CHAPTER 6 THE IMPORTANCE OF AUTHORITATIVE SOURCES 151

6.9.1.2 Block Quotations Block quotations are direct quotations that are
longer than forty words (APA format), or longer than four sentences (MLA for-
mat). In APA format, when a quotation is longer than forty words, it’s indented
and double‐spaced. You don’t use quotation marks, and you place a period at the
end of the quotation. The page number comes after the period and should be
placed in brackets—e.g., (p. 40)—with no period after the page number.
Keep in mind that block quotations should not be used as a way to make
your essay longer. You should use block quotations sparingly. Attempting to arti-
ficially inflate the size of an essay with unnecessarily lengthy quotations is not
going to fool anybody.

Example of a block quotation

Brown (2008) found that
cell phone use among teenagers (aged 14–18) has increased 100 percent in the
last ten years. Before that time, teens did not have access to cell phones. The rise
in cell phone use can be attributed to several factors: (1) the relative cost of cell
phones has decreased in the last ten years; (2) more parents are purchasing cell
phones for their children as a way to stay in contact with them; and (3) more
teens are working and can afford their own cell phones. (p. 50)
The ease with which teens can obtain a cell phone has led to an increase in their
use. This has created problems in schools, where teachers and administrators are
scrambling to put rules into place to limit the use of cell phones in classrooms.

In the example above, you’ll notice that the writer signalled the use of a
block quotation in a number of ways. The first and most obvious of these was
the indentation of the quotation. The second way in which the direct quotation
was identified was by the introduction of the original author. The writer of the
example used the phrase Brown (2008) found that to indicate that the words fol-
lowing belonged to Brown. You should also notice that the writer did not leave
the block quotation to make the argument, but instead wove the information
into the text that surrounded it by explaining the quotation’s significance: The
ease with which teens can obtain a cell phone has led to an increase in their use. This
has created problems in schools where teachers and administrators are scrambling to put
rules into place to limit the use of cell phones in classrooms. Quotations should not be
expected to speak on your behalf. They are meant to support your argument.
They are not meant to replace it. This is particularly true with block quotations.

6.9.1.3 Summary and Paraphrase Incorporating evidence into your paper

requires you to make decisions about the best way to introduce the external
information you find. In the section above, you learned to place direct quota-
tions in your essay. There are times, however, when you may want to use another
individual’s ideas but express those ideas in your own words. In those instances,
you can use a paraphrase or summary. Each has its own particular advantage:
a. The advantage of a paraphrase is that it permits you to weave the idea
into the text seamlessly.
b. The advantage of the summary is that it permits you to capture the
main themes of a book or article in relatively few words.
152 PLANNING

Paraphrase and summary employ similar methods. Both permit you to take the
original author’s ideas and restate them in your own words. There are rules, of
course. In the case of the paraphrase, for example, you’re expected to go beyond
a mere tinkering with one or two words (if that’s your intention, you might as
well quote it directly). In addition, whether you’re writing a paraphrase or a sum-
mary, you’re obliged to remain true to the original author’s intent. You cannot
alter the author’s meaning to suit your own purposes. You may analyze the infor-
mation, but you cannot change its meaning. Finally, though the material is not
being presented in its original form, it still represents another individual’s ideas.
You are, therefore, still required to cite the source.

Paraphrasing You may choose to paraphrase rather than quote directly when
you think you can state an idea more clearly and concisely using your own words
or when you find that it’s difficult to integrate the quotation smoothly. As we’ve
already noted, your paraphrase needs to be faithful to the intention of the ori-
ginal writer (i.e., you cannot change the meaning of the article to suit your own
purposes). You cannot, however, be so faithful that you simply change a word or
two, or replace key words with synonyms. If you’re going to paraphrase, you must
rework and rephrase the material in your own words. One of the ways in which
you can ensure that you’re paraphrasing properly is to put some distance between
yourself and the original text. For example, you might find it useful to read the arti-
cle first and then put it away while you try to express the ideas in your own words.
When paraphrasing, it’s important that you clearly signal where your para-
phrase begins and ends. You do this by referencing the author and the year of
publication at either the beginning or the end of the paraphrase. The original
source of the ideas deserves credit even when you’re paraphrasing. If the author
uses words or phrases that are distinctive, you may even choose to put those
words in either italics or quotation marks.

