Unit 10

Relating Different Viewpoints

Learning Objective:

 Identify common themes and ideas in several complex readings.

LESSON
When you read a magazine or newspaper, your understanding of an article generally does not
depend upon your understanding of another article; however, reading in your college classes
will require you to be able to link one reading to another and to understand how they relate to
each other. In other words, it is essential that you identify common themes among various
sources. In the context of informational writing, themes are similar to main ideas and thesis
statements; the theme of a piece of writing is the primary subject matter it discusses. (The
word theme is used differently with respect to literature.) Recognizing themes is an important
skill as you read many pages of research that may or may not be relevant support for your
essays. It will allow you to choose evidence that works well together, even when it comes
from a number of different readings. This lesson will present strategies that you can use to
identify the relationships between several complex readings.

Understand each individual reading.

Before you can explore the relationships between readings, you need to understand each
individual reading. These techniques will help you do that.

1. Find the main idea. Use the topic, signal words, keywords, and supporting details to
find the theme or main idea of the reading. Identify the title and headings. Look for
repeated words and ideas that indicate the writer's topic and the point being made
about it. Keep in mind that the introductory paragraph and concluding paragraph are
both areas where writers tend to briefly summarize the point of the text.

2. Summarize the reading. Reduce the reading down to a simpler form. One way to do
this is to identify the main idea of each body paragraph of the reading and combine
your list of main ideas into one manageable paragraph.

3. Look for an abstract. Generally, articles in peer-reviewed journals come with an

abstract. An abstract is a summary of the article often written by the author and
reviewed by the editor of the article. The abstract provides an overview of the contents
of the reading, including its main arguments, results, and evidence, allowing you to
compare it to other sources without requiring an in-depth review. Abstracts are
excellent for research purposes because they allow you to get an overview and sense
of the source without committing to a lengthy reading. Abstracts also provide you with
a less time-involved yet accurate means by which to compare and assess the
relationship among detailed and complex writings.

4. Outline the reading. In a lengthy reading, it may be more time-effective to outline

rather than summarize. This method does not require a formal alphanumerical outline
with Roman numerals. Instead, use brief phrases and informal indenting to show the
 relevant hierarchy of ideas, thoughts, and arguments. Often this will be enough
organization to provide you with a good sense of the reading.

Find similarities between readings.

Once you understand the readings, you can compare the readings and find common themes.
Here are some things that you can look for:

1. Identify common language. Do the readings share wording? In addition to looking

for terms that are exactly the same, also look for synonyms across the texts.

2. Recognize similar subject matter. Perhaps the readings all deal with heroines or
disasters. Focus on these similarities and then dig deeper. Find points of comparison
among the subjects.

3. Look for shared tone. Are all the pieces light and entertaining or are they dark and
moody? Are they scholarly and academic or more news-oriented and opinionated?

Let's see what this looks like in practice by reviewing three short abstracts.

Abstract 1: "Pit Bulls Bite: Evidence Supports the Banning of Pit Bulls from
Community Living" by Abigail Caraway and Lindsay Dunn, The American Journal of
Animal Behavior

This essay examines the evidence supporting the ban of pit bull dogs by landlords and
condominium associations. A review of several research studies conducted across
various American urban communities reveals two key arguments: while pit bulls may
not be a "breed" per se, the dogs we refer to as pit bulls share a common tendency
toward violence, and regardless of the home environment of the individual dog, pit
bulls possess an innate propensity to be vicious and lash out and bite at any perceived
threat. While there is a movement across the country to "stop pit bull discrimination,"
the research continues to support the restriction of certain kinds of animals for safer
community living.

Abstract 2: "Pit Bulls Attack When Provoked: A Brief Look at how Pit Bulls Aren't
That Different From Other Dogs" by John Davis, The Journal of Veterinary Research
and Development

This article takes a look at the media frenzy around pit bulls. Common interest groups
supporting the movement of community living across this country have presented the
research conducted around pit bulls as blanket, unquestionable fact: all pit bulls are
vicious and will attack, regardless of the environment in which they are raised or
reside. In fact, this is biased and unsubstantiated. Pit bulls are not a "breed" per the
standard definition and nurture plays a tremendous role in their propensity toward
violence. Further, a discussion of the context of "pit bull biting stories" is necessary
toward a greater understanding of these animals altogether.

Abstract 3: "My Pit Bulls Wouldn't Hurt a Fly" by Christina Miller, Dog Breeders'
Monthly
 This article is about my experience as a pit bull owner in America. I have encountered
pit bull discrimination first hand, including being banned from apartment and
condominium communities. People just accept the media-driven assumption that all
pit bulls are vicious, mean, and will attack without provocation. In fact, pit bulls have
absorbed the burden for dog attacks in this country. Not only are pit bulls not solely
responsible for these incidents, there is research that demonstrates that it's not the
breed of the dog but the temperament and treatment of the dog owner that determines
how the dog behaves.

Now, review the abstracts using the three suggestions above to find potential similarities in
the articles.

1. Identify common language. All three abstracts use the terms "pit bulls," "vicious,"
"ban," and "communities." While a couple of the abstracts share the same language of
"lashing out" and "attack," or "media frenzy" and "discrimination," there are also
synonyms of such words or phrases used, like "dangerous," "media-driven
assumption," "provocation," and "propensity."

2. Recognize similar subject matter. All three of these abstracts focus on issues related
to banning pit bulls from communities. They also all address the subject matter of
media attention, discrimination, stories of attacks, a tendency toward violence, and the
source of the so-called propensity of pit bull violence.

3. Look for shared tone. While the first two abstracts share an academic or scholarly
tone, focused on research and studies, the latter is more personal in nature.
Nonetheless, all three reveal an opinion and take a stance on the issues around pit
bulls. Finally, while the first appears more "matter of fact" and does not address
anecdotal evidence (i.e., stories), the second does refer to the necessity for
approaching stories while looking for context and the third is a kind of story in and of
itself.

A review of these abstracts demonstrates similar thematic content. In other words, these
readings share common themes: pit bulls, public safety, discrimination, and community
living.

Finding and Evaluating Sources

Learning Objectives:

 Identify and evaluate types of evidence.

 Identify and evaluate credible sources.
 Identify reliable online sources.

LESSON
Providing credible evidence is essential for the success of any analysis or opinion-based
argument. Evidentiary support is especially crucial to the effectiveness of a persuasion essay
because you are trying to convince your readers that your argument has merit. In this lesson,
you will learn the types of evidence you can use to support your arguments and how to
identify and evaluate evidence.
Types of Evidence

You will come across three major types of evidence in your research: facts and statistics,
expert opinion, and anecdotal evidence. You need to understand that not all evidence is
considered equally strong. Facts and statistics are considered the strongest type of evidence
you can use in support of your arguments, followed by expert opinions. Use anecdotal
evidence when facts, statistics, and expert opinion are not available or in conjunction with the
other types.

 Facts and Statistics

Facts are those things that cannot be argued. An example of a fact is the statement, "It is
twenty degrees outside today." It would be twenty degrees no matter who measures the
temperature. Compare this with an opinion, such as "the cold weather is miserable."
The latter can be disputed; it is not fact that the cold is miserable. Not everyone would
agree with that statement, and it is not supported by empirical, scientific evidence.

Statistics are numbers and amounts determined through logical analysis and collection
of facts. For example, the U.S. unemployment rate fell from 7.2 percent in September
2013 to 6.6 percent in January 2014.

Remember, as with all support, all facts and statistics that you use as evidence must
come from credible sources.

 Expert Opinion

Expert opinion is relied upon a great deal in both the legal and academic worlds. Not
only is it considered convincing and reliable evidence in certain kinds of civil and
criminal trials, academics often rely upon the opinions of learned professionals in
supporting the claims of their papers or presentations.

An example of expert opinion evidence is, "Dr. Bruce Williamson, the country's leading
expert in furry black mold research, believes that furry black mold is responsible for a
larger amount of all upper respiratory infections in large urban areas than current
research suggests."

As with statistical evidence, however, be certain to verify the credibility of your expert
opinion evidence. Only use that expert opinion which is deemed accurate and relevant
to your argument.

 Anecdotal Evidence

An anecdote is a short story regarding a real-life person or event. Anecdotal evidence

differs from facts and statistics and expert opinions in that it is often informally
gathered by an individual or group rather than by scientific study or research.

An example of anecdotal evidence is, "I have resided in northern Michigan for thirty
years and I can tell you, this winter has been one of the coldest, snowiest, and windiest
we've had in over a decade."
 While anecdotal evidence is not necessarily grounded in undisputed facts, logical
analysis, or learned reasoning, it still possesses persuasive power. Utilizing the personal
human experience as a means of relaying information can make your argument more
relatable for your reader. Be sure, however, to select anecdotal evidence that is relevant
to your argument and grounded in reasonable thought or universal understanding of a
situation.

Ask yourself these questions to identify and evaluate credible sources.

In addition to identifying the kinds of evidence that are most relevant and reliable for your
writing, you need to consider the sources from which the evidence comes. For example,
suppose you want to use a statistical study from an academic journal. Once you have
established that the statistics and data themselves appear to be valid and appropriate for your
paper, consider the following questions in order to establish the credibility of the source:

 Where was it published?

This is important to consider because sources that are published by legitimate and
recognizable publishers will be considered more reliable and accurate than those put out
by unknown publishing houses. As you continue in your chosen field of study, you will
learn the trusted publishers in your field. If you are unsure whether a publisher is
legitimate, be sure to check with your instructor or a research librarian. Understanding
who published the work can also help you to determine if there may be any issues of
bias.

 Who wrote it?

In reviewing the authorship of a source, take into account three factors:

o Credentials: What degrees or professional affiliations do the authors or experts have

that support their status as reliable sources for this issue?
o Reputation: Is the individual or group who put out the evidence being cited in your
argument reputed to be an "expert," "lead," or "specialist" in the relevant field of study?
Is he or she well-respected among peers and in related communities? Does the author
have any known biases or conflicts of interest that could put objectiveness at risk?
o Institution: Is the author employed by any particular institution that may provide his or
her opinion with a greater degree of authority?

 When was it written?

Articles written and studies conducted in the recent past are likely to be more current
and more persuasive than those published a long time ago. This will be more important
in certain fields like science and technology than in history and literature.

 Who is the intended audience?

