Support
Using Texts for Support
It is important to take great care when using the ideas and words of others in your own essays. Using sources is necessary for most academic writing, and, if done well, makes your essay and your argument stronger. This guide should help you to do this responsibly and effectively. Quoting – You must follow ALL of the following five steps when using direct quotes from any source (book, internet, film, interview, etc.):
- Introduce: Include some signal that you are about to introduce ideas or words from someone else. This may or may not involve stating the author or text by name.
- Integrate: The quote should not be a paragraph or sentence unto itself. It should be so essential to your essay and your ideas that it cannot be placed anywhere but in one of your paragraphs (ideally, one where it is relevant and insightful). Quotes should also be integrated into one of your sentences. This is often done through introduction or explanation.
- Explain: Take the reader with you on this thought journey. Rephrase the gist of the quote in your own words. What term(s) or idea(s) from the text are most important to your discussion? Why? Why do you find this quote to be supporting your point (or not, as the case may be)? How does it do this? What does the quote “mean”? Make all connections between your essay and outside sources explicit. Do not expect your reader to read your thoughts or even to read between the lines.
- Cite In-text parenthetical citation must be used after all direct quotes, paraphrases, or references to specifics from another source in your essay. MLA format uses the author’s last name followed by the page number(s) without abbreviations (such as p. or pg.) after the final quotation marks and before the final sentence punctuation. Do not use a comma between the author and page.
- Works Cited: In MLA style this is usually a separate page at the end of your paper listing all sources cited in your text with the complete information as required for MLA. In this class, please include it under the heading “Works Cited” immediately following the conclusion of your essay. No separate page is needed.
Basic format for MLA works cited entry and work in an anthology. Pay close attention to the order of information, the punctuation, and the hanging indent. For a double-spaced essay, you must also double-space the works cited page.
Last name, First name. Title Should Be Italicized or Underlined. City of Publication, State orCountry if not obvious: Publisher, Year published.
LastName, FirstName and FirstName LastName. “Essay Title.” Anthology Title. Edition (if notthe first). Ed. FirstName LastName and FirstName LastName. City of Publication, State or Country if not obvious: Publisher, Year published. xxx-xxx.
Failure to properly use sources may:
Ø reduce their effectiveness, thereby reducing the overall effectiveness of your essay
Ø confuse the reader
Ø result in “free-floating quotes”; these interrupt the flow of your paper and feel disconnected from your ideas and interpretations
Ø be plagiarism, a serious academic offense which can result in course failure or school expulsion
Other ways to use the text (all of these must still include citations):
Ø Paraphrase: Rewrite an idea in your own words – ALL your own words, but still give credit to the source of the idea. This should be done in essentially the same manner in which you use direct quotes.
Ø Focus on a concept or term from the text, giving your own interpretation and/or definition with examples.
Ø Discuss an example from the text further, in another light, next to another example not in the text (could be personal).
Notes on quotes:
Ø They should be the best possible quotes for your purposes.
Ø They should not be treated as filler. They should be essential to your discussion and should enhance it in some way.
Ø They should not dominate your essay. That is, not only should your words and ideas be central to the essay, they should also physically win out over outside sources in such lovely statistics as word count or page length.
Ø Length of individual quotes should be reasonably proportionate to the size of the essay or should be as short as is effective to get your point across. If you need one part of a sentence or paragraph and another shortly, but not immediately afterwards, cut out the unnecessary section and replace it with ellipses (. . .).
Ø If you need to make a minor change to a quote which does not alter it in any significant ways, indicate your change with brackets [ ]. This can include changing verb tenses to better integrate a quote into your sentence, adding a specific detail or name indicated in the text but not directly stated in that direct quotation. This should never be used to change the meaning, intention, or tone of a source.
Ø They and their author(s) should be used with respect, even if you are arguing with them.
Ø If a quote is four lines or more, it should be set apart from the text of the essay by indenting one inch on the left margin; no quotation marks are needed. The parenthetical citation goes outside the final punctuation. Quotes of this length should be used sparingly, if at all, in your essays for this class. These quotes should still be introduced, integrated at the paragraph and sentence level, explained, and cited.
Ø The first time you use a source it should have a more complete introduction, including the author’s first and last names, some reason why we should listen to or care about what this person has to say, and possibly the name of the text. Example: In Happy Times, an erudite book on pointless celebrations, economist Jack Frost, argues that “Umbrellas are the best way to keep the rain off of your parade” (348). Of course further explanation would follow. Ø After this initial introduction, all other references to this author need only use his last name. When the source (author or title) is clearly indicated in the sentence or immediately before, the parenthetical citation need only give the page number(s).
Ø Challenge yourself to think of meaningful ways to introduce a quote. While “said” or “wrote” are perfectly true, they may not be the most effective or evocative words. Consider: state, argue, defend, counter, agree, etc. Think about what the author of the text you are using is doing in the quote you have selected.
Ø For more information on quotation, citation, and MLA format, please see your handbook.
Forms of Support
Page numbers refer to the relevant sections of the class text Reading the World.
