Writing from Scratch: Incorporating Sources in Academic Writing

The Writing and Reading ProgramAt Western New England College

Getting Started Academic writing

requires close, active reading, a reasoned interpretation and conclusion, and valid, well-documented evidence.

The evidence used in academic writing is known as source material.

There are three types of sources: Primary sources Secondary sources Tertiary sources

Primary Sources Primary sources are

often called “firsthand” documents. They include original writings or records. An example might

be: A diary or poem

Writing with Primary Sources College level assignments often require you to

read carefully and offer a personal interpretation of a specific text.

In this instance, you are dealing exclusively with a primary source.

In some cases, you may be asked to examine the whole text and offer a thorough explication.

In other cases, you may be asked to examine a specific element or aspect of the text and offer an analysis.

The Explication The goal of an explication is to show your

thorough reading and grasp of the text. An explication requires a focused

examination of every detail, paragraph by paragraph, stanza by stanza, or line by line.

Writing an explication of a text can prepare you for using other rhetorical strategies by making the purpose of the work and the author’s techniques clear.

The Analysis The analysis essay requires several key

steps. First, be able to identify and discuss the various

elements in the literary work. Focus on one particular element and study its

function in depth. Develop a topic and thesis based on a close

reading of the text. As your essay takes shape, be prepared to utilize

the art of explication as you make your points clear to the reader.

Once you can formulate a reasonable interpretation, you must find examples in the text that support your position.

Focus: Primary Sources

Don’t forget that your essay must be based on your views and interpretation.

Francis Ponge expresses the value of nature by highlighting the wonderful surprises found in the natural world.

This sentence represents the writer’s view of Francis Ponge’s work.

Every major point must be supported with evidence from the text:

Francis Ponge expresses the value of nature by highlighting the wonderful surprises found in the natural world. In his poem, “The Oyster,” he explains a magical occurrence, “Sometimes very rare a formula pearls in their gullet of nacre, whereby / is found at once an adornment” ( 21).

This quotation supports the author’spoint, but there is something missing.

It is critical to explain every quotation.Don’t assume the reader understands

the significance of a quote, or its connection to your thesis or topic sentence.

Secondary Sources Secondary sources

restate, evaluate, interpret and/or analyze primary source documents.

Secondary sources often argue a particular viewpoint, and many are published by scholars in academic publications.

T.S. Eliot’s essay on Shakespeare’s Hamlet would be an example of a secondary source.

The text of the play, Hamlet, would be the primary source that Eliot interpreted.

From Secondary to Primary Let’s suppose you are interested in writing a

paper about T.S. Eliot himself. If you glean information about Eliot from his

letters and essays, then these materials serve as primary source documents.

In this instance, the Eliot essay written about the play Hamlet becomes a primary source document, telling you about the poet and critic T.S. Eliot.

Tertiary SourcesTertiary Sources organize, summarize,

and condense secondary sources of information.

Most reference books fit into this category.

Tertiary Sources

An example of a tertiarysource would be MLA International

Bibliography.

Tertiary sources are usefulwhen you are scouting for materials to substantiate your argument or thesis.Tertiary sources can guideyou to meaty, useful articles and books that can help you make your point more clearly and authoritatively.

Writing with Secondary Sources Once you formulate a

thesis statement or controlling idea, you must find sources that support your position.

Your thesis statement must express your position and telegraph, or forecast to the reader the steps you will undertake to defend this position.

Finding SourcesThe most authoritative sources come

from refereed [or peer reviewed] journals. Use scholarly publications Look for signed articles Check for a bibliography Make sure the article really pertains to your

topic

Quotations = Evidence Beware! Make sure

that your paper is not merely a compilation of quotations!

Refer to secondary source material only when required to do so.

Read your sources thoroughly. Don’t remove a quotation from a text without understanding the context thoroughly.

Follow protocol for incorporating source material.

Use a Direct Quote* When the author’s language is expressive and

effective for your particular purpose When you are looking for technical accuracy When a person’s opinion should be expressed in

his or her own words When you can appeal to a noted authority When you are analyzing or interpreting a text

*This segment of the presentation is an adaptation of Diana Hacker’s chapter called “Integrating Quotations” from her excellent text, A Writer’s Reference.