Identifying the intended audience can help you to determine if the article you wish to
rely upon is potentially biased. For example, if the article is reviewing the study of a
recently approved drug and is written by the pharmaceutical company for physicians,
you may want to consider the potential for bias. The data may be skewed or presented
 in such a way that its intention is to convince physicians to endorse a certain drug rather
than setting forth impartial evidence regarding the effectiveness or overall safety of the
drug itself.

 Does it cite other sources?

Authors that have included in-text citations and a works cited page or references page
in their articles (as you yourself will have to provide) likely have an additional layer of
credibility, as they have used the published work of others to support their arguments
and claims. Depending on the source, this information may take the form of endnotes
and footnotes.

 Are the source's sources credible?

You need to make sure that the information your source is using is reliable, as well.
This is an issue particularly when the source you wish to use is not peer-reviewed or
published by a known and credible publisher, or where the author is making claims that
are perhaps outside the "norm" for that particular field or industry.

 How is the source funded?

This question again gets to the issue of bias. When a source has been funded by an
organization, company, or even individual who may have a vested interest in the
success of the source or the persuasiveness of the claim, proceed with caution. For
instance, a cancer research center funded by cigarette companies may not be the best
place to get information on the relationship between smoking and lung cancer.

 What is the writing style?

The writing style can often tell you a great deal about the source of the article. For
example, those articles that are formally written are more likely to be from a peer-
reviewed journal. Articles written in a more colloquial or informal tone are probably
from a popular media source and are therefore less suitable as support in an academic
essay.

 Is the source scholarly or popular?

Scholarly, peer-reviewed journals are not the only type of credible source; however,
some instructors may request that you limit your sources to such journals. Journals are
often more field-specific and are comprised of articles by scholars, academics, and
professionals from that field. Journals are comparatively plainer-looking than popular
media and contain no advertising. Popular media, on the other hand, often includes
advertisements and other visual illustrations or photographs, and is made up of articles
and stories that are more news-oriented, journalistic, and opinionated than those found
in an academic journal.

Keep in mind that some instructors may require you to use peer-reviewed, scholarly
materials as evidentiary sources. In those cases, don't immediately discount non-peer-
reviewed materials. While you may not be able to cite those materials or use them as
 evidentiary support for your thesis, non-peer-reviewed articles can provide you with
links to peer-reviewed materials as well as informative background information.

Identifying Credible Online Sources

Because a great deal of the research you will find yourself conducting in the process of
writing a persuasion essay will be online, you must understand how to identify online sources
that are credible. Avoid certain online sources that may be informative and helpful for your
overall understanding of a subject but are not appropriate as cited sources for a paper.

One such example is Wikipedia, which is essentially an informal online encyclopedia. While
Wikipedia is often credited for its expert contributions and wealth of data, most college
instructors will not allow you to use information found on Wikipedia as a source in an
academic essay since its materials are difficult to verify in terms of authorship and editing.
Instead, use these websites as a starting point for your research. Many will link to reports and
peer-reviewed research. Go to the actual source of the information and use that as evidence.
To determine whether an online source is credible, ask yourself the following questions:

 What is the source's domain? The domain is the last bit of information in a website's
URL, such as, .com, .net, or .org. The source's domain can help you to locate
additional information about that site in order to determine its credibility. For
example, when the domain ends in .edu, you know you are looking at an educational
institution's website. When the domain ends in .gov, it is a government website. While
a familiar and recognizable domain name does not by any means make a source
credible in and of itself, be wary of strange and unusual domains. Remember that
putting information on the web is unlike print publishing: anyone can do it. Verifying
the source's domain is one essential step in determining its credibility.

 Is the site trying to sell something? As with print sources, be on the lookout for any
potential bias in the source. Commercial sites may provide research materials but they
are likely to present only those pieces that support their products or services. There are
also instances in which personal or professional websites or blogs contain
advertisements or links to third-party sites where you can purchase items. Again, most
personal and professional websites are promoting their own agenda.

 Is the site a news source? News source websites can be excellent places to find
materials to support your arguments; nonetheless, these sites are not necessarily
objective on all issues. While reputable news agencies will not lie about a news story,
they can express bias by choosing to print some stories and not print others.
Additionally, some news sites may permit third parties to publish opinion pieces that
the source itself does not endorse. When using a news source, be careful to identify the
author, date, and title of the piece you wish to use and verify its credibility.

Online databases can also be a valuable tool in your research. From paid databases that may
be available through your school library to free databases such as Google Scholar, you may
use the Internet to locate articles you have already identified or to search for more sources to
complement those you already have. No matter what the reason, it is important to keep in
mind that the reputation or reliability of an online database does not verify the credibility of a
source. You must still assess each source's credibility independently.
Evidentiary Support

Learning Objective:

 Identify evidentiary support in a persuasion essay.

 Determine when a persuasion essay needs more or less evidentiary support.
 Use a formal outline to identify missing evidence and analysis in a persuasion essay.

LESSON
In a criminal trial, a defendant cannot be convicted unless the prosecution is able to provide
enough relevant evidence to convince the jury that the suspect is guilty of whatever he or she
is accused of doing. In the United States, the prosecution must prove its case "beyond
reasonable doubt." If it does not, the defendant will likely walk away free. When writing a
persuasion essay, your role is similar to that of the prosecutor's. You must provide adequate
support to convince your readers that your argument has merit. At the same time, you should
not fill your essay with so much evidence that your own argument gets lost.

In this lesson, you will learn three techniques to help you evaluate whether you have provided
the right amount of evidentiary support to persuade your reader of the validity of your claim.

1. Create an outline from your rough draft.

Outlining is a tool that is usually utilized early in the writing process—before writing a first
draft—to help organize ideas and formulate arguments. However, you can also use outlining
further along in essay development—after writing a rough draft—to help identify holes in
your thinking and gaps in your writing.

2. Identify the topic sentence, evidence, and analysis in each paragraph.

Identifying the topic sentence, evidence, and analysis is a good way to evaluate the balance of
evidence in your essay. One method for doing this is to assign each element a different color
of highlighting. Then, using highlighting pens or the highlighting tools in your word
processing program, color-code the elements. For example, use red for all topic sentences,
yellow for all evidentiary support, and blue for all analysis. Once you've color-coded the
entire essay, take a look at the distribution of the three colors. If a paragraph contains only one
or two of the colors, you know you may need to add to your essay to balance it out. If you
find a paragraph is mainly evidence, you will likely need to remove it, move it within the
essay, and/or balance it out with more analysis. Ideally, you should have a good balance of
evidence to support your topic sentence—using facts, expert opinion, and anecdotes—and
your analysis should explain why your evidence is pertinent.

Example:

Opponents to organic farming argue that it is not as sustainable as its conventional

counterpart; however, new research demonstrates that organic farming's benefits
outweigh those of conventional farming. A 2011 study by the Rodale Institute reveals
that organic farming produces higher yields than conventional agriculture; and
contrary to popular belief, organic farming is also less expensive. Additionally,
organic farming contributes to healthier soil and produces less greenhouse gasses.
As you can see from the color-coded paragraph above, the author clearly stated her main idea,
and then provided evidence that supported her claim; however, she did not analyze her data to
show how the evidence supported her argument. She will need to go back and add analysis of
the evidence to balance her essay.

3. Ask another person to read your essay and ask you questions about your argument.

If you have adequate and relevant evidence that supports the claims you make, the reader will
likely not have very many questions; however, if the reader is confused about any of your
points, be open to the idea that you have not adequately defended your position. Encourage
your reader to take the opposing side to your argument. Try to defend your argument without
referring to your essay. Have your reader note any arguments that you cannot defend or any
points that you make that are not currently in your essay; these are the areas that you will need
to focus on for your final draft.

It is not possible or even desirable for all the arguments in a persuasion essay to carry exactly
the same weight. But in general, balanced arguments make an essay more convincing. Points
that have noticeably less support give the impression of weakness, and can cast doubt on the
entire viewpoint. Arguments that have too much evidence can overwhelm and bore readers.
The ideal argument has just enough evidence to be convincing and memorable with just one
reading.

Developing a Thesis and Outline for a Persuasion Essay

Learning Objective:

 Develop a thesis and an outline for a multi-page persuasion essay.

LESSON
Persuasion essays are commonly assigned in college. You may be asked to take and develop
your own position on a social issue, political topic, piece of literature, or the findings of a
scientific research study. When you receive an assignment like this, it is important that you
write a thesis and develop your supportive reasoning for that thesis before you begin research.
Shaping a thesis and the foundational arguments prior to writing your outline and essay will
help give purpose and direction to your research. You may find that your thesis shifts,
changes, or requires fine-tuning once you begin researching. That's usually the case! Keep in
mind, if you start by identifying your argument you will be able to begin your research with a
specific goal in mind. Having your end-point in mind while you are researching will save you
time and make your argument stronger. In this lesson, you will learn how to develop a thesis
and an outline for a persuasion essay.

Developing a Thesis

1. Writing an effective persuasion essay requires you to take a strong stance on the
issue at hand. Your thesis statement needs to convey your position, and your position
must be debatable. A claim is debateable when people might disagree with it. In other
words, your viewpoint is one not shared by all.
 Here is an example of a debatable thesis statement: "People cannot claim that they are
serious about the environment unless they regularly use public transportation and wear
recyclable materials."

It is debatable because there are many individuals who likely consider themselves
"serious" about protecting or conserving our environment, but for whom taking public
transportation is inconvenient, impractical, or impossible. Recyclable materials may be
expensive or difficult to locate, particularly in remote, rural locations. This stance on
environmentalism is one that could create a heated argument—a sign of a debatable
claim.

2. Making your argument debatable may require you to narrow down your argument.
Focus on specific arguments and details. Consider adding qualifiers. Qualifiers are
terms such as typically, generally, frequently, ordinarily, mostly, usually, or on
average. Using qualifiers helps focus your thesis statement while also making your
argument more nuanced. For example, rather than taking the position that "All zoos
should be shut down," you could argue, "Zoos that do not follow the regulations of the
Association of Zoos and Aquariums generally need to be closed immediately." The
addition of the qualifier generally factors in that there may be exceptions to your
position, thereby helping you to anticipate and form counterarguments. Also,
specifying the terms of closure to those zoos that do not follow those certain
regulations gives you very targeted material with which to make your argument.

