Incorporating Sources Using Summaries, Paraphrases, and Direct Quotations (Including Some Helpful Tips on Avoiding Plagiarism)

Sample Source: Canadians speak French and English, often at the same time. Trays sophisticated, nest pah? Known far and wide as master linguists, Canadians excel in particular at translating cereal boxes. Often, when the U.N. needs a cereal box translated, they call in the Canadians, who parachute out of stealth bombers clutching boxes of Captaine Crounche and K de Special. In a situation unique among the worlds nations, English Canadians know what the French is for riboflavin, niacin and part of a complete breakfast. And vice versa. English Canadians dont know what riboflavin is (no one does), but they do sort of know what it looks like in French. And vice versa. (Will Ferguson and Ian Ferguson, How to Be a Canadian, 14-15)

The Summary A summary is usually a few sentences to a paragraph in length. The first sentence should include the author, title of work, and controlling idea of the entire work. The summary must be entirely in your own words. Do not introduce your opinion until after summarizing the work or section you are using. e.g. In How to Be a Canadian, brothers Will and Ian Ferguson have created a humourous information manual on

how to understand the many facets of Canadian life. The book tackles many subjects, from explaining Canadian government, sports, and food to cataloguing twelve ways of apologizing.

The Paraphrase A paraphrase repeats a sources information in approximately the same number of words. Use the paraphrase when facts are more important than exact words (which is most of the time). The paraphrase must be clear and concise.

e.g. In their brief introductory segment on language, Will Ferguson and Ian Ferguson poke fun at Canadian

bilingualism by suggesting that all Canadians are bilingual, often using both languages at once. They joke that both French and English Canadians posses specialized skills in translating cereal boxes, regardless of whether they can understand the meaning of nutritional labels in their own languages (14-15).

The Direct Quotation The direct quotation is used sparingly because the paper is meant to represent your voice, not a compilation of others words and ideasno matter how skilfully interpolated. Use the direct quotation only to support your own ideas when the exact words of your source are necessary for your argument. e.g. Ferguson and Ferguson poke holes in Canadas bilingual status by suggesting that Canadians speak French

and English, often at the same time. Trays sophisticated, nest pah? (14). The misspelled French above obviously belies the authors optimistic boast that all Canadians can speak both official languages interchangeably.

NOTE: This handout uses MLA style citations. Consult a documentation handbook on how to properly provide citations for APA or Chicago style.

Sources:

Ferguson, Will and Ian Ferguson. How to Be a Canadian. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre. 2007. Print.

Hacker, Diana. A Canadian Writers Reference. 4th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins. 2009. Print.

Tips to Remember

1. Be selective. The sources you use are meant to strengthen your own argument, not to make it for you.

2. Incorporate sources seamlessly. Introduce the source, ensure you have not changed

the meaning of your quote or paraphrase, and, finally, comment on its relation to your argument.

3. Avoid dropped quotations. Give

context and background before introducing any sources.

Wrong: Canadas bilingualism is somewhat suspect, with most regions of Canada being almost monolithically unilingual. In a situation unique among the worlds nations, English Canadians know what the French is for riboflavin, niacin and part of a complete breakfast. And vice versa (Ferguson & Ferguson, 15).

Right: Canadas bilingualism is somewhat suspect, with most regions of Canada being almost monolithically unilingual. Ferguson and Ferguson highlight the humourous aspects of Canadas language laws, which include making food packaging bilingual: In a situation unique among the worlds nations, English Canadians know what the French is for riboflavin, niacin and part of a complete breakfast. And vice versa (15).

4. Try using signal phrases like Ferguson

and Ferguson suggest/argue/comment, 5. Consider explaining your sources

credentials to establish credibility: Will Ferguson and Ian Ferguson, both winners of the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour, co-wrote the hilarious

6. Never begin the sentence after a

quotation with the words, This quote shows that. Such wording is amateurish and interrupts the fluidity of your argument.

Avoid Plagiarising

When paraphrasing, it is easy to fall into the trap of plagiarising, even when you cite a source. Avoid borrowing wording or copying sentence structure.

Original source: The unit of currency in Canada is the Canadian dollar, also known as El Peso del Norte. Canadians affectionately refer to their dollar as the loonie because there is a picture of a large crazed woman on it (Ferguson & Ferguson 14).

Unacceptable paraphrase: According to Ferguson and Ferguson, Canadas currency is the dollar, also called El Peso del Norte. Canadians lovingly call the dollar the loonie because it has a large crazed woman on it (14).

Acceptable paraphrase: Ferguson and Ferguson explain that the dollar is Canadas unit of currency and that Canadians call the dollar coin a loonie because it pictures a crazy woman (10). How to avoid plagiarism: 1. Read the source. 2. Close the book. 3. Rewrite the information in your own words. 4. Reread the source. Have you kept the meaning without copying words and sentence structure?

7. Make tense agreement. Slight changes to tense may be incorporated with the use of square brackets as long as the meaning of the text is not altered.

Quotation: There are 30, 000, 000 people in Canadaall of whom have, at some point, frozen their tongues to the side of a chainlink fence or flagpole. Even when their mothers told them not to (Ferguson & Ferguson 14).

Making Agreement: At the time of writing How to Be a Canadian, There [were] 30, 000, 000 people in Canadaall of whom [had] at some point frozen their tongues to the side of a chainlink fence or flagpole (Ferguson & Ferguson 14).

8. Include all your sources in your bibliography, including those paraphrased or

summarized. Do not include sources you read but didnt use.