Quoting, Paraphrasing Properly - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Quoting,

Paraphrasing

ProperlySlide2
Support for a claim can come from facts, statistics, authorities, examples, or textual citations. Any of these may be quoted, paraphrased, or summarized

from another

source to support an argument. Quoting source material is the

best choice

when the original wording is so eloquent or focused that something

would be

lost in rewording it. If you do not need to retain the wording of a passage but

need to retain its details, paraphrasing is your best option. If you want only to highlight the most important details of a passage, summarize.

(

Warning,

summarizing

is the weakest technique and should be avoided whenever possible).Slide3
D

ocument

the source of any

material cited and clearly

indicate any wording that is not

your own

by enclosing it in quotation marks.

Remember

that paraphrases and sum-

maries must use your own wording and sentence structure.Slide4
As

a general rule,

one should

be able to verify

all facts with in additional sources. If this cannot be done, it may be not a fact at all but instead a piece of propaganda or misinformation. If one comes upon a fact that does not sound plausible, say from a source that may not be consider credible, keep researching until the claim (fact) can be verified with at least one other source.

Cross-check factsSlide5

Research the

Source

of

InformationThe less familiar one is with a source of information, the more one should research the source before trusting the material it includes. This advice is true for all sources, but especially for those that you find on the Web, where the bar for publication

is low

and the likelihood of inaccuracy is high.

Often

, groups whose main

purpose is

political advocacy

and present

their Web sites and publications as unbiased

research centers

or public interest concerns. The best place to research a Web site is

on the

Web itself. A quick Google search on the term "DHMO," for example, yieldsSlide6

Working with

Quotations

&

ParaphrasesA writer must maintain control of their own argument by controlling the structure, organization, and content of their (thesis) argument. Use quotations, paraphrases, and summaries to set up, illustrate, establish, or support the original argument. If is important that a write not allow quotations, paraphrases, and summaries to speak for

them.

Ultimately,

their

audience

evaluates

the strength of

a paper’s

argument,

(The writers) not

those of

their

sources.Slide7

Introduce the context for a citation

It is important for writers to let their

readers know where

any citation originated--who said or wrote it, and why he or she is an authority, (Ethos) as well as where the citation can be found. Establishing that context clarifies the importance of the citation for the reader and, more often than not, will make the cited material more interesting and persuasive.Slide8

Example

Awkward:

Princes cannot always be moral. "And you have to understand

this, that a prince, especially a new one, cannot observe all those things for which men are esteemed, being often forced, in order to maintain the state, to act contrary to faith, friendship, humanity, and religion" (Machiavelli 136)Revised: Machiavelli writes that, while leaders should try to be moral when possible, they are often required by circumstances to act in ways that are

contrary to

"faith, friendship, humanity, and religion" (Machiavelli 136

).Slide9

Select signal verbs carefully

S

ignal

verbs signal to the reader that the writer is about to quote, paraphrase, or summarize from another source. The common signal verbs "say" and "think" (as in, "Machiavelli says that a leader 'cannot observe all those things for which men are esteemed'") are neutral, but other signal verbs can indicate how, the writer, feels about the citation, or they can suggest the tone of the original text. The signal verb "claim" can indicate that the writer is skeptical about the source's belief; "argue" can indicate that the person being cited was emphatic. Select signal verbs carefully, and keep in mind the connotations they will have for the

reader. Slide10

Use Proper Verb Tense in MLA

In

MLA style, use the present tense to refer to a quotation, paraphrase, or summary

: "In Two Principles of Justice, John Rawls insists that a basic understanding of fairness requires us to

distribute

our resources in a way that everyone would see as fair if they viewed it from a neutral

perspective."

However

, if

the focus

is on the author rather than the writing, use the past tense:

The

great Italian political theorist

Niccolo

Machiavelli

believed

that leaders were "often forced, in order to maintain the state, to act

contrary

to faith, friendship, humanity, and

religion.” Slide11

Select quotes carefully

Select

a few quotations that express important points within

an argument. Make sure that every word of quoted material is relevant to the central argument. Quotations that are unnecessarily long distract the reader from the core ideas.

