1. Using Evidence to Support your Argument
Íde O’Sullivan, Lawrence Cleary
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2. Academic-writing workshops
Strategies to develop your writing
Analysing the assignment title and developing a plan
Developing an effective thesis statement. Methods of development and organisation of ideas
Using evidence to support your argument
Tuesday, 16-17, CG-054
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3. Writing support: Drop-ins for students
Visit our website ( to check out our tutors and make an appointment.
Drop-in to the Writing Centre, C1-065
Mon — – 4.30 pm
Tues – 4.30 pm
Wed – 5 pm
Thurs – 5 pm
Fri —
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4. Regional Writing Centre
Outline
Evaluating/choosing appropriate evidence
Choosing quotations to support your argument
Avoiding plagiarism
How to integrate quotations into your own writing:
Direct/indirect
Integral/non-integral
Language and punctuation to introduce quotations
When to quote, summarise, paraphrase
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5. Evaluating/choosing appropriate evidence
What types of evidence are appropriate/important in your discipline?
Primary sources v secondary sources
Critically analyse information sources:
Author, date of publication, publisher, title of journal
Content, audience, reasoning, coverage, style, evaluative reviews
Focus your reading – read critically
Do not only describe evidence, but evaluate and interpret it also.
Examples, statistics, quotations
Using the internet.
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6. Evaluating/choosing appropriate evidence
Premise - Conclusion
Valid v sound v strong arguments
Poor/weak/invalid arguments
Fallacies (faulty reasoning)
Fact v probability (degrees of certainty)
Fact v opinion (objective truth v subjective truth)
Absolute v relative truths – some/all
Bias
Persuasion v truth
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7. Reporting the work of others
Making use of the ideas of other people is one of the most important aspects of academic writing because
it shows awareness of other people’s work;
it shows that you can use their ideas and findings;
it shows you have read and understood the material you are reading;
it shows where your contribution fits in;
it supports the points you are making.
(Gillet, 2005)
Essential skill.
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8. Evaluating/choosing appropriate evidence
Record the author’s name, the title of the book, chapter, article, etc., the date of publication, the place of publication, and the page(s) on which the borrowed information is found.
Inserting outside information into your writing:
Quoting
Paraphrasing
Summarising
Synthesising
It is important to know how to use these sources without committing plagiarism.
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Avoiding plagiarism
“If you read a relevant point in a book and want to use it in your essay, you must reference it (say where it came from)” (LSU / MIC, 2004: Online).
This is true whether you quote a source, paraphrase it, or summarise it. If you use another’s words, ideas, or method of organisation, you must credit that author by citing the source in the text of your writing and referencing it at the end of your essay/report.
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Avoiding plagiarism
It is very important when you do this to make sure you use your own words, unless you are quoting. You must make it clear when the words or ideas that you are using are your own and when they are taken from another writer.
You must not use another person's words or ideas as if they were your own: this is Plagiarism and plagiarism is regarded as a very serious offence (Gillet, 1995: Online).
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Avoiding plagiarism
Plagiarism is taking another
person's words or ideas and using
them as if they were your own. It
can be either deliberate or
accidental. Plagiarism is taken
very seriously in higher education
institutions throughout the world.
No need to say much more, except ‘DON’T DO IT!!!’
If even a small section of your work is found to have been plagiarized, it is likely that you will be assigned a mark
of '0' for that assignment. In more serious cases, it may be necessary for you to repeat the course completely. In
some cases, plagiarism may even lead to your being expelled from the university (Gillet, 2004: Online).
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12. Regional Writing Centre
Avoiding plagiarism
Why do we document sources accurately?
Doing so allows readers to find materials that you have used.
Doing so enhances your credibility as a writer.
Doing so protects you against charges of plagiarism.
[From the Department of English, Illinois State University, ‘Course Guide for English 101: Language & Composition 1’, (1997: 109)]
Recording the location of the words and ideas of others is a good academic habit. Even if a student has no intention of ever progressing past a Bachelor degree program, they must respect the conventions of the institution. Academics document sources as a way of paying homage to those whose ideas and words were worth remembering. They also do it because the convention allows easier access to the conversation for those who follow. Finally, it allows those who might challenge your work to evaluate for themselves the quality of your sources.
