Research Essays: Summarizing, Paraphrasing And Quoting: Handout 1

Engram’s English 12

Essay & Research Writing Booklet

Name: ______

English Block: ______

Quick run down of essay writing:

1) Know your topic and create a thesis statement:

A thesis statement is one sentence that explains what you will be discussing in your essay. It should have your topic and your opinion about the topic, if writing a persuasive piece. If selecting from a list of specific topics, often rearranging the topic question will form your thesis statement.

2) Plan and organize:

A basic essay must have five paragraphs, minimum:

Introduction = one paragraph (min)

This is where you introduce your topic, purpose for writing and state your thesis.

Body = three or more paragraphs

This is where you discuss or support your opinion. In research essays there will be MANY body paragraphs!

Conclusion = one paragraph (min)

This is where your wrap your ideas up and leave the reader with something to think about.

In order to create a solid essay it is important to clearly organize your ideas by laying them out. Outline, in point form, what you plan to discuss in each part of the essay. Examples and because should be your best friends when writing.

3) Typing specifics:

· Do not use a cover page unless asked to by your teacher

· Use only size 12 times new roman font FOR EVERYTHING, including the title.

· DO NOT bold or underline titles

· Double space the entire essay including your info on the first page. You can set this up automatically by selecting format → paragraph → line spacing → and choosing double from the drop down menu BEFORE you type anything on the page.

· Include page numbers on all pages but the first page. Use the insert – page numbers application on the menu bar to do this.

Research Essays: Summarizing, Paraphrasing and Quoting: Handout 1

When you are writing a research essay you must realize that most of your essay’s content will come from other sources. There are a variety of ways you can use the information you collect within your essay, such as: summarizing, paraphrasing, and quoting directly. The following definitions explain these terms:

Summarizing: When you summarize you take what you have read and reduce it into several key points using your own words.

Paraphrasing: When you paraphrase you restate what you have read using your own words.

Quoting Directly: When you quote something directly you copy it word for word and put quotation marks around this information.

Since you are using words and ideas it is important that you do not plagiarize when you write. To avoid plagiarism you must credit all sources of information used within your essay. We will focus on this aspect in handout number 4.

How to format quotes within your essay:

(1) Short quotes: Short quotes are direct quotes of four typed lines or less. These are worked into the body of your essay with ‘tags’, or signal phrases, and surrounded by quotation marks. Note where end punctuation is placed.

Example:

Bob Brice reports that “most students are unaware they are plagiarizing when they research” (18). For this reason
many students risk harsh penalties when attending post secondary institutions.

(2) Long quotes: Long quotes are direct quotes of more than four typed lines. These are set off from the rest of your essay by indenting each line 10 spaces. They are not surrounded by quotation marks. Note that end punctuation changes with long quotes. See example on next page.

Example:

Brice explains the reasons plagiarizing is becoming an epidemic:

Today’s student is living in a fast paced world; everything comes quickly to them. No longer is
patience a virtue as the emphasis in our society is on the ‘quick fix’. With the aid of the internet
making research readily available at our fingertips and the invention of the word processor,

students can very easily and quickly locate the information they need for assignments and, with

one click, copy and paste it into their papers. (42)

(3) Partial quotations: If you want to use only part of a direct quote, or leave something out, then you must indicate to your reader that you are starting a quote in the middle or you have left something out. This is done by typing ellipsis (… three periods) at the beginning or end of the quote depending on what you have left out. The ellipsis marks are kept within the quotation marks. (See example in number four).

(4) Inserting your own words into quotations: Sometimes, in order for your words to flow with a quotation you may need to add a word or two of your own to a quote. If you do this you must indicate which words you have added by enclosing them in square [ ] brackets.

Example of 3 and 4:

Things have certainly changed “…[with] the invention of the word processor, students can very easily and quickly locate the information they need for assignments and, with one click, copy and paste it into their papers” (Higgins 55).

Research Essays: Summarizing, Paraphrasing and Quoting: Handout 2

Summarizing: When you summarize you take what you have read and reduce it into several key points using your own words.

Paraphrasing: When you paraphrase you restate what you have read using your own words.

Quoting Directly: When you quote something directly you copy it word for word and put quotation marks around this information.

How to format quotes within your essay:

(5) Short quotes: Short quotes are direct quotes of four typed lines or less. These are worked into the body of your essay with ‘tags’, or signal phrases, and surrounded by quotation marks. Note where end punctuation is placed.

Example:

Bob Brice reports that “most students are unaware they are plagiarizing when they research” (18). For this reason
many students risk harsh penalties when attending post secondary institutions.

(6) Long quotes: Long quotes are direct quotes of more than four typed lines. These are set off from the rest of your essay by indenting each line 10 spaces. They are not surrounded by quotation marks. Note that end punctuation changes with long quotes.

See example on following page.