3. Another means for narrowing your thesis and making it easier to defend is to add
exceptions to your thesis. If you consider your thesis to be the general "rule" to
follow, exceptions are those occasions in which a differing point of view is acceptable.
For example, instead of making your thesis statement "Walking dogs off-leash should
be outlawed," consider using "Walking dogs off-leash should be illegal except in
designated dog parks." The exception of permitting off-leash dog walking in
designated dog parks takes into account reasonable counterarguments to a blanket ban
—i.e., that there are dogs that need more exercise than walking on a leash provides,
the fact that socialization with other dogs is very important to some dog owners, and
perhaps that it is just simply far-fetched to expect that owners keep their dogs on a
leash all the time.

Developing an Outline

A persuasion essay shares many of the characteristics of other essays you will write in school.
Outlining before you write the first draft of your essay is a good way to refine and shape your
arguments. Reviewing your outline is also helpful for showing gaps in your essay where you
need more or less evidence to support your claims, or where you need more analysis to
convince your reader of your thesis.

The first section of your essay is made up of an introductory paragraph in which you present
your thesis statement. The next section includes the paragraphs that make up the body of your
essay. This is also very much like writing other kinds of essays.

Once you get into the specifics of the arguments, persuasion essays have a number of
approaches to choose from. In this lesson, we will focus on a simplified version of a
persuasion essay that begins with a description of anticipated counterarguments. The
paragraph after the introduction should provide an overview of those opposing viewpoints,
including descriptions of general claims. It is also possible to present counterarguments in the
last paragraph before the conclusion. Either way, the main body paragraphs will present your
main supporting ideas, evidence needed to support your ideas, and analysis of why that
particular evidence is essential to your argument. Last, you will want to complete your essay
with a concluding paragraph, which reiterates your thesis statement and reviews the main
points of your essay.

If you choose to introduce opposing viewpoints at the beginning of your essay, here is what
your outline would look like.

Rough Outline: Opposing Viewpoints at Beginning

I. Introductory Paragraph
A. Thesis
II. Body Paragraphs

A. Summary of Opposing Viewpoints

i. General arguments opposing the thesis
B. Main Supporting Point 1

i. Evidence
ii. Analysis showing why evidence matters
C. Main Supporting Point 2

i. Evidence
ii. Analysis showing why evidence matters
D. Main Supporting Point 3

i. Evidence
ii. Analysis showing why evidence matters
III. Concluding Paragraph

Conversely, if you choose to present counterarguments at the end of your essay, here is what
your outline would look like.

Rough Outline: Opposing Viewpoints at End

I. Introductory Paragraph
A. Thesis
II. Body Paragraphs

A. Main Supporting Point 1

i. Evidence
ii. Analysis showing why evidence matters
B. Main Supporting Point 2

i. Evidence
ii. Analysis showing why evidence matters
C. Main Supporting Point 3
 i. Evidence
ii. Analysis showing why evidence matters
D. Summary of Opposing Viewpoints

i. General arguments opposing the thesis

III. Concluding Paragraph

Once you have completed the first draft of your essay, the notion of revising and tackling a
second draft may seem daunting. However, this is one way in which revisiting your outline
can be quite useful. Expanding on your initial outline can help you more readily expand your
ideas, edit out extraneous, confusing material (that information which does not add to your
essay and may actually lessen its persuasive power), and identify gaps in your argument.

Among the additions you will want to make to the rough outline are putting in a hook and
background section in the introductory paragraph. The hook is what draws your reader in to
your essay, often a compelling idea or expressive thought. The background provides your
reader with the necessary context to understand and follow your thesis statement and essay.
Next, consider the flow of your essay. Pay special attention to transitions, including adding or
revising links connecting the body paragraphs and the final transition to the concluding
paragraph. Transitions and links work to make your essay one continuous piece by providing
the "glue" between arguments and back to your thesis statement. Finally, the conclusion needs
to summarize and synthesize the most important details of your essay. It reminds the reader of
your thesis and reinforces your main points. In the case of a persuasion essay, it is also the last
opportunity to convince the reader of your position on the issue.

Formal Outline: Opposing Viewpoints at Beginning

I. Introductory Paragraph
A. Hook
B. Tone
C. Background
D. Thesis
II. Body Paragraphs

A. Summary of Opposing Viewpoints

i. General arguments opposing the thesis
ii. Transition to support for thesis
B. Main Supporting Point 1

i. Evidence
ii. Analysis
iii. Link
C. Main Supporting Point 2

i. Evidence
ii. Analysis
iii. Link
D. Main Supporting Point 3

i. Evidence
 ii. Analysis
iii. Link
III. Concluding Paragraph

A. Synthesis
B. Final impression

Or,

Formal Outline: Opposing Viewpoints at End

I. Introductory Paragraph
A. Hook
B. Tone
C. Background
D. Thesis
II. Body Paragraphs

A. Main Supporting Point 1

i. Evidence
ii. Analysis
iii. Link
B. Main Supporting Point 2

i. Evidence
ii. Analysis
iii. Link
C. Main Supporting Point 3

i. Evidence
ii. Analysis
iii. Link
D. Summary of Opposing Viewpoints

i. General arguments opposing the thesis

ii. Transition to conclusion
III. Concluding Paragraph

A. Synthesis
B. Final impression

Paraphrasing vs. Direct Quotations

Learning Objective:

 Understand when to paraphrase and when to directly quote a source.

LESSON
As you write, it is important to provide evidence to support the claims that you make in both
your thesis statement and topic sentence. Quoting and paraphrasing source materials can be an
excellent way to reinforce your claim. While quotations and paraphrases are similar, they
should not be used interchangeably. This lesson will help you understand when it is
appropriate to use a direct quotation versus paraphrasing it.

When to Paraphrase

Paraphrase in these situations:

1. To use fewer words yet state the same thoughts as the original text.

Sometimes the choice to paraphrase a source instead of directly quoting it is a matter of being
concise. Unless the quote is exceptionally meaningful, always choose to paraphrase.

Here is an example of an original text and its paraphrase:

Original Text:

"When my car was towed for the third time this winter, I went down to the police
station and yelled, 'I've had it!' They told me to go to the impound lot and tell them
that, but I stood my ground and demanded to know, for the citizens of this community,
why our cars keep getting towed when there is no formal issuance of a snow
emergency." Lisa Johnson, Renville Daily News, D4.

Paraphrase:

The writer expressed frustration and anger regarding the towing of her car; she even
went to the police station and demanded to know why cars were being towed when no
snow emergency had been declared (Johnson, D4).

2. To emphasize your own authority.

When you quote a source, your audience's attention moves from you, the writer, to the author
of your source material; however, when you skillfully paraphrase material, the focus stays on
you and your well-supported claims.

Example:

Original Text:

"Most cities are taking a more active role in developing and maintaining assistance
programs for people who are homeless. Perhaps unrelated, but it turns out that a large
percentage of our urban homeless populations are returning combat veterans. It's hard
to understand how they can go from leading lives of total and complete structure and
selflessness to drifting from street corner to bus stop in the cold. It's also difficult to
grasp why we are not kinder or more giving to these people. I am not sure I understand
cities. Then again, I don't know if homeless people in rural areas are treated any
better." Steven Jones, Urban Development Now, page 37.

Paraphrase:
 In an article in Urban Development Now magazine, a writer argues that cities have,
essentially, a moral obligation to actively promote and develop programs for homeless
people, and that the obligation is particularly important when a large number of
homeless people are veterans who have sacrificed for their country and are now cast
adrift (Jones, 37).

3. To share information and ideas from another source and not the original language.

Many sources that you will use may contain information and ideas that are relevant to your
claim, but in language that is not particularly powerful or meaningful. In these instances,
paraphrase the information.

Example:

Original Text:

Everyone is up in arms about schools making changes to their physical activity

programs. People are crying out for more recess time. It's been said that the free time
and movement actually helps kids think and concentrate. I happen to agree with the
schools—cut the recess time. I am more interested in my child understanding fractions
and decimals than playing on the monkey bars. I want her to go to a good college. No
one gets into good colleges these days without high test scores. So that's what we, like
most parents, want to see from our schools. Helen Pierson, Daily News, page C5.

Paraphrase:

While there is a movement of parents and school personnel expressing grave concerns
about the limited physical activity of children during the school day, some agree with
the school decision to focus on academics and raising test scores (Pierson, C5).

When to use Direct Quotations

Quote in these situations:

1. To emphasize the expertise of the original author.

When you quote people who are well-regarded in their fields, their authority translates to you
and bolsters your claims; however, do not over-quote, because then your audience will
assume that you have no authority.

Example:

Original Text:

"The journey to true personal happiness is an individual one. In all my decades of

clinical work, when I ask patients to deeply consider what brings them joy, no two
answers have ever been alike. Just as our DNA is unique, so are our personalities and
our preferences." Psychologist Dr. Jerome Friend, Journey to Happiness, page 12.

Quote:
 There is not one formula for achieving true happiness because happiness is different
for everyone. As psychologist Dr. Jerome Friend observes about how his patients
describe their own happiness, "no two answers have ever been alike. Our DNA is
unique, so are our personalities and our preferences" (12).

2. To maintain especially moving or historically meaningful language.

While it is possible to rephrase Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous "I Have a Dream" speech,
it is probably unwise to do so. Particular lines from Shakespeare, the Gettysburg address, and
the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States are all similar. Sources like these have
language that is revered and will be more effective if quoted directly.

Example:

Original Text:

"So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear
itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to
convert retreat into advance." First Inaugural Address, Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Quote:

As Roosevelt said in his First Inaugural Address, "the only thing we have to fear is
fear itself."

3. To preserve a statement that is exceptionally well-worded.

Sometimes an author says something in such a way that its meaning would be weakened if we
were to put it into our own words.

Example:

Original Text:

"I was glad my father was an eye-smiler. It meant he never gave me a fake smile
because it's impossible to make your eyes twinkle if you aren't feeling twinkly
yourself. A mouth-smile is different." Roald Dahl, Danny the Champion of the World,
page 9.

Quote:

Smiles are as unique as personalities, but some smiles are more genuine than others.
As Roald Dahl describes in his famous children's story, Danny Champion of the
World: "I was glad my father was an eye-smiler. It meant he never gave me a fake
smile because it's impossible to make your eyes twinkle if you aren't feeling twinkly
yourself. A mouth-smile is different" (9).

Note that outside sources should make up no more than thirty percent of your entire essay.
Your readers are interested in your ideas, and the sources that you use should not substitute
for your claims and analysis. Additionally, be judicious in your use of quotes.
When you do choose to quote, rather than paraphrase, be mindful of transitions. An essay full
of quotations and quotation marks will be very choppy. It will help your reader if you
introduce your quotation properly and take the time and effort to explain the quotation and
how it adds to your own reasoning and arguments. Quotations should never stand alone in an
essay.

