How
Do I Cite or Use Quotes?
Your assignment is to write a paper in which you use textual support to prove your points. Some of the questions you might want to ask yourself are:
What’s the Difference between Citing and Quoting?
ü
Every time you refer in your paper to the ideas
you have found through your research, you need to Cite (using proper style, i.e., MLA, APA, CMS,
etc.)
ü
Only when you borrow not only the idea but
the actual words should you Quote (after which you will still need to cite your source
appropriately).
How much support do I need to use?
ü Make
it a goal to use at least one quote from the text or paraphrased
citation to support every “big” idea or major point you have included in your
paper.
ü An
outline helps to isolate those major points and utilize quotes and citations
appropriately.
Am I using enough support?
ü
Use textual evidence to explain how or why you
formulated an idea.
ü
Think of quotes or textual support as your own
personal fan club—a group of people who believe what you are saying and want to
help you prove that you are right.
Thus, when you make a point, have one of the members of your fan club
back you up.
Am I using too much?
ü
It is important to remember that you never want
quotes/textual support to outweigh your own analysis.
ü
Make sure you are including more of your own
thoughts as opposed to those of someone else—you should talk more than your fan
club.
ü
Their “thoughts” or words of wisdom should be used
to support YOUR thoughts, not the other way around.
Should I be using my own words?
ü Whenever
possible, summarize in your own words the testimonials of your fan club
members. To do so is also called paraphrasing!
ü Paraphrasing
is not simply changing a few words in a particular quote by using the
thesaurus; rather, it is a thoughtful summary of that fan club member’s
thoughts. (See the ARC handout
on Plagiarism for more help with distinguishing true paraphrasing from
“borrowing.”)
Think About it Another Way:
Consider
your paper a “stand-in” for a long conversation with your professor in his/her
office. You sit down across the desk in
your professor’s office. You’re invited
to tell everything you’ve learned while researching a topic. Will you…
ü Pick up one text after another and read aloud from them?
ü Put most things in your own words (admittedly less polished than the texts), thereby letting your professor know that you have understood and made sense of what you’ve read?
ü
Be careful not to fall into the trap of “hanging
quotes.” A hanging quote is a quote
that stands all by itself in a sentence, without any of your own words to
introduce it or comment on it.
o
Hanging Quote:
“There
are many theories of poetic origins” (Bloom 59).
o
Introduced Quote:
Despite the argument that all poetry proceeds from direct experience, Bloom argues that “[t]here are many theories of poetic origins” (59).
ü
Try to end paragraphs or conclude major
ideas/points of our paper with your own words, not someone else’s.
ü
Do not use “back-to-back quotes,” one after
another, without interjection of your own thoughts. There is a reason that you utilize a specific quote, right? Make sure you explain that reason rather
than expecting the quote to do so on its own.
ü Remember,
quotes are your support, but not your crutch!
| Last Update: January 24, 2003 | [ Close Window ] |
Wheeling Jesuit University Wheeling, West Virginia |