Example:

Brice explains the reasons plagiarizing is becoming an epidemic:

students can very easily and quickly locate the information they need for assignments and, with

one click, copy and paste it into their papers. (42)

(7) Partial quotations: If you want to use only part of a direct quote, or leave something out, then you must indicate to your reader that you are starting a quote in the middle or you have left something out. This is done by typing ellipsis (… three periods) at the beginning or end of the quote depending on what you have left out. The ellipsis marks are kept within the quotation marks. (See example in number four).

(8) Inserting your own words into quotations: Sometimes, in order for your words to flow with a quotation you may need to add a word or two of your own to a quote. If you do this you must indicate which words you have added by enclosing them in square [ ] brackets.

Example of 3 and 4:

Using Quotations Effectively – You Can’t just Stick Quotes in!

1. Introduce your quotations. A quotation should never suddenly appear out of nowhere. Some kind of information about the quotation is needed. Name the author, give his credentials, name the source, give a summary. You won't do all of these each time, but you should usually name the author. For example:
a. But John Jones disagrees with this point, saying, "Such a product would not sell."
b. In an article in Time Fred Jackson writes that frogs vary in the degree of shyness they exhibit: "The arboreal tree frogs seem to be especially [. . .]."

2. Discuss your quotations. Do not quote someone and then leave the words hanging as if they were self explanatory. What does the quotation mean and how does it help establish the point you are making? What is your interpretation or opinion of it? Quotations are like examples: discuss them to show how they fit in with your thesis and with the ideas you are presenting. Remember: quotations support or illustrate your own points. They are not substitutes for your ideas and they do not stand by themselves.

It is often useful to apply some interpretive phrasing after a quotation, to show the reader that the you are explaining the quotation and that it supports your argument:

Here we see that clearly, then This statement shows we can conclude from this that

3. Use some variety in introducing quotations.
A. Pick the quotation verb which seems in each case to fit your purpose most exactly. For example:
In this essay Green tells us, "Hope increases courage."

Note that the particular verb you choose helps orient your reader toward your opinion of the statement. "Jones says" is neutral; "Jones informs us" is positive, "Jones alleges" is somewhat negative. Other verbs to choose from include:

· says
· writes
· observes
· notes
· thinks
· affirms / · remarks
· adds
· declares
· informs
· asserts
· explains / · us
· alleges
· claims
· states
· comments

B. Sometimes you might want to use a colon introduction. For example:
Kumquat offers this explanation: "Deep thinkers talk little." Or Kumquat

· is more enlightening:
· prefers a different argument: / · discerns this point:
· distinguishes between the two: / · reminds us of his youth:
· believes we should talk less

C. An introductory phrase may sometimes be best. For example:
In the words of Fisher, "Art is a mirror of belief" (342).
As Ted Fisher has remarked, "Life imitates art."
As Fisher reminds us, "Monkey see, monkey do."

4. Sometimes you might want to begin your quotation in the middle of the writer's sentence. For example, Joe's Text:
I live in the country where life is slow and soft.
Your quotation:
Joe believes that "life is slow and soft" in the country (Living Easy 288).

Or, Boz's Text:
Sally, I love the delicious metaphors you make.
Your quotation:
Boz tells Sally that he loves "the delicious metaphors" she makes (433).

(Note: for embedded phrases like these, do not use ellipsis dots on either side.)

5. Sometimes leave out some words to condense the quotation. Mid-sentence ellipses use three spaced, bracketed dots. Example text:
The surf on the beach at Mazatlan beat against the shore.
Your quotation:
Smith says of his wave watching, "The surf [. . .] beat against the shore" (Jones 788).

Ellipses at the end of sentence use three spaced, bracketed dots and then a period. Example text:
Rule 5 says, "Sometimes you will want to leave out some words [. . .]."

6. Parenthetical material goes inside the punctuation mark. Example:
The forest is variously described as "marvelous" (34), "fun" (98), and "dramatic" (39).

Compare punctuation without and with parenthetical material:
John records that "all things were made through him [. . .]."
John records that "all things were made through him [. . .]" (John 1:3).
(Note that the period has moved from next to the brackets to behind the right parenthesis mark.)
7. Standard MLA Citation Style is actually rather simple for most entries: The in-text citation is the author's last name followed by a page number:
The new method was implemented to save money (Jenkins 242).

At the end of your paper, you will have a Works Cited page, listing the work in standard MLA order. Basically, the order is:

Book
Lastname, Firstname. The Book Title. City: Publisher, Date.

Article
Last, First. "Article Title." Journal Name Volume (Year): Page-Page.

Web site
Last, First. "Article Title." Site Name. Article date. Organization Name. Web. Date of access <URL in angle brackets>.

Example
Harris, Robert. "Using Quotations Effectively." Home Page. 13 Feb. 2001. Vanguard University. 4 July 2002 <http://www.vanguard.edu/rharris/quotehlp.htm>.

Note: For Web articles, omit information not available, such as author, article date, site name, etc. Always include article title, date of access, and URL at the very minimum.