English 4-1

.Reading: Source Integration

When you begin drafting your paper, you will be using information from your sources as evidence to support your points. However, there are multiple ways to integrate that information into your writing, and some of those methods are more appropriate than others in particular circumstances. In what follows, we'll discuss methods of source integration including quotation and summary.

Guidelines for Quotations

When you quote a source, you use the exact words and phrases your source used to convey information. Plagiarism* occurs when quotes are not attributed to the appropriate sources, so it is important that you keep careful notes so that you don't unintentionally represent someone else's work or ideas as your own. Overquotating can also be problematic. This happens when writers rely too heavily on quotations. Over quoting can result in stilted writing where the author contributes too little. Ultimately, you will want to balance quotations with summaries.

The following graphic reviews tips for successfully integrating quotation into your writing

The following graphic reviews tips for successfully integrating quotation into your writing.

1: Use quotations only when the specific words or phrases employed by the source are necessary to support the point you are making.

 2: Never quote anything you don't fully understand.

 3: Make quotes as short as possible by eliminating anything that isn't absolutely necessary. Place ellipses (. . .) in the text where you removed words or sentences from the original source. Example: "The mechanization of Charlie's body . . . is vividly dramatized in the film by his continuing to use his wrenches on objects other than those he is supposed to."

4: Provide context for your quotes. Don't assume the reader will know when and why your source said what they did. In the text surrounding the quote, provide information about the context in which the original quote took place as well as information about how you take the quote to support your point or project.

5: Always quote directly from what the source said. To make changes within a quote so that the quote fits grammatically with the rest of the sentence, place brackets ([ ]) around the altered material. Example: The witness testified "[the defendant] was engaged in the hit-and-run accident."

 6: Mix quoted material with your own writing. Never present an entire quoted sentence without any introductory qualifying, or contextualizing information. Example: According to the anthropologist Brian Hoey, the purpose of ethnographies is "to provide a detailed, in-depth description of everyday life and practice."

Introduction to Summarizing: Why Summarize?

Students are often tempted to draw quotations* from their research sources to support points they want to make. Well-chosen quotations from respected authorities can indeed be valuable evidence; however, too many quotations break up the flow of your writing, so you should use them only when the phrasing is unique, memorable, or particularly powerful.

You should aim to present most of your evidence through summary*, and this will require you to rewrite the author's content in your own words.

When you take notes from your reading, it's a good idea to use your own vocabulary and phrasing to record information. (Remember to document a source with all the information you will need to cite it so that you don't confuse your ideas with the ideas of others!) This practice has a few benefits:

You will better understand the content because recording it in your own words ensures that you process the information in the source when you read it.

You will be less tempted to use the source as a quotation.

Your notes will be shorter because you can rephrase just the main points that the source's author is making.

You will avoid inadvertently using the author's words without quotation marks or without citing the source, which is plagiarism. Remember that even paraphrases* need to be followed by in-text citations that cite author, publication date, and page number or other specific look-up information.

If you find a short passage particularly striking and think you may want to quote it, write it in your notes exactly as stated in the text, being careful to use quotation marks and note the citation.

Why Summarize Rather Than Use a Quotation?

Research writing asks that the writer's voice speak through the research. Relying too heavily on the original words of source authors (as inexperienced writers do when they rely too heavily on direct quotations) would compromise the effectiveness of the research writer's own research paper. Good writers choose their words carefully. As a research writer, it's your job to figure out how to use the ideas of authors for your own purposes and for your audience*.

When you summarize, you identify the ideas that are most relevant and important to your project and rewrite other authors' ideas in your own words, emphasizing those points. Paraphrasing also gives you an opportunity to untangle the language of a passage if it is likely to be too confusing to your reader as a quotation taken out of the context of its surrounding paragraphs or if it contains jargon that you need to explain to

 your reader. As a result, paraphrases can sometimes be longer than the passages they are paraphrased from.

You should only use quotations when there is no other way to communicate the content of the original source into your writing, or when you want to maintain the author's tone and emotion.

How to Write a Summary

Your summary should cover the same ground as the original passage, but it should not contain any direct quotations, and you should make sure that your summary doesn't have any language too close to the source language. Unknowing plagiarism (and sometimes knowing plagiarism) occurs when summaries are phrased too closely to source materials, so be sure that your phrasing is sufficiently different. Even though you can change the emphasis of the original writing, you cannot add to or change the meaning! You should not mix your own ideas with your summary. A good summary will make the following information clear to the reader:

Where you found the source.

The fact that you are summarizing a source rather than presenting your own ideas or opinions: an author may find it effective to alert the reader that they are summarizing by using a lead-in phrase such as, "According to Smith . . . ," though this is only one strategy for effective summarizing.

