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The document discusses how to incorporate evidence from sources into writing, including using quotations, paraphrasing, and summarizing. It covers how to properly cite sources using quotation marks and citations. It also provides guidance on integrating sources through reporting verbs and focusing on the author or information.

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lmhowf16092005
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8 views

Script TT Aen

The document discusses how to incorporate evidence from sources into writing, including using quotations, paraphrasing, and summarizing. It covers how to properly cite sources using quotation marks and citations. It also provides guidance on integrating sources through reporting verbs and focusing on the author or information.

Uploaded by

lmhowf16092005
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Incorporating evidence with quotations, paraphrases and summaries

Now we’ll turn to the actual mechanics of how to incorporate evidence in your writing.

1. Quoting
- Quoting involves using the exact words of another. When you use a quotation in your
writing, you are inserting another person’s work, word-for-word, into your own without
changing
- These direct quotations must be accurate; they must follow the wording,
spelling and punctuation of the original source.
- When quoting, always provide the citation (author, year and specific page/s) in your
text and put them in the reference list at the end of your text. (following APA7
system)
- Generally speaking, direct quotations should constitute less than ten percent of the
work. Also, quotations are not counted in the word limit => Don’t write paragraphs
that look like a collection of quotations.

- There are many ways to incorporate quotations into your argument:


a. Short quotations:
- Short quotations of a word, phrase or sentence/s are
incorporated seamlessly into your text and are enclosed in
quotation marks, and depending on which referencing style
you follow, they are either single (Harvard) or double (APA).
- the quoted material, from an American source, retains the
American spelling.

b. Long quotations:
- more than forty words are lead into the quotation with a colon
- They are displayed in a freestanding block set off from the
main text by a line space above and below
- These 'block' quotations are indented one centimetre from the
left and right margins and do not use quotation marks
around the quoted material.
- It is acceptable to cite the date and page either after the
author, or at the end of the quote.
Changes from the source:
The first letter of the first word in a quotation may be changed to a capital or lower
case letter. The punctuation at the end of a sentence may be changed to fit the
syntax (grammatical arrangement of words).

Omitting material:
It is quite acceptable to omit some material from a direct quote. When doing so, use
three ellipsis points (...) within a sentence to indicate that you have omitted material
from the original source. Four ellipsis points are used if a full stop was in the
original work.

Inserting materials:
- This practice is also acceptable. When inserting material, use square
brackets, not parentheses, to enclose material inserted in a quotation:

Use of [sic]
- [Sic] is used when the writer notes a mistake in the author's original work,
such as grammar, spelling and sexist language.
Intergrating quotations:
- When students use quotations, they often make the mistake of not
integrating the quotation into a well-formed sentence or paragraph.
Sometimes sentences are copied from sources and written without
any links to the preceding or following sentences.

Paraphrasing
- Paraphrasing is a good way to demonstrate that you have understood your
sources.
- Unlike a direct quotation, a paraphrase brings another’s ideas into your
writing, but not their exact words. It is more detailed than a summary,
because it is not so closely focussed on main ideas.

Six steps to writing an effective paraphrase:


1. Read and reread the original material until you understand its meaning.
2. Set the original aside and take notes, using synonyms for key words. Note
technical words do not have to be changed. Write your paraphrase from
memory and your notes.
3. Jot down a few words below your paraphrase to remind you later how you
envisage using this material. At the top of your notes, write a key word or
phrase to indicate the subject of your paraphrase.
4. Check your version with the original to make sure that it accurately expresses
all the essential information in a new form.
5. Use quotation marks to identify any unique term or phraseology you have
borrowed exactly from the source.
6. Record the source (including the page) in your notes so that you can credit it
easily if you decide to incorporate the material in your paper.

Problems with paraphrasing:


- The following extract is from an original source. Below this is an extract from a
student's essay – this example has been plagiarised from the original source.
Compare the two texts:
-

- In the student's example, you can see that many of the same words have been used
— there has been very little effort to paraphrase the content and no
acknowledgement of the source has been provided. Below is a suggested rewording
for the student's essay that does not plagiarise the original passage:

Summarising:
- Summaries, basically, are made up exclusively of the main ideas of a text
using your own words.
- They present a broad overview, usually much shorter than the original text.
- Often, summaries identify the author's purpose or thesis as well as the
author's approach.
- When writing a persuasive analytical piece of work, a summary must be
based on a logical structure that is your own way of seeing the topic. It must
use authoritative research literature in order to support your way of seeing the
topic. You have to choose those ideas from the literature that are useful to
support your thesis and show the inadequacies of other ideas that contradict
your thesis. There is no point in just summarising what various authors have
all said.
Introducing evidence: author or information focus?
- There are two main ways you can choose to introduce your paraphrases, quotations
or summaries. This evidence can have an:
author focus: where the cited author is part of the sentence and only the year is
placed in brackets. This occurs when you wish to make the author an explicit part of
your point or explanation. This is useful when comparing writers or theorists.
EX: Beder (2002) argues that a corporate agenda dominates discussion about the
state of the environment
information focus: where the author is included in the brackets along with the year.
This occurs when you wish to make the issue, topic or your point of view the focus,
and use the sources for support.

EX:
- It is argued that a corporate agenda dominates discussion about the state of
the environment (Beder, 2002).
- A corporate agenda dominates discussion about the state of the environment
(Beder, 2002).

Reporting verbs and phrases to introduce quotations:


Whether you are introducing quotations or paraphrases, reporting verbs and phrases
help to integrate the source material smoothly into your text. Reporting verbs and
phrases have several purposes:
- introduce the quotation
- identify the source of the quote
- interpret the cited author’s attitude towards the quoted material.
When introducing a quote, therefore, it is important to choose an appropriate reporting verb.
Below are some common verbs and phrases to introduce another author's facts or ideas,
opinions or arguments, suggestions or research results.

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