That you are documenting your sources establishes that you are careful enough to use information that has some basis in published research or scholarship and shows that you were curious enough and careful enough to discover what others had to say about your topic. You have attempted to join into the discourse on your subject of interest.
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13. Citing and referencing sources
The ideas or the words of those that you have read are generally recorded twice:
First, in your text (a parenthetical citation).
Second, at the end (in a reference page, marked References, or Works Cited).
The parenthetical citation in your text refers to more detailed information given in the References page at the end of your essay.
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14. Citing and referencing sources
Example:
Swales has recently withdrawn slightly from his original conception of the discourse community, arguing that "the 'true' discourse community may be rarer and more esoteric than I once thought” (1993: 695).
Reference
Swales, J. (1993) ‘Genre and engagement’, Revue Belge de Philologie et d'Histoire, 71,
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15. Citing and referencing sources
Harvard referencing style is favoured by UL and is the referencing style most often required.
The Harvard referencing style is an author-date system.
Citations in your text are references to the author of the text from which you retrieved the information that you have presented in your writing and the year of that text’s publication.
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Direct quotation
Example:
Swales has recently withdrawn slightly from his original conception of the discourse community, arguing that "the 'true' discourse community may be rarer and more esoteric than I once thought” (1993: 695).
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Direct quotation
Direct quotation of whole sentences or just one or two words (exact words)
Quoted information is enclosed by double-inverted commas (“…”).
The text quoted is sacrosanct.
Do not change spelling (i.e. American to British) or punctuation.
Do not correct spelling and punctuation.
Sic enclosed in square brackets, [sic], is inserted into the quote, after the error, to indicate to the reader that the error was not yours.
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18. Integrate quotations into your own writing
Direct v indirect
Integral v non-integral
Language for reporting-
Punctuation
Commas/full stops
Ellipsis
Square brackets
Quotation within a quotation
Page numbers
Quotations in text
Block quotations
Using the abbreviation et al.
What types of verbs do we use to introduce borrowed information.
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Paraphrasing
“Paraphrasing is writing the ideas of another person in your own words. You need to change the words and the structure but keep the meaning the same” (Gillet, 1995: Online).
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Paraphrasing
Example:
Original Text:
Memory is the capacity for storing and retrieving information.
Paraphrase:
Memory is the facility for keeping and recovering data.
(Gillet, 1995: Online)
Use of a thesaurus
Do not change the meaning of the original text.
Use your own words and your own sentence structure.
The length of the paraphrase is approximately the same length as the original text.
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Summary
“A summary is a shortened version of a text. It contains the main points in the text and is written in your own words. It is a mixture of reducing a long text to a short text and selecting relevant information. A good summary shows that you have understood the text” (Gillet, 1995: Online).
What is the difference between a paraphrase and a summary?
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Summary
Example:
Original text:
People whose professional activity lies in the field of politics are not, on the whole, conspicuous for their respect for factual accuracy.
Summary:
Politicians often lie.
(Gillet, 1995: Online)
Do not change the meaning of the original text.
Use your own words and your own sentence structure.
A summary is much shorter than a paraphrase.
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Synthesis
A synthesis is a combination, usually a shortened version, of several texts made into one. It contains the important points in the text and is written in your own words.
To make a synthesis you need to find suitable sources, and then to select the relevant parts in those sources. You will then use your paraphrase and summary skills to write the information in your own words. The information from all the sources has to fit together into one continuous text.
(Gillet, 1995: Online)
Whether you quote, paraphrase,
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24. Editing a reference list
Check that in-text dates and page numbers match reference list
Only enter names in reference list that you have mentioned in your text – it’s not a bibliography
Make sure that if a name is mentioned in the document that is in included in the reference list
Do a separate edit of your reference list, checking everything matches, everything is included and it is consistent
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