Use Quotations Effectively A “dropped”

quotationCalifornia law prevents the

killing of mountain lions except for specific lions that have been proved to be a threat to humans or livestock. “Fish and Game is even blocked from keeping mountain lions from killing the endangered desert

bighorn sheep” (Perry B4).

Using a “signal” verb or phrase”

California law prevents the killing of mountain lions except for specific lions that have been proved to be a threat to humans or livestock. Tony Perry points out that, ironically, “Fish and Game is even blocked from keeping mountain lions from killing the endangered desert bighorn sheep” (B4).

A “signal” verb

Signal Verbs Suggests Illustrates Contends Asserts Claims Points out

An example: In her book on

Venezuela, Maggie Cunniff asserts that Chavez Frias will “adopt a political, rather than economic solution to [his] country’s ills” (50).

Quoting Correctly Sometimes it’s more

effective to use just a phrase from a source:

In late 1923, author and journalist Morgan Fleming wrote that spiritual and philosophical notions were buried in the customs practiced by the “spirited tribes of the Pacific Northwest” (124).

Quoting Correctly Use ellipsis marks [. . .] to indicate that a

segment of the passage has been omitted. This is useful when you want to condense a lengthy quotation: Martin Xavier contends that the “life of the poet…

should never steer the interpretation of individual poems, but may inform us about the writer’s complete oeuvre” (55).

In this example, the key segments of the quotation are used and extraneous material is represented by the ellipsis marks.

Rules Governing the Ellipsis If you intend to omit a full sentence or

more, use a period before the three ellipsis dots.

Ellipsis marks do not belong at the beginning or end of a quotation.

Be sure that your use of ellipsis marks does not lead to a misrepresentation of the original text.

The Bracket [ ]Brackets are a nifty way for you to

legally insert your own words into quoted material.

Use brackets to clarify a point.Use brackets to maintain grammatical

consistency. For example, the text you are citing may be written in a conflicting verb tense.

Robinson felt that “ the impossible [was] likely anytime you [didn’t] expect it” (4).

The Long Quotation Make a sensible and effective transition to

long quotations, usually with the aid of a colon.

Do not use quotation marks; just follow the standard indented format (ten spaces or one inch from the left margin with no adjustments on the right margin).

Do not single space long quotations. When using a long quotation, place in-text

citations OUTSIDE of the final period.

The Long Quotation – An Example

Freccero clearly elaborates the connection between pilgrimage and conversion:

The process of the poem, which is to say the progress of the pilgrim, is the transformation of the problematic and humanistic into the certain and transcendent, from novelistic involvement to epic detachment, from a synchronic view of the self in a dark wood to a diachronic total view of the entire world. (13)

DocumentationUse the Modern Language Association

format (MLA) for most papers in the Humanities.

MLA relies on signal phrases and brief in-text citations.

Keep track of all pertinent information, especially when you are using databases.

MLA Axiom # 1 Introduce a source with a signal phrase

that includes the author’s last name. In this case, follow the quotation with a

brief in-text citation listing the page in parentheses.

Remember that the period of the sentence belongs OUTSIDE the final parenthesis.

Wellington claims that “rubber boots are a requirement of lifewhen walking in the Cotswolds” (40).

MLA Axiom # 2 If you use no signal phrase or provide a

paraphrase with no direct reference to the source, you must include the author's last name in the parentheses with the page number:

If you have a chance to take a walking vacation in theCotswolds, you will need to include rubber boots in your supply pack (Wellington 40).

MLA Axiom # 3Cite works with no author by using an

abbreviation of the title. This occurs frequently when citing Web

resources:

Public bathing facilities were more elaborate in Herculaneum, but “Pompeii rivaled any city of its time in the availability of plumbing conveniences” (“Pompeii”).

MLA Axiom # 4Always keep a text nearby to guide your

citation and bibliography format. The Penguin Handbook by Lester Faigley

offers a complete section of rules and examples for using MLA.

Academic reading and writing challenges your convictions, broadens your experience of the world, and brings you knowledge of yourself.