Maintain

control of the verb tense and sentence structure If

one quotes

someone else's words within a

writing,

they

need to control the verb tense and sentence structure of

the

writing while still using the exact words of

the source

.

Pay

close attention to the verb tenses, subject-verb agreement, and noun-pronoun agreement when

incorporating

a quote into

a writing

. If

needed, rewrite sentence

or use ellipses or brackets to alter the

quotation grammatically while being careful not to alter its meaning. Slide12

Ellipses and Brackets

These are

acceptable when used to shorten or focus an argument or to clarify meaning, but they should never be used to change an author's intent.

For example, take John F. Kennedy's famous statement, "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." In certain circumstances, it would be acceptable to shorten this quotation to "Ask . . . what you can do for your country." However, it would never be appropriate to render it "Ask . . . what your country can do for you." This would change the meaning of the quotation and

misrepresent

the author's intent. Slide13

PARAPHRASING

Use

your own words and your own sentence structure

By definition, a paraphrase must be in your own words and your own structure.One common way of trying to get around this rule is the "half-baked paraphrase,"which attempts to use slightly different words to reproduce the ideas in a source.The first paragraph below comes from Margaret Mead's essay Warfare: An Invention -- Not

a Biological

Necessity

;

the

second is an example of a

half-baked paraphrase

of the same passage:

Source

:

Warfare

is just an

invention known

to the majority of human

societies by

which they

permit their

young men either

to accumulate

prestige or

avenge their

honor or acquire loot or wives or slaves or sago lands or cattle or

appease the

blood lust of their gods or the restless souls of the recently dead. It is

just an

invention, older and

more widespread

than the jury system, but none

the less

an invention

. Slide14

Unacceptable

P

araphraseAccording to Margaret Mead, war is only a discovery that most human cultures have in common, one that enables them to allow their youth to acquire honor or revenge or to get money, women, servants, property, or livestock or to placate their deities' desire for blood or the souls of those who have died recently. War is simply a discovery, one that has been

around longer

than trial by jury, but still a discovery.

Source:

Warfare

is just an

invention known

to the majority of human

societies by

which they

permit their

young men either

to accumulate

prestige or avenge

their honor or acquire loot or wives or slaves or sago lands or cattle or

appease the

blood lust of their gods or the restless souls of the recently dead. It is

just an

invention, older and

more widespread

than the jury system, but none

the less

an invention

. Slide15
The second paragraph is far too close in sentence structure and wording to be a

true paraphrase; the writer has not really used his own words.

The following is

an

example of a true paraphrase of the same passage:Slide16

True

Paraphrase

Margaret Mead argues persuasively that warfare is not an inevitable product of human nature. Rather, it was invented in most (not all) societies as an economic or religious tool, to permit young men in that society to become wealthy or worship appropriately. Although it is older and more common than many other inventions, like the jury system, it too was created for a purpose. Enclose in quotation marks any wording that is not your own If you find in writing a paraphrase that you want to use wording from the original source, make sure that you enclose it in quotation marks. It should be dearly distinguished from your own wording and be properly documented.

Source: Warfare is just an invention known

to the majority of human

societies by

which they

permit their

young men either

to accumulate

prestige or avenge

their honor or acquire loot or wives or slaves or sago lands or cattle or

appease the

blood lust of their gods or the restless souls of the recently dead. It is

just an

invention, older and

more widespread

than the jury system, but none

the less

an invention

. Slide17

Enclose in quotation marks any wording that is not your own

Should one

find in writing a paraphrase that

they want to use wording from the originalsource, it is vital they make sure to enclose those original words in quotation marks. An author’s words must should be

clearly

distinguished from

the wording of a quoted source, this will allow the work to be

properly documented. Slide18

Ideas

paraphrased or summarized from

a source

It is plagiarism to summarize, paraphrase, or just use someone's ideas without attributing those ideas to their source. In the example from "Warfare: An Invention--Not a Biological Necessity", it would have been dishonest for the writer of the paraphrase to take credit in any way for the basic idea of Mead's essay:

that warfare is an invention that spread from culture to culture rather than an inherent element of the human condition.

Any borrowed

from another source must be attributed to that source,

even if

all the writing

belongs to the author of the paper.