Also note that your use of quotations and paraphrases can be dictated by the discipline you are
writing for. Humanities or social science papers will tend to include several quotations, while
most science and technology papers will not.

Writing a Persuasion Essay Using Evidence

Learning Objective:

 Write a multi-page persuasion essay and incorporate research to support personal opinion.

LESSON
A persuasion essay, which is sometimes referred to as an argument essay, is one of the most
common writing assignments in college classes and is the type of writing most used in the
working world. Writing effective persuasion essays is essential to your success in college, as
well as in many aspects of your career since a resume and cover letter are types of persuasion
essays convincing someone to hire you. In this lesson, you will learn the twelve-step process
for writing a persuasion essay.

Step 1: Understand the assignment.

The first step in developing any essay is making sure you understand the focus and scope of
your assignment. Remember that a persuasion essay should incorporate research to support
your personal opinion on an issue. While the research is essential to provide evidentiary
support for your claim, the essay is not a summary of others' work. Additionally, be sure to
read your assignment carefully before you begin and refer to it often throughout your writing
process to make sure you stay on track.

Step 2: Write your thesis.

While it may be acceptable to start some essays without knowing what your thesis will be,
this is not a recommended strategy with a persuasion essay. Not only does the thesis statement
help you to identify where to begin your research, it narrows your topic so that you do not
waste time and energy researching things that you will ultimately not use.

The thesis statement of a persuasion essay requires you to strongly convey a debatable
position, which is why it is often referred to as an argument. It should be the type of statement
that you know others will disagree with, not because the statement is wildly unconventional,
but because it takes a position on a topic that is surprising or unusual to the reader.

Step 3: Research your topic.

Once you have developed your thesis statement, you are ready to begin researching your
topic. You need to gather evidence to both provide the context for your argument and to
support the claims that you make in your argument. Whether you conduct your research using
hard copies of newspapers, journals, magazine, books, or online sources such as blogs and
databases, it is essential that the sources be credible. Evidentiary support may take the form of
facts and statistics, expert opinions, or anecdotal evidence.

Step 4: Prewrite.

After gathering enough evidentiary support to begin shaping your main ideas and analysis,
some prewriting exercises may be useful in further refining how you wish to go about
persuasively arguing your claim. For example, a graphic organizer or diagram may help you
to group your thoughts and evidentiary support into appropriate subsections. A brainstorming
list is another prewriting tool you may use to organize the content of your essay. Simply begin
by writing your thesis statement at the top of a piece of paper. Then spend some time
freethinking ideas that branch off from that thesis statement. Outlining is another good
prewriting tactic. At this point, you may find you need to return to the research stage to find
evidence to support new or more nuanced arguments, or you may be prepared to begin writing
your essay.

Step 5: Write the body of your essay.

Begin writing your essay with a rough draft of the body of your essay, which is made up of
well-developed body paragraphs for each of your supporting claims. These should include
evidence from legitimate sources and explanation as to how the evidence supports the claim.
Counterarguments, which are opposing viewpoints that argue against your thesis, should also
be addressed in at least one paragraph. You can address them in three ways: as they come up
in your claims, prior to delving into your own arguments in a one-paragraph overview of
those opposing viewpoints, or after you present your claims, in a summary paragraph.

Step 6: Identify gaps in your argument.

Once you've completed the first draft of your essay, outlining your rough draft can be a useful
way to expand your ideas, remove unneeded and/or confusing material (in other words, that
which does little to add to your essay and may actually detract from its persuasive power), and
identify gaps in your argument. Additionally, consider the flow of your essay. You may need
to add or revise transitions and/or links between paragraphs in order to make your essay one
continuous and cohesive piece.

Step 7: Do more research.

At this point, you may need to do more research to fill in the gaps you discovered in the prior
step. Fill in these holes and answer any questions that your outline reveals. If you are unable
to see any gaps in your reasoning, it may help to ask a friend or colleague to review your
draft. If you have adequate and relevant evidence that you tied into the claim you make, the
reader will likely not have very many questions. However, if the reader is confused about any
of your points, you may not have adequately defended your position. Have your reader note
any arguments that you cannot defend or any points that you make that are not currently in
your essay. Focus on these questions as you further research and write the final draft of your
essay.

Step 8: Write a conclusion.

It may seem strange to write your conclusion before your introduction, but sometimes doing
this can help you focus your ideas. It is somewhat like giving directions. You need to know
where you want your reader to end up before you can lead him or her there. Remember that a
strong conclusion summarizes and synthesizes the most important details of your persuasion
essay. It reminds the reader of your thesis—without simply restating it with a few minor
changes—and reinforces your main points. In the case of a persuasion essay, it is also the last
opportunity to convince the reader of your position on the issue.

Step 9: Write an introduction.

Now that you know where you want your reader to end up, go back to the introduction and
prepare the way. An effective introduction contains four elements:

A. Hook
B. Tone
C. Background
D. Thesis

A good introductory paragraph to a persuasion essay hooks the reader with a compelling idea,
sets the tone for the remainder of the essay, provides any necessary background or context for
the reader, and presents your debatable thesis statement.

Step 10: Cite your sources.

While a persuasion essay is going to rely heavily upon your own interpretation of other
sources, it is still critical to cite your sources by incorporating attributive phrases and in-text
citations.

Attributive phrases are useful when you are summarizing, paraphrasing, or quoting a source.
Not only do they indicate to your reader that you are incorporating a source, they provide the
context for that source.

In-text citations are used in addition to attributive phrases when you incorporate a source into
your essay. In-text citations give the readers the necessary information to be able to find the
original sources listed in the works cited page or references page.

An MLA in-text citation should include the author's last name and the page number (if a
specific numbered page is referenced). If the author's name is mentioned in the attributive
phrase, only the page number should be included in parentheses. An APA in-text citation
should include the author's last name, the year of publication, and the page number (if a
specific numbered page is referenced). If the author's name is mentioned in the attributive
phrase, the year of publication should follow it, and only the page number should be included
in parentheses.

Step 11: Create a works cited or references page.

The in-text citations do not include all the information to find the original source, so writers
include a list at the end of the paper with all the information needed to locate a source. MLA
refers to this list as a works cited page while APA refers to it as a references page. Both types
of citations pages come at the end of the work and include information needed to locate a
source, including article title, journal/book title, year published, authors, publisher, and place
of publishing. These details vary by the type of source used, and since there are many types of
sources, you should refer to a style guide to confirm the correct citation model to use. All
sources on a works cited or references page should be listed in alphabetical order.

Step 12: Revise your essay.

When you have a suitable draft of your essay, ask yourself these questions:

 Have I followed the assignment?

 Is this a persuasion essay? Is my thesis statement debatable? Is my claim narrow
enough?
 Do my body paragraphs provide counterarguments and ideas to support my thesis?
 Have I asked someone to read my essay to assess the strength of my evidentiary
support? Does a read-through of my essay leave others with unanswered questions?
 Is all of my evidentiary support relevant?
 Do I need more or less evidentiary support? Would it be helpful to highlight the main
ideas, evidentiary support, and analysis sentences in each paragraph to further
identify gaps or needed revisions?
 Do I provide adequate analysis of the materials?
 Do I need to move or remove any of my analysis?
 Have I included the transitions necessary to guide the reader from introduction to
body paragraphs to conclusion paragraph?
 Does my conclusion synthesize the critical details?
 Does my introduction hook the reader, provide adequate background/introduction to
my topic and clearly articulate my thesis statement?

Review and revise your entire essay with these questions in mind. Remember, you may need
to add information, remove information, or reorganize your writing. Being a careful reviewer
of your own work is essential to a quality essay. When you have completed this step, be sure
to go back one more time to verify that your grammar, spelling, and punctuation are correct.

Avoiding Plagiarism

Learning Objectives:

 Identify instances of plagiarism in an essay.

 Use proper citing of sources to avoid plagiarism.

LESSON
Plagiarism occurs any time you use another person's words, thoughts, or ideas without giving
credit to that person. Some people think that plagiarism is just copying another person's
writing word for word, but it is often more subtle than that. Paraphrasing from one or more
sources without properly citing them is also plagiarism. Because people do much research and
writing online, plagiarizing—whether accidental or deliberate—is very easy to do. Plagiarism
is a serious offense in both the academic and professional worlds and can lead to expulsion
from school or being fired from a job.
Using readily available electronic tools makes it extremely easy for professors, bosses, and
others to detect plagiarism. In this lesson, you will learn seven steps to make sure you avoid
plagiarism in your writing.

1. Focus on your own ideas.

Remember that people who read your writing are interested in your ideas, not those of
other people. Only use other people's ideas to back up your own claims. In general,
outside sources should only make up about a third of an essay; the rest of the ideas
should be yours. While it is, of course, important to research your topic, it is possible to
over-research. If you spend too much time investigating what other people think about a
topic, you might neglect to develop your own ideas. It is also more likely that you could
accidentally plagiarize other people's work.

2. Plan your essay.

You may need to do quite a bit of research before you begin writing, but after you have
an idea of the direction you would like your essay to take, put your notes away and plan
what you want to communicate to your readers. Your own claims should drive your
essay. Once you have outlined and brainstormed, you will understand what you want to
say and then you can focus on supporting your claims with the facts, details, and
examples from outside sources. This way you make sure that you, and not your
evidence, control the outcome of your essay.

3. Take good notes.

Sometimes plagiarism is the effect of taking poor notes. When you do not know where
you found material, you will not know how to cite it. Instead of not citing a source or
citing it incorrectly, make sure that you record all the important information as soon as
you encounter a new source. There are many different strategies for recording notes and
sources; figure out what strategy works best for you. If you use several digital sources,
you might want to develop a folder on your computer where you can keep all of your
digital versions of journal articles. Use the author and title name as your file name to
keep it all sorted. Or you might want to use note cards. On one card, jot down the
source's information like author, date, and title, then give that card a number. Then
write down any facts, details, and examples that come from that source on separate
cards, but use the same number to identify each card as the same source. Then when
you use that piece of evidence, you will know where it came from. These are just two of
many ways that will ensure that you keep your evidence organized so that you can cite
it when you need to.

4. Understand your topic and your material.

Some students fall into the trap of plagiarizing because they do not understand what
they are supposed to be writing about. When you take the time to understand your topic,
you will be far less likely to plagiarize. Take steps to better understand your subject.
This may require talking to a tutor or your professor. When you fully understand your
topic, you will be able to explain it in your own words. Remember, you still need to cite
paraphrased ideas if they are not already commonly known.
 5. Do not copy and paste.

