caps or quotation marks) 6. Correct 7. Incorrect (no citation) 8. Incorrect (period goes after the parentheses) 9. Correct 10. Incorrect (no parentheses, citation goes inside the sentence)