Quoting, summarizing, and paraphrasing English B1A Quoting, summarizing, and paraphrasing

Using Source Material Including outside source material in your own writing is a good way for you to establish your ethos as an author. Providing evidence in the form of outside sources shows that there are credible, reputable experts who also share your opinion. Their findings can lend backing to your own argument.

Quoting, Summarizing, and Paraphrasing You have three options when including source material in your writing: Quoting Summarizing Paraphrasing

Quoting You should quote, or include direct words from a source in your own paper, when the language is especially memorable or beautiful, and to alter it in any way would detract from its power. Direct quotes should take up no more than 15% of your overall essay.

Abbreviating Quotes If you want to take words out of a quote to make it shorter WITHOUT altering the meaning of the quote, you may do so by adding ellipsis marks. Original Text: “None of these conflicts about self presentation are new to adolescence or to Facebook” (Turkle 600). According to Turkle, “None of these conflicts…are new to adolescence or to Facebook” (600).

Practice Abbreviate the following quote using the ellipsis “A 2010 analysis of data from over fourteen thousand college students over the past thirty years shows that since the year 2000, young people have reported a dramatic decline in interest in other people. Today’s college students are, for example, far less likely to say that it is valuable to try to put oneself in the place of others or to try to understand their feelings” Sherry Turkle Alone Together pg. 611.

Example Answer Sherry Turkle, author of the book Alone Together, explains, “Today’s college students are…far less likely to say that it is valuable to try to put oneself in the place of others or to try to understand their feelings” (611).

Adding to Quotations If you need to for the sake of clarity, you can add material to quotations by including that material in brackets. Turkle explains, “Tethered selves, they [adolescents] try to conjure a future different from the one they see coming by building on a past they never knew” (604).

Practice Add material in brackets to the following quotation. “Young children—in spite of all kinds of advertising to the contrary—require few possessions. What they do need, in seemingly unquenchable quantities, is the loving attention of their parents” Sandra Steingraber, “The Organic Manifesto” pg. 461

Example Answer Sandra Steingraber, author of “The Organic Manifesto”, explains that, “Young children—in spite of all kinds of advertising to the contrary—require few [material] possessions. What they do need, in seemingly unquenchable quantities, is the loving attention of their parents”(461).

How to Use Source Material Whenever you use a source, you should keep in mind three important rules: Introduce Cite Explain The handy acronym ICE can help you remember.

Introducing You should always introduce a source before you include it in your writing to make sure your audience knows where the information is coming from. The very first time you mention a source, you need to give it a complete introduction, including The author’s first and last name The author’s relevant qualifications The full title of the book or article A brief summary of the book or article. Remember to keep this relevant to how you will be using the source in your own writing.

Signal Phrases After your initial introduction of a source, you will use an abbreviated intro. called a signal phrase to introduce subsequent references to that source. A signal phrase consists of the author’s last name and an appropriate verb. Jones explains Smith argues Rutherford elaborates Your audience should remember who Smith is from your previous introduction, and therefore won’t need to have it repeated.

Punctuating Introductions When introducing a source with an independent clause, use a colon Friedman provides a challenging yet optimistic view of the future: “We need to get back to work on our country and on our planet” (25). When introducing a source with a signal phrase, use a comma Mark Twain once declared, “In the spring I have counted one hundred and thirty-six different kinds of weather within four and twenty hours” (55). When blending a quotation in to your own sentence, no punctuation is needed Virginia Woolf wrote in 1928 that “a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction” (4).

Punctuating Introductions Your signal phrase might come at the end of the quote rather than the beginning. If so, include the comma inside the quotation marks. “Most scientists concede that they don’t really know what ‘intelligence’ is,” Staples argues (293). If your signal phrase is in the middle of an interrupted quote, use commas to set off the signal phrase. “With regard to air travel,” Ambrose notes, “Jefferson was a full century ahead of the curve” 53).

Practice Introduce and cite the following quotes using the method indicated in the parenthesis. “Animals do have the ability to suffer and feel pain just as we do, so why do we continue to exploit them?” Claire Miller “Eating Vegetarian and Making a Difference” para.1 (first time using source, use an independent clause to introduce). Claire Miller, author of “Eating Vegetarian and Making a Difference”, defines animals as feeling beings: “Animals do have the ability to suffer and feel pain just as we do” (par. 1).

Practice “Psychologists, parents, educators, and politicians frequently talk about how important it is to teach kids media literacy so they can critically use, produce, and evaluate media. Evidence suggests that this is not a skill that should be reserved for the young” Pamela Brown Rutledge, “Social Media Addiction: Engage Brain Before Believing” para. 2. (Use an interrupting signal phrase in the middle of the quote) “Evidence suggests,” argues Brown Rutledge, “that this is not a skill that should be reserved for the young” (par. 2).

Practice “During the past two decades, there has been an explosion in our ability to access and afford highly palatable foods. Restaurants—where Americans spend 50% of today’s food dollar—sit at the epicenter of this explosion” David A. Kessler “The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite” pg. 499. (Blend the quote into your sentence) Kessler notes that “there has been an explosion in our ability to access and afford highly palatable foods” (499).

Practice “When a conversation takes a turn we don’t like, we usually think of ourselves as reacting to an offense that the other person initiated. We rarely stop and think about whether the other person was reacting to us, or what further response our reaction will provoke” Deborah Tannen “You’re Wearing That? Understanding Mother’s and Daughters in Conversation” page 164 (Include a signal phrase after the quote). “We rarely stop and think about whether the other person was reacting to us” Tannen argues (164).

Citing MLA formatting uses two different citations: in-text and works cited. An in-text citation should be included after every direct quote, summary, and paraphrase. In-text citations should include the page number where that quote appears in the source. The period for the end of the sentence should come after the citation. Turkle illustrates that “online communication also offers an opportunity to ignore other people’s feelings” (599).

Citing Exceptions Remember that you should always introduce your source material. If for some reason, though, the author’s last name is not included in the text of your sentence as part of a signal phrase, then it should also be included in the in-text citation. To our detriment, “we invent ways of being with people that turn them into something close to objects” (Turkle 597). If you have a source without page numbers, use paragraph numbers instead. To our detriment, “we invent ways to being with people that turn them into something close to objects” (Turkle par. 15).

Explaining Source material is included as evidence to support your argument. Rather than letting it “speak for itself,” you should always explain its relevance in terms of your argument. How does it support your thesis? Why did you include it? This means that you should never end a paragraph with a citation—you should always include your explanation of the significance of the source within the context of your paper.

Final Thoughts Direct quotes should make up about 10% of your paper, and absolutely no more than 15%. As such, you should use quotes sparingly. Thus, blocked quotes should be rare. Use paraphrases and summaries to include other necessary source information. Remember ICE!