Avoid copying and pasting sources, even when you plan to directly quote a source; this
can make it much too easy to plagiarize. If you place copied and pasted information
directly into your writing without making notations, you might even forget that you
used another's material word for word. Instead, type direct quotations directly into your
source information, outline, or essay. If you plan to paraphrase, read and understand the
passage and then write the thought in your own words. Either way, be sure to cite your
source correctly.

6. Cite your sources.

Whether you quote, paraphrase, or summarize an outside source, you must make it clear
that it is another's work. You can use attributive phrases, in-text citations, and a works
cited page or references page to help your readers locate your outside sources.

7. Use a plagiarism checker.

If you are still concerned about plagiarism in your writing, use a plagiarism checker.
There are a number of different services available online, and your college may have
already purchased one for your use. You can also submit your essay to a tutoring
service; the tutors will be able to help you avoid unintentional plagiarism.

Following these seven steps will help ensure that you avoid plagiarizing. It is also
recommended that you save every draft that you write, beginning from idea gathering to your
final draft. Unfortunately, it is not unheard of for a student to copy from another student in
his/her class. If you are ever in this situation, it will be very useful if you can show your
instructor all of your drafts. Digital versions are especially helpful as they are time-stamped
and can show who wrote the essay first.

Finally, international students should keep in mind that plagiarism is a serious issue in the
United States. In some educational systems, copying well-respected experts is expected of
students, and the individual perspective of the student is a less important aspect than it is in
Western cultures. You need to be aware that American colleges and companies expect
students and employees to cite outside work and will penalize those who do not, even if it is
due to a cultural misunderstanding.

Capitalizing Words and Punctuating Titles

Learning Objectives:

 Employ proper capitalization for titles of books, articles, and other words.
 Identify which titles require italics/underlining and which require quotation marks.

LESSON
Proper capitalization is essential to the success of your written work. It ensures that your
writing is clear and easily understood. In this lesson, you will learn when you should
capitalize words. You will also learn the correct way to punctuate titles, including whether
you should use italics, underlining, or quotation marks.
Capitalizing Words

Capitalize words at the beginning of a sentence, in acronyms, and in proper nouns. Acronyms
are words formed by the first letter of each word in a phrase, such as DMV, which stands for
the Department of Motor Vehicles. A proper noun is the name used for a specific and
individual person, title, place, organization, or thing. Capitalize every word in the proper
noun, except prepositions, articles and coordinating conjunctions (FANBOYS), unless it is the
first or last word.

Here is a list of proper nouns that you should capitalize.

 Titles of works (such as books, movies, plays, etc.): I recently read the Shakespeare
tragedy Romeo and Juliet.
 Specific buildings: My parents climbed the steps of the Empire State Building on their
last trip to New York City.
 Names of specific family members, but not general terms that show relationship:
While I have many lovely aunts and uncles, Aunt Sally is my favorite.
 Organizations: The Red Cross and the United Way are both charitable organizations.
 Titles when used as part of a person's name: Fifty class presidents were selected to
meet President Obama.
 Schools: There is a big rivalry in Kansas during basketball season when Kansas
University plays Kansas State University. Both schools have excellent teams.
 Countries, states, cities, towns, counties, and streets: I currently live on Aldrich
Avenue in Minneapolis, Minnesota; that's in Hennepin County.
 Directions when they refer to a specific region or neighborhood, not when used as
compass directions: My relatives live in the South. I drove three blocks and headed
east toward the grocery store.
 Companies: The companies that are frequently singled out as great places to work
include Google, SAS, and American Express.
 Brands: While my dad has been a marathon runner for years, he's never been able to
decide between Nike and Adidas products.
 Ethnicities/race, countries, and languages, but not when referring to people as black or
white: My company is searching for both Chinese and Japanese interpreters to help
with the new international accounts.
 Specific people: There is a woman who lives on my block named Mrs. Jones who may
be able to help you.
 Names of specific courses: I managed to avoid most math courses in college; however,
I was required to take and pass Calculus and Introduction to Statistics.
 Governmental bodies and agencies: Most of my family has served in the United States
Coast Guard.
 Religions and references to specific gods: Christians believe that Jesus is the son of
God. Other faiths believe that their spiritual icons achieved god-like status through
their living experience, such as Buddha.
 Holidays, days of the week, and months of the year: My best friend and I go out for
sushi on the Friday before Christmas Eve each December.
 Periods and events: Many analysts are comparing this sudden chilling of American
and Russian relations to the Cold War.
 Planets: I enjoy trying to find Jupiter with my telescope.
 Initials: It's difficult to believe she graduated from high school without ever reading a
book by J.D. Salinger.
Punctuating Titles

This section will explain how to punctuate titles of various works, including how and when to
use italics, underlining, and quotation marks.

Italics

Use italics to set off the titles of larger, whole works, including the following:

Books Journals Artwork (paintings, sculptures)

Magazines Albums Ships
Television shows Operas Aircrafts
Radio/podcast programs Ballets and other performances Spacecrafts
Long poems Broadway shows Websites
Plays Pamphlets/brochures
Newspapers Reports

For example:

The Baldwin Project is a great resource of classic public domain literature.

One of my favorite books is Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on
the Appalachian Trail.

Underlining

Note that underlining takes the place of italicizing if you are writing the title out by hand. Use
italics when you are typing; otherwise, underlining follows the same rules as italicization.

Quotation Marks

Use quotation marks to set off titles of "smaller" works; those that make up sections or
portions of a larger, whole work. For example, you italicize the title of a book when
referenced in its entirety. However, when you discuss or cite a specific chapter of that book,
use quotation marks. Smaller works include the following:

 Essays
 Chapters of books
 Articles in magazines, journals, and newspapers
 An individual page of a website
 Episodes of televisions or radio shows, and podcasts
 Acts in plays
 Short poems
 Short stories
 Songs

Here are some examples of short works used in sentences:

The final episode of The West Wing was called "Tomorrow," fittingly.
In this example, the television show is The West Wing and is italicized. The episode is
"Tomorrow," and is set off in quotation marks.

For such a short poem, "This is Just to Say" has inspired countless essays.

In this example, the title of the poem is set off in quotation marks.

There are many titles that can easily muddle a sentence if not set off by quotes or italics.

For example:

I will always remember my favorite year because I saw it with my high school sweetheart.

In this sentence, My Favorite Year is the name of a movie; without knowing this, the lack of
capitalization and italics to set it off makes the sentence very confusing.

Correct:

I will always remember My Favorite Year because I saw it with my high school sweetheart.

Another instance in which punctuating titles is especially important is where a short story or
song (set off by quotation marks) shares the same title as a book or album (set off by italics).
These set-offs provide your reader with more information about your sources and ultimately
make your essay easier to follow.

For example:

Whenever I hear one fine day I think of the movie one fine day.

In this sentence, the title of the song and the movie are the same, so without proper quotation
marks, capitalization, and italics, it is difficult to understand. The song should be capitalized
and in quotation marks and the movie should be capitalized and italicized.

Correct:

Whenever I hear "One Fine Day" I think of the movie One Fine Day.

Quotation Marks

Learning Objective:

 Correctly punctuate sentences containing quotation marks.

LESSON
You probably use quotation marks without even thinking about their purpose. They are used
to set off material that is either quoted from another text or spoken, as in dialogue in a novel.
They are also used for titles of certain works. In this lesson, you will learn how to correctly
use quotation marks in direct quotations, in dialogue, and in setting off titles of short works.
Direct Quotation vs. Indirect Quotation

A direct quotation contains the exact words that someone said or wrote, while an indirect
quotation is a summary or paraphrase of another's words. Direct quotations require quotation
marks; indirect quotations do not.

Example of a direct quotation: My father said, "There is no way that you are leaving my
house in that outfit!"

Example of an indirect quotation: My father told my sister that she could not leave the house
in her current outfit.

Hint: If there are no quotation marks, but there is a dialogue tag, such as, he said or she said,
along with the word that (as in the example above), it likely indicates an indirect quotation,
especially when quoting what someone said. When quoting text, that often comes before a
partial quotation (see below), which requires quotation marks.

Dialogue

In narrative writing, characters often speak to each other. In standard practice, quotation
marks identify these instances. The same rules apply in any form of writing that captures
people speaking to one another, including articles in magazines and newspaper and reports
written by law enforcement and medical professionals.

There are several rules you should keep in mind as you punctuate direct quotations and
dialogue.

1. Place the speaker's words in quotation marks. Separate the quotation from the dialogue
tag with a comma.

"You may not hand in work late," said the teacher.

2. Capitalize the first letter of a quotation if the quotation is a complete sentence.

The teacher said, "You may not hand in work late."

3. When the dialogue tag interrupts the quotation, separate both parts of the quotation
from the dialogue tag with commas; however, do not capitalize the second part of the
quotation.

"You may not hand in work late," said the teacher, "even if you are ill."

4. A partial quotation is when you use just part of a quotation. In this case, do not put a
comma between the dialogue tag and the quoted material. Additionally, do not
capitalize the first word in the quotation.

In his most famous speech, Martin Luther King, Jr. revealed that his dream was one
where "my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be
judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
 5. The end punctuation usually goes inside the quotation marks. If the person referred to
in the dialogue tag asked a question or spoke excitedly, the question mark or
exclamation point goes inside the quotation marks.

Sam asked, "Do you think that the instructor will let me turn my homework in a day
late?"

Maria shouted, "I finally finished my essay!"

In certain cases involving exclamation points and question marks, however, the
punctuation goes outside of the quotation marks. If the writer of the sentence, rather
than the speaker, is the one asking the question or writing excitedly, the exclamation
point goes outside of the quotation marks.

Can you believe that she walked in here and said, "I quit"?

I cannot believe that she walked in and said, "I quit"!

6. If the person referred to in the dialogue tag quotes someone, that quotation should be
in single quotation marks.

She responded, "I'm surprised she said 'I quit.' I'm shocked she'd leave her job with this
company!"

Titles

Quotation marks are also used to set off the titles of short works. Use quotation marks to set
off titles of "smaller" works, that is, works that make up portions of a larger, whole work,
such as:

 Chapters of books
 Articles in magazines, journals, and newspapers
 Poems
 Essays
 Short stories
 Individual pages of a website
 Songs

For example:

Though all of George Saunders' short stories are remarkable, I found "Tenth of
December" to be almost life-changing.

