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Using
Secondary Sources
in Writing
General Thoughts
• Reminder: Do NOT explicate secondary sources
• Cite all sources on Works Cited page in
alphabetical order
• Use secondary sources to support your
argumentative claims or create a meaningful
contrast of ideas
• A research essay without meaningful integrated
research is NOT a research essay!
Rule #1: Paraphrase
Whenever Possible
• Shows that you truly understand the
secondary material
• Helps readers understand complex or
ambiguous secondary sources
• Keeps the focus on analyzing the primary
source
“Integrating Sources.” California State University, Sacramento.
Rule #2: Quote When
Appropriate
• The source author’s point can't be expressed more
clearly and concisely
• A dense passage needs to be analyzed closely in
order for the reader to understand
• You are disagreeing with the source author and
ensuring the reader that you are not
misrepresenting the opposing argument
“Integrating Sources.” California State University, Sacramento.
Rule #3: No Clutter
• Refer to source author by full name ONCE, last
name only thereafter
• No source titles! (Readers can find secondary
source titles on the Works Cited page)
• Do not announce source authors as literary critics
or use similar titles
“Integrating Sources.” California State University, Sacramento.
Rule #4: Parenthetical
Citations
• If the author’s name is Jacobs and you use their
name in the sentence, the citation will only
include the page number or other appropriate
marker (241).
• If you do not mention the author’s name in the
sentence, you must include it in the citation
(Jacobs 241).
“Integrating Sources.” California State University, Sacramento.
Example #1: Disagreement
Susan Snyder contends that Shakespeare “detaches
[Iago’s] hatred from any immediate cause” (289),
but it is more likely that Iago’s reasons for hating
Othello are all too real. For example, in Iago’s
second soliloquy…
Example #2: Paraphrase
Shakespeare uses a simile to compare the smoothness of
Desdemona’s skin to alabaster, indicating that Othello’s
bride is a beautiful commodity that is owned, not loved.
Through Othello’s obsession, Shakespeare argues that
marriage is a flawed institution that endangers women.
Snyder similarly notes that Othello’s views towards
Desdemona are informed by deep-rooted and misinformed
ideas of gender and marriage (295). Since Othello is one of
many men entrenched in such ideas, the implicit warning
works just as well for Elizabethan women as it does for
Desdemona.
Example #3: Name in Citation
Shakespeare’s characterization of Othello as a
stranger to Venice (and by extension, Desdemona)
implies that any loveless marriage is doomed to fail.
Further, it is clear that a lack of common ground can
highlight the fragility of the very notion of love
(Snyder 293). In a marriage defined by such fragility,
the slightest misgiving is likely to prove fatal.