The Research Paper: Important Information

1. The Research Paper:Important Information ENG 101 J. Beattie Tri-County Technical College

2. Researching the Internet • You MUST evaluate any internet sources you plan to use! • Anyone can put something out on the internet. • How do you know whether or not your internet source is credible?

3. Evaluating Internet Sources: Step 1 • Know what kind of site you’re examining. • a.    informational pages (i.e., www.tctc.edu) • b.   news and journalistic sources (i.e., www.cnn.com) • c.    advocacy pages (i.e., www.aids.org) • d.   personal homepages (i.e., home.earthlink.net/~member1234) • e.    entertainment pages (i.e., www.thex-files.com).

4. You can’t believe everything you see online! • http://www.dhmo.org/ • http://www.genochoice.com/ • http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/ • http://www.mjt.org/ • http://www.d-b.net/dti/ • http://www.buydehydratedwater.com/ • http://www.firstgenetics.com/

5. Evaluating Internet Sources: Step 2 • Know who provided the information you find. • who the author is (name, credentials, a physical or electronic address) • when the material was posted or last updated • the kind of site on which the information appears (is it, for instance, a site sponsored by a reputed company or one that anyone can buy space on?) • cross-references or sources for factual material • footnotes or bibliography

6. Evaluating Internet Sources: Final Steps • Cross-check the information with other sources. • Check the relevance, accuracy, and currency of the information. • Make sure you document anything taken from a Web site the same way you would document any other source—or you’ll be guilty of plagiarizing. • Use common sense!

7. Avoiding Plagiarism: Step One • Make sure you understand the material! • If you can’t put the information into your own words, you aren’t ready to write about it. Writing in your own words, using a few quotes to strengthen your main points, shows that you understand your topic. Stringing quotes together suggests that you don’t.

8. Avoiding Plagiarism: Step Two • Know when and how to use direct quotations, paraphrases, summaries, and common knowledge.

9. What’s The Difference? • Direct quotationsare used when the author’s original words are so memorable, the facts are so specific, or the authority is so convincing that the exact words are the only way to express the information.

10. What’s the Difference? • Paraphrasesare used when the information is crucial, but the speaker’s authority or exact words aren’t as impressive. Paraphrases must be entirely in your own words and word order.

11. More on Paraphrasing • A paraphrase is... • your own rendition of essential information and ideas expressed by someone else, presented in a new form. • one legitimate way (when accompanied by accurate documentation) to borrow from a source. • a more detailed restatement than a summary, which focuses concisely on a single main idea.

12. More on Paraphrasing • Paraphrasing is a valuable skill because... • it is better than quoting information from an undistinguished passage. • it helps you control the temptation to quote too much. • the mental process required for successful paraphrasing helps you to grasp the full meaning of the original.

13. Even More on Paraphrasing • 6 Steps to Effective Paraphrasing • 1. Reread the original passage until you understand its full meaning. • 2. Set the original aside, and write your paraphrase on a note card. • 3. Jot down a few words below your paraphrase to remind you later how you envision using this material. At the top of the note card, write a key word or phrase to indicate the subject of your paraphrase.

14. Final Information on Paraphrasing • 4. Check your rendition with the original to make sure that your version accurately expresses all the essential information in a new form. • 5. Use quotation marks to identify any unique term or phraseology you have borrowed exactly from the source. • 6. Record the source (including the page) on your note card so that you can credit it easily if you decide to incorporate the material into your paper.

15. What’s the Difference? • Summariesare used when only a general sense of the information of the source is needed, for example as background or definition. • Common knowledge includes facts found in general reference works like encyclopedias, almanacs, and dictionaries; common proverbs and expressions; knowledge generally shared by members of the audience.      

16. Avoiding Plagiarism: Step 3 • Use a signal in the body of your text to show where the use of a source starts. • This technique, called attribution, shows your readers the kinds and quality of evidence that backs up the point you are making. Such a signal says to your reader, "Here’s why you should believe what I say–these facts or this person backs me up."