Why do I find myself whistling "Singin’ in the Rain" when it is snowing?

Formatting a College Essay — MLA Style

Learning Objectives:

 Employ correct citation format for MLA style.

  Identify proper MLA formatting for college essays, including a works cited page.

LESSON
You will likely be asked to write numerous essays over the course of your academic career.
While the content of your work is significant, it is also essential that you develop strong and
accurate formatting skills. Formatting an essay correctly is not only good authorship but is
also important to instructors who often have to read hundreds of essays over the course of a
semester. Your instructors will likely provide you with essay guidelines indicating whether
you should use MLA or APA style to format your paper. If you are uncertain as to your
instructor's expectations, be sure to ask. Instructors appreciate students taking extra measures
needed to correctly format essays. In this lesson, you will learn how to correctly format a
college essay using MLA style. Note: This foundation lesson is not meant to include or cover
all of the rules and guidelines for properly formatting an essay. Be sure to refer to the MLA
style guide to ensure that you follow all of the formatting rules.

Part of formatting an essay is properly formatting in-text citations and your list of sources.
MLA refers to the list of sources as a works cited page. Keep in mind that in-text citations and
the works cited page work together. Without one, you cannot have the other. The in-text
citations lead readers to the listing of complete source information in the works cited page.

Formatting an Essay in MLA Style

Headers and page numbers

In MLA style, the header includes your last name followed by one space and then consecutive
page numbers. It appears in the upper-right corner, one half-inch from the top and flush with
the right-hand margin. Include this header on every page, including the first. (Note: Some
instructors prefer that the header be left off of the first page. As always, follow the guidelines
your instructor provides.)

MLA Headers

 Your last name

Content  Consecutive page numbers

 1/2" from top

 Upper-right corner
Location  Flush with right margin
 Every page

Essay information

MLA style does not require a cover page. (As always, though, check with your instructor
about his or her preference.) Instead, include the following information about the essay in the
upper left-hand corner of the first page of your essay: your full name, instructor's name,
course, and date. Your title should be centered on the next line after the date, and your essay
should start on the next line after that. Like the rest of the essay, all of this information should
be double-spaced.

MLA Essay Information

Cover page No cover page required

On First Page:

 Your name

Content  Instructor's name

 Course
 Date
 Title

Your information: upper

left-hand corner of first page,

double-spaced

Location

Title: centered, one line after

the date and one line before

the beginning of essay

Here is an example of the first page of an MLA paper:

It is important to note that your name, instructor's name, course, and date should only appear
on the first page of your paper. When students mistakenly place this information in the
header, the information appears on every page and not just on the first page as it should.

Margins, font, and spacing

MLA has specific requirements with respect to margins, font, and line spacing. Set one-inch
margins on all sides. Use 12-point font. MLA advises using a font that is both easily readable
and has regular and italicized versions of the font that are distinguishable. Times New Roman,
Arial, Calibri, Baskerville, and Garamond are all good options; however, if you are ever in
doubt as to which font to use, ask your instructor. Whichever font you choose, remain
consistent throughout your essay. Your essay should always be double-spaced throughout.
Indent the first line of paragraphs one half-inch from the margin. Use only one space after all
end punctuation.

MLA Margins, Font, and Spacing

Margins 1" on all sides

12 point

Font Times New Roman

(or another suitable font)

Double-spaced
Spacing
throughout
Indent First line of paragraphs
 1/2" from left margin
End
One space following
punctuation

Click here to view an example of the body of a properly formatted MLA essay.

Punctuating and Formatting In-text Citations

Here are the guidelines for formatting in-text citations when using MLA style.

 For every in-text reference, you need to include the author's last name and the page
number (assuming the source has page numbers).

Example:

 If the author's name is mentioned in the attributive phrase, the in-text citation should
include the page number only.

Example:

There are occasions when all pertinent information is included in the attributive phrase. In
these cases, a parenthetical citation is not needed.

Example:
There will be times when all the information for a citation is not available--for example,
websites do not always list dates and usually do not include page numbers, sources are
sometimes published without authors, and so on. If you cannot obtain all the required
information on a source, provide as much information as you can in order to allow readers to
find your source.

 Here is an example of how to cite a web source, which does not require a page
number, only the name of the source:

Here are some more specific requirements with respect to the punctuation and format of MLA
in-text citations:

 In most cases, the in-text citation goes inside the end punctuation. Remember that the
in-text citation is part of the sentence in which the source material is used, so it must
be included in the sentence by placing the period after the parentheses.

 When citing a quote, both the in-text citation and end punctuation go outside the
closing quotation marks. The end punctuation goes after the in-text citation, and this is
one of the few instances in which the end punctuation goes outside quotation marks.

 Indent, by one inch, prose quotes that exceed four lines from the left-hand margin.
(The same goes for poetry quotes of more than three lines.) Because this block-
quotation format signals a quotation, no quotation marks are needed.

 In long (block) quotations, the in-text citation goes outside the end punctuation.

Works Cited Pages

MLA style requires a works cited page to list the sources at the end of the work. Here are the
guidelines for formatting works cited pages.
 The works cited page needs to be double-spaced, and has the same 12-point font as the
rest of the essay. Do not use bold font, do not underline any words, and do not resize
the font in any way.

 The works cited page should always begin a new page. The title—"Works Cited"—
should be centered, but not bolded, underlined, or enclosed in quotes. (Note: if there is
only one source, it should be titled "Work Cited.")

 Individual citations must be arranged alphabetically.

 If you have more than one book or article by the same author, list the works
alphabetically by title. For the first entry, provide the author's full name in last name,
first name format. Then, for each following work by the same author, use three
hyphens and a period in place of the name.

Example:

Morrison, Toni. Beloved: A Novel. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 1987. Print.

---. The Bluest Eye. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. 1970. Print.

 Each full citation should have a hanging indent, which means that the first line should
be on the left margin and all following lines indented by .5 inches.

 The full citation must include all the information that a reader needs to find the
original text. Generally, that includes:
o The author's full name (unless there is more than one author; then first initials
replace the first names)
o Title of work (chapter, article, web page, etc.) in quotation marks
o Title of larger work, if applicable (book, newspaper, journal, magazine,
website, etc.) in italics
o Page numbers, when applicable
o Publisher's information, when applicable
o Date published
o Medium (print, web, photo, etc.)
o Date accessed (for electronic sources)

 The URL of a website is not required, unless your instructor asks you to include it.

Works Cited Page

Formatting a College Essay — APA Style

Learning Objectives:

 Employ correct citation format for APA style.

 Identify proper APA formatting for college essays, including a references page.

LESSON
You will likely be asked to write numerous essays over the course of your academic career.
While the content of your work is significant, it is also essential that you develop strong and
accurate formatting skills. Formatting an essay correctly is not only good authorship but is
also important to instructors who often have to read hundreds of essays over the course of a
semester. Your instructors will likely provide you with essay guidelines indicating whether
you should use MLA or APA style to format your paper. If you are uncertain as to your
instructor's expectations, be sure to ask. Instructors appreciate students taking extra measures
needed to correctly format essays. In this lesson, you will learn how to correctly format a
college essay using APA style. Note: This foundation lesson is not meant to include or cover
all of the rules and guidelines for properly formatting an essay. Be sure to refer to the APA
style guide to ensure that you follow all of the formatting rules.

Part of formatting an essay is properly formatting in-text citations and your list of sources.
APA refers to the list of sources as a references page. Keep in mind that in-text citations and
the references page work together. Without one, you cannot have the other. The in-text
citations lead readers to the listing of complete source information in the references page.

Formatting an Essay in APA Style

Headers and page numbers

In APA style, the header appears on each page. It includes the title of the essay, which should
be flush with the left margin and in ALL CAPITAL letters. (If your title is longer than fifty
characters, you will have to decide on a shorter version to use in your header.) On the title
page only, include the words "Running head:" to precede the title. Consecutive page numbers
are included on every page flush with the right-hand margin. (Examples will follow in the
next section.)

APA Headers

 Title in all capital letters (50 character limit)

Content  Consecutive page numbers

 1/2" from top

 Title: flush with left margin
 Page numbers: flush with right margin
Location
 Include words "Running head:" to precede
title on title page only

Cover pages

APA style requires the use of a cover page. The cover page should include the title of your
essay, your full name, and the name of your college or university, double-spaced and centered
on the page. It should also include your header, as described above. (Some colleges and/or
classes require additional or different information on the cover page; again, if you are unsure,
be sure to visit your writing center or ask your instructor.)

APA Cover Page

Separate cover page

Cover page
preceding the essay
On Cover Page:

 Title
Content
 Your name
 College or university name
 Header

Double-spaced and
Location
centered on the page

Here is an example of an APA cover page:

Here is an example of the first page of content in an APA paper:

Margins, font, and spacing

APA has specific requirements with respect to margins, font, and line spacing. Set one-inch
margins on all sides. Use 12-point font; APA style recommends using Times New Roman. If
you are ever in doubt as to which font to use, ask your instructor. Whichever font you choose,
remain consistent throughout your essay. Your essay should always be double-spaced
throughout. Indent the first line of paragraphs one half-inch from the margin. Use only one
space after all end punctuation.

APA Margins, Font, and Spacing

Margins 1" on all sides

12 point
Font
Times New Roman
 Spacing Double-spaced throughout
First line of paragraphs
Indent
1/2" from left margin
End punctuation One space following

Click here to view an example of the body of a properly formatted APA essay.

Punctuating and Formatting In-text Citations

Here are the guidelines for using in-text citations when using APA style.

 In cases where a particular page is being cited, include the author's last name, the date
of publication, and the page number (page number applies to print sources).

Example:

 If the author's name is mentioned in the attributive phrase, the year of publication
should follow the author's name in parentheses. In this case, only the page number
appears in the parenthetical in-text citation.

Example:

 There are occasions when all pertinent information is included in the attributive
phrase. In these cases, a parenthetical citation is not used.

Example:
There will be times when all the information for a citation is not available--for example,
websites do not always list dates and usually do not include page numbers, sources are
sometimes published without authors, and so on. If you cannot obtain all the required
information on a source, provide as much information as you can in order to allow readers to
find your source.

 Here is an example of how to cite a web source, which does not require a page
number, only the year published and name of the source:

Here are some more specific requirements with respect to the punctuation and format of APA
in-text citations:

 The in-text citation goes inside the end punctuation. Remember that the in-text citation
is part of the sentence in which the source material is used, so it must be included in
the sentence by placing the period after the parentheses.

