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Anecdote: A short, believable, but not necessarily factual, story that connects to

your topic.

×  Angie sits quietly in the back of the classroom, biting the brittle cuticle around her ring finger. Nerves satiate her body and fear overwhelms her, and she has approaches the first set of directions in front of her on her iPad screen. The directions are simple enough, to press a button and see if her volume works, but her nerves have literally shut down her cranial function for the moment. She faces the Smarter Balanced exam, the importance of which has been emphasized daily for the last month by both her math and English teachers, and she is fearful that she will not do as well as her teachers desire. Unfortunately, students like Angie often buckle under test exam pressure and are not provided the necessary tools needed to view stressful situations—like participating in end-of-year-exams—differently, and actually see the body’s reaction to stress as something positive. Angie, like many others, may very well be extremely successful if she simply learns to view stress as a friend, rather than an enemy working against her.

Quoting, Summarizing, Paraphrasing

Research Notes: CP 11 English

Documenting your sources

×  In MLA, you must cite the sources for the ideas in your paper. That means you must document your sources when you: ×  Summarize—the gist of your source in your

own words. ×  Paraphrase—put the ideas of your source in

your own words. ×  Quote—Using the exact words from the

source. When do you do what?

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Use summary when . . .

. . . your readers just need the gist of the source.

•  You are summarizing when you select the source’s main points as the author presents them, without your own commentary or interpretation.

•  When summarizing, put the source in your words. Any specific words [excluding, of course, words like the, this, that, and, or, so, etc.] from the source, must be put in quotation marks.

•  Capture the main idea of the longer passage. •  Eliminate unnecessary detail. •  Make sure it is relevant to your topic. •  Snag meaningful language. Choose words

carefully. •  Still cite your source in MLA format.

Summarizing: What to Remember

“[There are times when the night sky glows with bands of color. The bands may begin as cloud shapes and then spread

into a great arc across the entire sky. They may fall in folds like a curtain drawn across the heavens. The lights usually grow brighter, then suddenly dim. During this time the sky glows

with pale yellow, pink, green, violet, blue, and red. These lights are called the Aurora Borealis. Some people call them the Northern Lights. Scientists have been watching them for hundreds of years. They are not quite sure what causes them.

In ancient times people were afraid of the Lights. They imagined that they saw

fiery dragons in the sky. Some even concluded that the heavens were on fire.” –The Northern Lights

Attempt to summarizing this passage:

Summary: Practice Passage

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Summary: Should be a condensed version of the

passage while still pulling out the main ideas.

The Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, are bands of color in the night sky. Ancient people thought that these lights were dragon on fire, and even

modern scientists are not sure what they are (“The Northern”).

Example:

Use paraphrasing when:

×  . . . you need more detail than in a summary.

×  Put the information in your own words. This shows your instructor you understand the source.

×  A paraphrase is similar in length to the original source.

×  A paraphrase should not use the author’s exact words or sentence structure.

Must Paraphrasing be Parenthetically Cited?

YES! YES! Absolutely Always

1.  When a quote is too confusing.

2.  When you’ve used several quotes already.

3.  When using your words instead of the resource’s will contribute to the strength of the paper’s voice.

Paraphrasing: When to Use It

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Take the figurative and interpret for a reader:

“A woman drew her long black hair out tight and fiddled whisper music on those strings.”

- T.S.Eliot, “The Waste Land”

Paraphrased: A woman put her black hair in a ponytail and

began softly playing her violin (78).

Paraphrasing…

Now you try:

"This is the way the world ends, Not with a bang but a whimper."

— T.S. Eliot (1922)

Consider: × Other ways to say the same words/ideas

× Changing the order of details

× Dont forget MLA format!

Paraphrasing: Practice Passage

Identify field-specific language or acronyms and make it accessible to your audience: “Pedagogues today must apply RTI across disciplines as evaluated by the Danielson model.”

- Nichols, Fisher, and Marquez (“Teacher Jargon”). Paraphrased: Teacher evaluations require them to consider how to help every student at their point(s) of need.

Paraphrasing: Example

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•  You cannot express the idea any better than it is already stated.

•  Only quote when the original words express the exact

point you want to make and express it succinctly and well.

•  Questions to ask yourself before you decide to quote

directly: why do I want to include this quotation? How does it support the point I made? What is particularly remarkable about this quotation? Would a paraphrase be better?

When to Use Direct Quotes…

•  When taking notes, indicate if it is a direct quote (DQ), paraphrase (P), summary (S) or notes in your own words (NOW).

•  Don’t just copy and write notes word for word, unless you place quotation marks around them, as this risks the accidental possibility on your part of plagiarism.

•  Your notes should look like my presentation here, in terms of length.

•  This does not •  Count •  As five •  Lines •  Of notes

Note Taking