Using Outside Sources Correctly and

Effectively1) Summary, Paraphrase, Direct Quote

2) Steps in Paraphrasing3) Using Outside Sources Within Your Writing

Incorporating Outside Sources: A SummaryA summary is a condensed form of the essential idea of a passage, article, or chapter It is shorter than the original. It uses your own words. It captures the gist. It requires a source citation.

Incorporating Outside Sources: A ParaphraseA paraphrase is restating the original information in your own words and with your own sentence structures while maintaining the author’s meaning.

It is usually longer than the original. It requires a source citation. It should be used more frequently than direct quotes in most types of

writing. It should avoid merely replacing words with a list of synonyms. It should avoid synonyms that sound too academic or pretentious.

Incorporating Outside Sources: Direct QuotesA direct quote uses someone else’s words directly in your writing and placing quotation marks around them. It requires a source citation. It requires special punctuation and capitalization rules. It should be done when the original uses powerful or stylistic language. It should be done sparingly (only 1/3 of your outside sources should be

direct quotes.) It should be noted that direct quotes of three or more lines should not

be done in short writing assignments. Direct quotes of more than four lines use special MLA formatting rules.

Steps in the Paraphrasing Process• Reread the original material that you want to

paraphrase.

• Try to find the parts or the chunks of the original.

• Put the original material to the side and try to rewrite the ideas in your own words.

• Recheck the original to make sure that you got all of the essential ideas and haven’t plagiarized.

Paraphrasing Steps Continued• Recheck the original to make sure that

you got all of the essential ideas and haven’t plagiarized.

• General rule: If you use more than three of the source’s words in a row, you have plagiarized.

• If you use the same sentence structure and grammatical structure, you have plagiarized.

Two Ways to Cite Sources Within your Essay

Running text citation – the outside source citation of quote, paraphrase, or summary “runs” inside the essay or paper.

In the New York Times article, “The Kids are Idiots,” by Mark Bauerlein, teens have lost their moral meaning due to Facebook. Parenthetical citation – the outside source is cited in parenthesis at the end of the sentence.

A sense of morality is absent in adolescents who use Facebook (Bauerlein).