 When citing a quotation, both the in-text citation and end punctuation go outside the
closing quotation marks. The end punctuation goes after the in-text citation, which is
one of the few instances that end punctuation goes outside quotation marks.

 Indent, by .5 inches, entire quotations that exceed forty words (however, do not indent
the attributive phrase).

 In block quotations, the in-text citation goes outside the end punctuation.

References Pages
APA style requires a references page to list the sources at the end of the work. Here are the
guidelines for formatting a references page.

 The references page needs to be double-spaced, and has the same 12-point font as the
rest of the essay. Do not use bold font, do not underline any words, and do not resize
the font in any way.

 The references page should always begin a new page. The title—"References"—
should be centered, but not bolded, underlined, or enclosed in quotes. (Note: if there is
only one source, it should be titled "Reference.")

 Individual citations must be arranged alphabetically. If you have more than one article
or work from the same author, list the entries chronologically, from the earliest to the
most recent.

 Each full citation should have a hanging indent, which means that the first line should
be on the left margin and all following lines indented by .5 inches.

 The full citation must include all the information that a reader needs to find the
original text. Generally, that includes:
o Author(s) (listed with first initials and last names)
o Year of publication
o Title of work (chapter, article, web page, etc.)
o Title of larger work, if applicable (book, newspaper, journal, magazine,
website, etc.) in italics
o Page numbers, when applicable
o Publisher's information, when applicable

 For online sources, include either the "doi" (direct object identifier), if included in the
source's bibliographic information, or the URL in the following format: "Retrieved
from [URL]."
MLA Citation Styles

Learning Objective:

 Identify citation elements in MLA format.

LESSON
At some point in college, you will have to write a research paper in which you will need to
include sources to support your own ideas. When you do so, it is imperative that you do it
correctly or you could be accused of plagiarism, which has sizeable consequences in the
academic world. Many college classes use either MLA or APA format to cite sources. MLA
refers to the Modern Language Association, and APA refers to the American Psychological
Association. There are other citation styles, including The Chicago Manual of Style and
Turabian, but this lesson will focus on MLA style. All citation styles share similar elements,
so if you understand the major elements of any style, you will easily be able to adapt.

Major Citation Elements

Attributive Phrases

Whether you are summarizing, paraphrasing, or quoting a source, it is important to provide

context, so you should include an attributive phrase to indicate to the reader that you are
incorporating a source. An attributive phrase gives credit to the author of the original work. It
is used in tandem with an in-text citation, which is the information in parentheses.

MLA attributive phrases:

 Thomas writes that Evans intended to "inspire a new generation of playwrights" (42).

According to Thomas, Evans wrote best at his home in Florida, "rising early and
finishing late" (53).

In-text Citations

When you incorporate a source in your essay, you need to include in-text citations in addition
to attributive phrases. Together, attributive phrases and in-text citations give readers the
necessary information to be able to find the original source listed in the works cited page.

MLA style in-text citation requires the author's name and a page number (if the source has
page numbers and a specific page is referenced).

Example of an MLA in-text citation without an attributive phrase:

Evans' work has been characterized as "masterful, but distinctly odd" (Thomas 45).

In MLA style, if the author's name is mentioned in the attributive phrase, the in-text citation
should include the page number only.

Example of an MLA in-text citation with an attributive phrase:

Thomas characterizes Evans' work as "masterful, but distinctly odd" (45).

Longer quotations are formatted and cited differently than shorter quotations. MLA style
requires that you use block quotation format (also called indented format) for quotations that
run longer than four lines of prose text (or three of poetry).

You should indent every line of a block quotation from the left margin by one inch and
maintain double-spacing. Quotation marks are not required since indentation makes it clear
that the material is quoted. Introduce the quote with an attributive phrase, and place an in-text
citation after the period at the end of the quotation.

Example of an MLA block quotation format:

Jarvis mentions George's extreme attention to detail:

George would spend hours combing through his work for mistakes, long
before submitting it to his editors. Pride apparently dictated that he
present them with fully proofread copies. These hours of attention to
minute discrepancies may have cost him his eyesight in the end. (14)

Works Cited Page

In-text citations do not include all of the information to find the original source, so writers
include a list of citations at the end of the paper with all of the information needed to locate a
source. MLA style refers to this list as a works cited page. The works cited page comes at the
end of the work and includes all available information about a source, including article title,
journal/book title, year published, the author's full name (unless there is more than one author;
then first initials replace the first names), publisher, and place of publishing. These details
vary by the type of source used and because there are about eighty-six different types of
sources for MLA, you should refer to an MLA style guide to confirm the correct citation
model to use. All sources on a works cited page should be listed in alphabetical order.

Comparing MLA and APA Styles

MLA style and APA style are two common systems of citation, that is, sets of rules for how to
cite sources and how to format and punctuate the various parts of a research paper. For most
English and some humanities courses, you will be asked to use MLA style; for most social
sciences and some other courses, you will be asked to use APA style. See the chart below for
the major differences between MLA style and APA style.

Major Differences between MLA and APA Styles

Style MLA APA

Use Used in humanities Used in social sciences
Last name and page number both on Title of paper on the left marg
Header
the right-hand side of the page the page number is on the righ
No media identified. URL pre
Type of media identified (print, web,
by "Retrieved from" or "doi" (
Full citation email, etc.). URLs not required for
object identifier) required for o
online sources.
sources.
Author's last name, year publis
Author's last name and page number; and page number separated wi
In-text citation
no punctuation within the parentheses. comma; precede page number
"p."
4+lines (prose)/3+ lines (poetry) 40+ words indented .5 inches
Long quotes
indented 1-inch from margin margin
End list of cited sources Labeled "Works Cited" Labeled "References"

APA Citation Styles

Learning Objective:

 Identify citation elements in APA format.

LESSON
At some point in college, you will have to write a research paper in which you will need to
include sources to support your own ideas. When you do so, it is imperative that you do it
correctly or you could be accused of plagiarism, which has sizeable consequences in the
academic world. Many college classes use either MLA or APA format to cite sources. MLA
refers to the Modern Language Association, and APA refers to the American Psychological
Association. There are other citation styles, including The Chicago Manual of Style and
Turabian, but this lesson will focus on APA style. All citation styles share similar elements,
so if you understand the major elements of any style, you will easily be able to adapt.

Major Citation Elements

Attributive Phrases

Whether you are summarizing, paraphrasing, or quoting a source, it is important to provide

context, so you should include an attributive phrase to indicate to the reader that you are
incorporating a source. An attributive phrase gives credit to the author of the original work. It
is used in tandem with an in-text citation, which is the information in parentheses.

APA attributive phrases:

Thomas (2011) writes that Evans intended to "inspire a new generation of playwrights" (p.
42).

According to Thomas (2011), Evans wrote best at his home in Florida, "rising early and
finishing late" (p. 53).

In-text Citations

When you incorporate a source in your essay, you need to include in-text citations in addition
to attributive phrases. Together, attributive phrases and in-text citations give readers the
necessary information to be able to find the original source listed in the references page.

APA style in-text citation requires the author's last name, the year of publication, and a page
number, preceded by "p." for "page" (if the source has page numbers and a specific page is
referenced).

Example of an APA in-text citation without an attributive phrase:

One study indicates that artists who live in the South are "more prolific" (Miller, 2004, p. 7).

In APA style, if the author's name is mentioned in the attributive phrase, the year of
publication should follow it and the page number should be included at the end of the
sentence.

Example of an APA in-text citation with an attributive phrase:

Miller's (2004) study indicates that artists who live in the South are "more prolific" (p. 7).

Longer quotations are formatted and cited differently than shorter quotations. APA style
requires that you use block quotation format (also called indented format) for quotations that
are longer than forty words.

You should indent every line of a block quotation from the left margin by one-half inch and
maintain double-spacing. Quotation marks are not required since indentation makes it clear
that the material is quoted. Introduce the quote with an attributive phrase, and place an in-text
citation after the period at the end of the quotation.

Example of APA block quotation format:

Jarvis (2012) mentions George's extreme attention to detail:

 George would spend hours combing through his work for mistakes, long before
submitting it to his editors. Pride apparently dictated that he present them with fully
proofread copies. These hours of attention to minute discrepancies may have cost him
his eyesight in the end. (p. 14)

References Page

In-text citations do not include all of the information to find the original source, so writers
include a list of citations at the end of the paper with all of the information needed to locate a
source. APA style refers to this list as a references page. The references page comes at the end
of the work and includes all available information about a source, including article title,
journal/book title, year published, the authors' first initials and last names, publisher, and
place of publishing. These details vary by the type of source used and since there are about
seventy different types of sources for APA, you should refer to an APA style guide to confirm
the correct citation model to use. All sources on a references page should be listed in
alphabetical order.

Comparing MLA and APA Styles

MLA style and APA style are two common systems of citation, that is, sets of rules for how to
cite sources and how to format and punctuate the various parts of a research paper. For most
English and some humanities courses, you will be asked to use MLA style; for most social
sciences and some other courses, you will be asked to use APA style. See the chart below for
the major differences between MLA style and APA style.

Major Differences between MLA and APA Styles

Style MLA APA

Use Used in humanities Used in social sciences
Last name and page number both on Title of paper on the left marg
Header
the right-hand side of the page the page number is on the righ
No media identified. URL pre
Type of media identified (print, web,
by "Retrieved from" or "doi" (
Full citation email, etc.). URLs not required for
object identifier) required for o
online sources.
sources.
Author's last name, year publis
Author's last name and page number; and page number separated wi
In-text citation
no punctuation within the parentheses. comma; precede page number
"p."
4+lines (prose)/3+ lines (poetry) 40+ words indented .5 inches
Long Quotes
indented 1-inch from margin margin
End list of cited sources Labeled "Works Cited" Labeled "References"

Using Context Clues

Learning Objective:
  Use context clues to define unknown vocabulary in a reading.

LESSON
In this lesson, you will learn how to find the meaning of unknown words in a reading by using
context clues. Context clues will expand your vocabulary by helping you guess the meaning
of a word based on how it is used in a sentence or paragraph. This allows you to keep reading
an article or essay without stopping to look words up in a dictionary, which saves you time
while still allowing you to understand what you are reading.

There are two advantages to using context clues to expand your vocabulary and improve your
reading comprehension.

