March 21

THONNEY CHAPTER 8
SOURCE ACTIVITY
Summarizing
Definition:
 Briefly conveying just the essence or
main ideas of a text using different
words and sentence structure.
Documentation of the original source
is required.
Pg. 307 offers a template for writing an effective summary.
When it is useful:
 In the introduction to set the context
 In the body to support claims
 When you are trying to convey the
author’s main argument
 When you want to condense a large
amount of information into a shorter
explanation
Questions to ask for summary

 What is the central question or point of this article?

 What is the majority view concerning this question?
 What are the author’s key supporting claims?
 What examples does the author provide to support the central idea?

 Be sure to clearly identify the source of your information.

 MLA requires author’s name and page number.
 APA requires author’s name and year, but page numbers are also
encouraged.
Paraphrase
Definition:
 Conveying all or most of the details of
a sentence or short passage in
different words and sentence
structure. Documentation of the
original source is required.
Pg. 309 offers a detailed discussion of how to paraphrase.
When it is useful:
 When you want to reduce a portion of
the text
 When the wording isn’t essential to the
ideas expressed
 When you want to use the author’s
ideas to support your claims
 To make the information accessible to
a wider audience
Guidelines for paraphrasing

 Use your own words.

 Use your own sentence structure.
 Convey the author’s meaning.
 Give credit to the source of information.

 MLA requires author’s name and page numbers.

 APA requires author’s name and year, but page numbers are also
encouraged.
Quoting

Definition: When it is useful:

 Using a writer or speaker’s exact words.
Quotations are either enclosed in quotation
marks or set off as block quotations.
 When you want to let the author speak
for themselves
 When presenting a counterclaim
 To incorporate highly technical
information
 To analyze specific language or word
choice in a passage
 When paraphrasing or summarizing
would change the meaning
 To bring authority to your paper by
relying on the words of an expert

Pgs. 315-320 offer detailed instructions for how to incorporate

quotes.
Guidelines for quoting

 Integrate quotes into your writing – don’t leave them standing alone!
 Introduce or analyze information in the quote.
 Explain why the information is important to your claim.
 Don’t rely on overly long quotes to do the work for you.
 Use only what you need from the quote.
 If you use a long quote (more than 4 typed lines in your paper), format it
correctly by offsetting it as a block quotation.
 Identify the author and give page numbers for all quotations.
 Follow the guidelines for MLA or APA – both require page numbers for direct
quotes!
Altering quotes

 You can change the capitalization of the first word and alter or delete the
end punctuation – otherwise, copy exactly or note the changes.
 You can delete words from a quotation if it doesn’t change the meaning
by using an ellipsis.
 According to Miller and McCartan, “Historians are using skills learned from
literary scholars to interpret materials such as diaries, …from psychology to study
issues like the history of human consciousness.
 You can provide context for a quote by inserting words, but you must use
brackets to indicate that you have added information.
 Miller and McCartan ask, “If the most advanced research in these fields
[biology, literature, history, and business] is occurring at the crossings between
them, why is it necessary to have interdisciplinary programs?” (31).
Homework

For Friday For Monday

 Class does not meet.
 Submit your Working with Sources
homework via the course website by
11:59 p.m.
 Read Thonney Ch. 6
 Be prepared for a reading quiz.
 Outlining activity.

 Class will not meet March 28 or 30.

 There will be an online homework
assignment for each day.