17. Attribution Tags • Should name the source • Should show why the source is credible (the first time mentioned) • Should not always be the same (i.e. So & So Says…) • Should be smoothly incorporated with the borrowed information and your own text

18. Avoiding Plagiarism: Step 4 • Use a signal to show where your use of the source ends. •       This in-text citation, shown in parentheses, allows readers to switch focus from your supporting material back to the main thrust of your paper. It also helps readers find the source in the list at the end of the paper in case they wish to know more about what the source has to show.

19. Avoiding Plagiarism: Final Step • Put a complete list of the sources you used at the end of your paper so that readers can find out more about them. • MLA=Works Cited List • shows readers the range and depth of the material you looked at in writing this paper to support your expertise.

20. MLA STYLE • 2 parts: • Works Cited Page • Parenthetical Citations

21. Works Cited List • A complete list of every source that you make reference to in your essay • Provides the information necessary for a reader to locate and retrieve any sources cited in your essay.

22. A Sample Works Cited Page Smith 12 Works Cited Dickens, Charles. Bleak House. 1852-1853. New York: Penguin, 1985. ---. David Copperfield. 1849-1850. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1958. Miller, J. Hillis. Charles Dickens: The World and His Novels. Bloomington: U of Indiana P, 1958. Zwerdling, Alex. “Esther Summerson Rehabilitated.” PMLA 88 (May 1973): 429-439.

23. Works Cited Most citations should contain the following basic information: • Author’s name • Title of work • Publication information

24. When Should You Use Parenthetical Citations? • When quoting any words that are not your own • Quoting means to repeat another source word for word, using quotation marks

25. When Should You Use Parenthetical Citations? • When summarizing facts and ideas from a source • Summarizing means to take ideas from a large passage of another source and condense them, using your own words • When paraphrasing a source • Paraphrasing means to use the ideas from another source but change the phrasing into your own words

26. Keys to Parenthetical Citations Readability • Keep references brief • Give only information needed to identify the source on your Works Cited page • Do not repeat unnecessary information

27. Handling Quotes in Your Text • Author’s last name and page number(s) of quote must appear in the text Romantic poetry is characterized by the “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” (Wordsworth 263). Wordsworth stated that Romantic poetry was marked by a “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” (263).

28. Handling Parenthetical Citations • Sometimesmore information is necessary • More than one author with the same last name (W. Wordsworth 23); (D. Wordsworth 224) • More than one work by the same author (Joyce, Portrait 121); (Joyce, Ulysses 556) • Different volumes of a multivolume work (1: 336) • Citing indirect sources (Johnson qtd. in Boswell 2:450)

29. Handling Parenthetical Citations • If the source has no known author, then use an abbreviated version of the title: Full Title: “California Cigarette Tax Deters Smokers” Citation: (“California” A14) • If the source is only one page in length or is a web page with no apparent pagination: Source: Dave Poland’s “Hot Button” web column Citation: (Poland)

30. Handling Long Quotations David becomes identified and defined by James Steerforth, a young man with whom David is acquainted from his days at Salem House. Before meeting Steerforth, David accepts Steerforth’s name as an authoritative power: There was an old door in this playground, on which the boys had a custom of carving their names. . . . In my dread of the end of the vacation and their coming back, I could not read a boy’s name, without inquiring in what tone and with what emphasis he would read, “Take care of him. He bites.” There was one boy—a certain J. Steerforth—who cut his name very deep and very often, who I conceived, would read it in a rather strong voice, and afterwards pull my hair. (Dickens 68) For Steerforth, naming becomes an act of possession, as well as exploitation. Steerforth names David for his fresh look and innocence, but also uses the name Daisy to exploit David's romantic tendencies (Dyson 122).

31. Handling Quotes in Your Text There are many different combinations and variations within MLA citation format. If you run into something unusual, look it up!

32. Where can you go for additional help with MLA documentation? • Your Prentice Hall Reference Guide to Grammar and Usage • The Writing Center—they have handouts and human beings to help with MLA • Your teacher