First, if you skip over words you don't understand, the meaning of what you are reading
becomes a little unclear. Depending on how many words you have to skip over or how
important each word is in the passage, it can seem as if you have just looked at a bunch of
words on the page and have no idea what they mean.

Second, if you go to a dictionary every time you don't understand a word, it is not only
frustrating to repeatedly interrupt the flow of reading, but the word might actually have many
ways of being defined. This could leave you a little closer to understanding what the word
means but no closer to understanding what the author is trying to say.

Fortunately, there is a four-step process for using context clues to define unfamiliar words in a
reading.

Step 1: Look for examples of the unknown word in the sentence.

Writers often provide examples of words as a way of making sure people understand exactly
what they mean; this is the easiest way to use context clues.

Example:

People generally use coniferous trees, such as pine, fir, and blue spruce, as Christmas
trees.

You see here that "fir" and "blue spruce" are two examples of "coniferous trees." If you don’t
know anything about coniferous trees – which are trees that do not lose their color and leaves
– you can safely assume that they share the same characteristics as pines, firs, and blue
spruces.

Step 2: If there are no examples of the word in the sentence, look for antonyms or
synonyms of the word somewhere in the sentence.
Synonyms are words that share a similar meaning. For example, in a sentence, you could use
the words "decrease," "reduce," "cut," or "lessen" and still make the same point.

Antonyms, on the other hand, are words that have opposite meanings. "Competent" and
"inept" are examples of antonyms.
Writers use both synonyms and antonyms in their writing, so if you find an unfamiliar word in
the sentence, look for a synonym or antonym that you recognize, and allow it to lead you to
the definition.

Example:

I was so infuriated by the pointless, ineffectual instruction manual that my typical

good humor had escaped me all day long.

Here, you see that the word "ineffectual" has the word "pointless" right before it and both are
used to describe the instruction manual. It is safe to assume that "pointless" is a synonym for
"ineffectual."

You can also see that "infuriated" is presented as the opposite of "good humor," which tells
that the two are antonyms. You may not know the exact meaning of "infuriated," but you
know that a general definition would be "bad humor."

Step 3: If the word has no examples and there are no antonyms or synonyms, try
substituting a familiar word for the one you don’t know.
Example:

Riding the roller coaster was exhilarating, and my heart raced like it did when I was
kid.

If you don’t know what the word "exhilarating" is, take it out of the sentence – "Riding the
roller coaster was __________ and my heart raced like it did when I was kid." – and then start
substituting words until you find one that fits with everything else in the sentence.

In this case, "fun" would work, but "thrilling" would work even better because it matches
more closely with "my heart raced."

Step 4: Rely on your own knowledge and experience.

Your own knowledge and experience also provide clues that you can use to figure out the
meaning of an unfamiliar word.

Example:

Johnny's mom commended him for cleaning up his room without being told.

If you do not know what "commended" means, put yourself in Johnny's or his mom's shoes. If
your son cleaned up his room without your asking, what would you do? You probably
wouldn't complain or criticize; instead, you would praise and applaud him. You were able to
determine the meaning of the word without any examples, synonyms, or antonyms.

This step is more useful when you are reading about something that you know more about.
You may find that it is not helpful when you first enter an anthropology, psychology, or
sociology class and begin reading your text.

Identifying Word Parts

Learning Objective:

 Use word parts to define unknown vocabulary in a reading.

LESSON
In this lesson, you will learn to how to find the meaning of words you don't know in a reading
by using word parts. When you come across an unfamiliar word in a passage, one of the ways
to determine its meaning is to break the word down to smaller parts. These are known as word
parts and there are three types: root words, prefixes, and suffixes. Just as context clues help
you define a word by applying what you know about the key words around it, word parts help
you define a word by applying what you know about the key parts of the word itself.

Root words are basic words that cannot be reduced to a smaller word and have a meaning all
on their own. They can often stand alone as independent words although there are some core
roots that help form many of the words people use.

A prefix is a word part that is attached to the beginning of a root word to enhance or change
its meaning. It cannot stand on its own as an independent word.

A suffix is a word part added to the end of a root word that can sometimes enhance or change
its meaning, but mostly it can change a word's part of speech or changes a singular word into
a plural one. Like a prefix, it cannot stand on its own as an independent word.

For example, the word "bicycling" is made up of the root word "cycle," which means circle or
wheel, the prefix "bi," meaning two, and the suffix "ing," which makes it a participle.

There are two ways to approach word parts. First, you can memorize the word parts.
Deciphering unknown words becomes easier with each word prefix, root, and suffix that you
learn. The "Common Word Parts List" below does not list every possible word part, but it will
give you a good place to start. Consider creating flash cards for each word part and have your
friends and family quiz you.

Another strategy to use to discover a word's meaning is to think of familiar words that have
the same roots as the new word. Since English is a mixture of many Latin- and German-based
languages, you can also think of foreign words. Then you can deduce what the new word
means based on the familiar words that you know.

For example, here is what you can do if you come upon the word "transcription."

First list words that you know that either begin with trans- or tran- or have the root word,
script.

Prefix: Tran- Root word: Script

transport script
transcontinental postscript
translate inscription
transaction description
Then look for commonalities in each word group.

transport Moving from one place to another

transcontinental Going across a continent
translate Defining a word or term in a different languag
transaction Moving or exchanging money
script A piece of writing
postscript Notes at the end of a book
inscription Writing in book or in stone
description Telling what something is

The trans- and tran- words all deal with moving an actual thing or an idea; whereas the script
words all have something to do with writing. You can thereby assume that "transcription"
means moving something into writing.

Once you have taken the time to understand what transcription means, you can guess the
meaning of related words even more quickly. You can assume that words beginning with
"trans" have something to do with moving something and words with "script" as a root have
something to do with writing.

By both memorizing the word parts and understanding them by breaking them down to
familiar words, you will begin reading more quickly and understanding more of what you
read.

Common Word Parts List

Common Prefixes Meaning Example

a, ab, abs away, from absent, abstain
ad, a, ac, af, ag, an, ar, at, as to, toward adhere, annex, affix, adap
bi, bis two bicycle, biped, bisect
circum around circumference
com, con together, with combination, connect
de opposite, from, away detract, defer, delete
dis, dif, di apart, not disperse, different
epi upon, on top of epicenter
equi equal equality, equitable
ex, e out, from, forth eject, exhale, exit
hyper over, above hyperactive, hypersensitiv
hypo under, beneath hypodermic
in, en in, into, not inject, endure, incorrect
inter between, among international, intercede
mal, male bad, ill malpractice, malevolent
mis wrong mistake, misunderstand
mono alone, single, one monotone, monopoly
non not nonsense
ob in front of, against obvious
omni everywhere, all omnipresent
pre before predawn, preview
pro forward proceed, promote
re again, back recall, recede
retro backward, behind, back retroactive
se apart, secede, secure
sub under subway
super greater, beyond supernatural, superstition
trans across, beyond transcend, transcontinenta
un, uni (pronounced yoon, yoon-ee) one unilateral, unity
un (pronounced uhn) not unhappy, unethical
Common Core Roots Meaning Example
bas low basement
cap, capt take, seize capture, capable
cred believe credible
dict speak predict, dictionary
duc, duct lead induce, conduct
fac, fact make, do artifact, facsimile
graph write autograph, graphic
log word, study of dialog, biology
scrib, script write transcribe, subscription
spec, spect see specimen, aspect
tact touch contact, tactile
ten hold tenacious, retentive
therm heat thermostat, thermometer
ver true verify
Common Suffixes Meaning Example
-able, -ible able to (adjective) usable
-er, -or one who does (noun) competitor
-fy to make (verb) dignify
-ing forms a participle running, acting
-ism the practice of (noun) rationalism, Catholicism
-ist one who practices (noun) feminist, environmentalis
-ive forms an adjective creative
-ize bring about, make (verb) popularize
-less without, lacking (adjective) meaningless
-logue, -log type of speaking or writing (noun) prologue, dialog
-ment act or process of (noun) enjoyment
-ness the condition of (noun) aggressiveness
-ship the art or skill of (noun) sportsmanship
-tion turns a verb into a noun indication, separation
-tude the state of (noun) rectitude

Essential College Skills: Teamwork: Learning and Collaborating with Your Classmates

LESSON
Love them or loathe them, group assignments are common in college classrooms. It's
important for students to learn how to collaborate with other students in a beneficial,
respectful way. A good grade depends on how well the team completes the assignment. But,
more importantly, students learn how to integrate ideas, assign duties, and follow through
with responsibilities, which is good preparation for real-world workplaces.

Mention "group assignment" to a classroom of students and you'll likely hear a chorus of
groans. Students taking classes online may be used to working alone, but even online courses
are increasingly offering – sometimes requiring – real-time collaborative learning
opportunities. Students may recall bad group experiences: hard-headed leaders, lack of peer
follow-through, poor quality of work from others, and more. By doing your best work and
respecting others' input, group projects can be fun and rewarding. Remember, your future
boss will require collaboration with colleagues, whether you like it or not.

Follow these tips for college group work success:

1. Communicate clearly when assigning duties and due dates: Once the group has been
formed, make sure everyone understands the project and deadline. Discuss your
individual strengths to assign duties and negotiate expectations. Use this time to create
a schedule, noting times, dates, and locations for when and where the group will meet.
2. Share contact information: Swap email addresses or cell phone numbers so group
members can continue to communicate outside of class. Develop a summary of project
duties and suggest that the group leader circulate it.
3. Value your group members: Respect their opinions and perspectives, just as you hope
they respect yours. You won't always agree, but you should remain open to hearing
new ideas. If you aren't respectful, they'll gradually tune you out.
4. Don't wait until the last minute: Procrastination can lead to rushed work and mistakes.
Meet regularly before the deadline so that everyone is reminded of his or her duties
and held accountable. When more than one person is working on an assignment, it
should be easier to complete. Continue to communicate with one another, especially if
someone is having difficulty completing his or her part and needs assistance.
5. Share ideas clearly: It can be easy to misinterpret tone, such as humor or sarcasm,
when utilizing digital discussion (i.e., email, online discussion boards, or texts). Share
your ideas clearly to avoid any confusion.
6. Be willing to learn something new: Each group member will bring his or her life
experiences and voice to the project. Be open to others' input.

To paraphrase one of history's great educators, John Dewey: Gaining knowledge is not the
point of learning. The point of learning is to share knowledge and experience.

Group work may be tough to manage at times, but it is valuable preparation for life after
graduating from college. Be open to others' perspectives and take the opportunity to lead
when you can.