Steps for Writing a Summary

Use your active reading skills to read through two paragraphs of the original source until you fully understand what the author means.

Set aside the original source and write what you remember on a note card or on your computer without referring to the original.

Now compare your summary with the original paragraphs. Make sure that you included all the same ideas but didn't use language or sentence structure that is too similar to that of the original.

If your summary contains unique terms or phrases from the original that cannot be rephrased without losing meaning, use quotation marks to denote the borrowed language. Note: this should never be more than a word or short phrase. For example: If your source has used or coined a unique word or phrase with specific meaning such as "deep ecology" or "ecopsychology" use quotation marks to denote this language from the source.

Cite your source. You will learn to create proper citations in Module 6, but for now just be sure to note what source you are summarizing and the corresponding pages and sections of that source.

Synthesis

Synthesis

In your paper, you will be synthesizing information from many sources in order to support your project.

Synthesis goes beyond just summarizing your source—you will need to evaluate it as well. In order to evaluate the source, you will need to answer questions about the value of the source—weaknesses, strengths, or oversights in the content.

Though the term synthesis may scare you if you haven't heard it before, you synthesize information in the world all the time. You form opinions about movies, musicians, fashion, and restaurants based on your own experience with them but also based on what your friends or family might say to you or based on what you read on the Internet about these topics.

Compare the following summary, or fact-based, statements to their correlated synthesis statements. Remember that these examples are based on everyday topics and examples. Personal opinion about restaurants or movie topics would not be acceptable in your research paper.

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Black Swan East Coast Grill

Black Swan

Summary (Fact-Based)       Synthesis (Evaluation/Informed Opinion Based on Facts)

Natalie Portman underwent extensive ballet training to prepare for her role in the movie Black Swan.

Black Swan portrayed the ways in which the dance world demands physical and personal sacrifice of the dancers.

Many scenes in Black Swan portrayed sex, violence, and abuse.

The movie Black Swan offered its viewers a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the cut-throat world of dance. Natalie Portman's preparation for the role is a marvel in itself, and the plot shows how dancers have to sacrifice physically and personally for success. The movie may not be appropriate for some, however, because many of the scenes were quite disturbing.

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Activity: Integrating Sources (GRADED)

NOTE: This activity will be graded based on completion.

You've read information on how to integrate sources—now let's give it a try! Like before, we'll take this one step at a time to ensure you have the support you need to use sources to support your argument.

Return to the key points that you wrote out in your Writing Plan from Module 3 (Remember, you can find these responses saved in the Notebook, which can be found under the Tools menu signaled by the wrench icon in the upper right corner of the screen). If you have changed your mind about one of your key points, update and save that information now. Choose one of these points you want to strengthen using the research you've already conducted in the Opposing Viewpoints database and online (remember, one and only one of your sources may come from a website you found outside of the database), then follow the prompts below to practice integration.

We'll be using the PIE method of source integration for guidance, so feel free to look back over that material.

Click here to briefly review the PIE method

Walking Through the Integration Process

 This is the key points that you wrote out in your Writing Plan from Module 3 Below:

The three possible key points include:

·       The role of the government to manage Transportation: It is the responsibility of government to manage transportation networks and avoid traffic congestion (Rye, 2016). Therefore, Transportation Demand Management enables the government at all levels to ensure that there is efficiency in transportation so that the country (Rye, 2016). Also, it is cumbersome to deal with vehicles that emanate from different places (rural regions) and increase traffic in cities with Transportation Demand Management programs already in place.

·       The Transportation Demand Management would give a leeway for the sustainable environment: The implementation of Transportation Demand Management would provide a better convenient way for avoiding congestion in most of the urban cities (Rye, 2016).

·       Congestion Pricing: The implementation of Transportation Demand Management would discourage drivers from using personal cars in certain areas (Rye, 2016). The drivers would be discipline and in term reduces the level of congestion during the day. This method increases the rate of transit ridership, decreases the levels of pollution and number of vehicular accidents and provides more reliable travel times.

Type your responses in the textboxes provided and click "Submit." Your responses will be saved to the Notebook, which can be found under the "Course Tools" menu.

The next activity uses a rich text area. You can tab to the editor body. Press ALT-F10 to get to the toolbar. Press ESC to return to the editor body. A save button is available in the top toolbar all the way to the right and will become visible when it receives focus.

You have not yet completed the activity below.

(1). Review your sources and select a source that will support a key point in your essay.

(2)  In 1-2 sentences, clearly state what the point is that you are trying to make in this particular section of your project.

(3) What information from the source you selected in step 1 supports this point? You may quote or summarize that source below.

(4)  Explain how the information provided in question three supports your point. How does this information also support the overall argument in your essay?

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