Example of a Paraphrase
This is a paraphrase Kehler (2011) has argued that university students should be free to make their
of Kehler’s findings. own decisions about attending class. He reported that the students he surveyed
Note the way in
gave a variety of reasons in support of the position that they should be the ones to
which the para-
phrase is introduced. make the decision of whether to attend or not attend class. In the survey,
The idea has been 60 percent of the students agreed or strongly agreed that, because they were adults
attributed to Kehler. and capable of making their own decisions without interference from other adults
such as parents and instructors, the decision should be theirs. A study conducted
by Hopkins (2012) found comparable results. Hopkins surveyed students at a
large Canadian university and reported that upper‐year students (those who were
in their third or fourth year) were more likely to attend class than were first‐year
students. Fifty‐five percent of first‐year students admitted to missing three or more
lectures in a thirteen‐week class, while only 10 percent of fourth‐year students
admitted to missing three or more classes. Hopkins concluded that upper‐year
students do not miss as many classes as first‐year students.

Summarizing The difference between a summary and a paraphrase is that a

summary is meant to capture the essence of a large section of text while a para-
phrase is intended to represent an author’s expression of one or two smaller
 CHAPTER 6 THE IMPORTANCE OF AUTHORITATIVE SOURCES 153

ideas. Summarizing follows a similar process to paraphrasing, with the principal

difference being the greater degree of compression. When summarizing infor-
mation to use in your essay, it may be helpful to follow these steps: (1) read the
article or section of the article, (2) read it again, underlining or highlighting the
main points, and then (3) put the article away and try to capture a general sense
of the section you’re summarizing in one, two, or three sentences. A summary
should be a thorough, balanced, and objective encapsulation of the main themes
of the original text.

Example of a Summary
Kehler (2011) argues in this article that university students should not have to
attend classes if they choose not to do so. He gives several reasons to support his
position: (1) university students are considered to be adults and, thus, should be
permitted to decide for themselves the importance of class attendance; (2) stu-
dents are, essentially, consumers of education and are entitled to decide how they
will employ the product they purchased; (3) students do not perceive attendance
to be a requirement if instructors do not take attendance; (4) some students will
not perceive a need to attend classes if lecture notes are posted online; and
(5) students may not feel that they have to attend the lectures if the material
requires little more than rote learning.
Kehler also provides evidence for the benefits of attending class, suggesting
that: (1) lectures are more detailed discussions of the themes being addressed
in a course and, thus, some material will not be available in the online notes;
(2) opportunities for participation in class discussion and interaction with
other students and the instructor are only available in the classroom;
(3) assignments are often explained and elaborated upon in class; (4) questions
that emerge from the lecture can be addressed immediately; and (5) films,
guest speakers, and other presentations are usually only available to students who
attend class.
Kehler concludes that, despite the benefits of classroom attendance, students
must be permitted to make the decision to attend class or not. In the computer
age, mandatory attendance policies do not have the relevance they once did.

6.10 THE EFFECTIVENESS OF USING LO 2, 3, 4

CHARTS, TABLES, PHOTOGRAPHS,

AND ILLUSTRATIONS AS EVIDENCE
There are some advantages to using charts, tables, photographs, and illustra-
tions as evidence. Charts and tables have an authority that derives from their
apparent objectivity. Photographs testify to the fact that a recorded event did, in
fact, occur. Illustrations often help the reader to visualize a particular point. It’s
important to remember, however, that information only becomes evidence when
the writer explains its significance. Dumping raw information on the page with-
out explaining its significance doesn’t help as much as you think (and though a
picture may be worth a thousand words, those words usually don’t help with the
required word count in an essay).