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Using Secondary Sources
One of the characteristics of academic writing is the use of secondary sources.
Whenever we write an academic text, we need to acknowledge what other people in
the field have said on the topic. Our ideas on a certain topic should be framed as a
response to what other people have said about this subject and we should use the ideas
of others as a starting point for our own ideas and findings. It is like taking part in a
conversation—we contribute with our own ideas and findings about a certain topic and
we need to acknowledge the contributions of other scholars as well, not only to give
them their due, but also to show what our own contributions are.
Below, you will find some brief information about the use of secondary sources:
 When you use secondary sources in your writing you generally need to document
these in two different places:
1. You document your source in the body of your text, right after you have used it.
2. You document your source at the end of the text, in a bibliography.
 The reasons for documenting sources are to avoid plagiarism, to enable readers to look
up your sources for further reading, and to verify quotes.
 Whenever you use something which you have not come up with yourself you need to
document where it came from. This includes:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Direct quotes
A paraphrase or summary of what someone else has written or said
Someone else’s ideas or opinions
Statistics
Illustrations, pictures, or diagrams that are not your own
Information that is not general knowledge
 If you mention something that is general knowledge (World War II ended in 1945)
you do not need a source.
 When you are writing several sentences about something that comes from the same
source, put the source reference after you have finished referring to that source. Make
sure you put the reference in same paragraph, however.
 Different disciplines use different methods of documentation. Here are some
examples:
1. MLA (Modern Language Association): used in English and literature
2. APA (American Psychological Association): used in the social sciences
3. Footnotes (Chicago Style): used in journalism, art, history
How To Incorporate Sources into Your Own Text
Direct Quotes or Paraphrase?
There are two ways to incorporate sources into your own text: through direct quote or through
paraphrase. One thing to consider here is that long quotes tend to disrupt the text. Often it is
better to paraphrase—i.e. use your own words—unless it is important to use the exact words
from the original source. Also, sometimes it is not necessary to quote a whole section.
Consider which part(s) of a text that you think are important to quote and leave the rest out.
For example, rather than saying:
In her article “How Swede It Is,” Jennie Yabroff discusses reasons why
Scandinavian movies are popular, arguing that
[o]nce you watch a few of these films the attraction becomes clear:
unlike Bergman’s often arty, ponderous parables, modern
Scandinavian movies are brilliant at telling universally recognized
stories without sacrificing an aura of art-house good taste” (48).
you could say:
In her article “How Swede It Is,” Jennie Yabroff argues that the popularity of
modern Scandinavian movies is due to their being “brilliant at telling universally
recognized stories without sacrificing an aura of art-house good taste” (48).1
In the second example, the quote becomes less disruptive since it is shorter. Also, while the
quote is shorter, Yabroff’s central argument is still conveyed in her own words.
Choosing Quotes
When you use a quote you need to make sure that you show how the quote is relevant in your
own text and that you introduce the quote and also explain it. If you fail to do so, you might
end up with that Cathy Birkenstein and Gerald Graff refer to as “hit-and-run quotes” (They
Say/I Say 41). A hit-and-run quote has not been properly incorporated into the text. Consider
this example:
Birkenstein and Graff discuss writing. “[Q]uotations are orphans: words that
have been taken from their original context and that need to be integrated into
their new textual surroundings.” I also think that it is important to select a
relevant passage that adds something to your own discussion.
In the example above, the following problems can be discerned:
1
Source: Yabroff, Jennie. ”How Swede It Is” Newsweek March 1, 2010, 48-49.
1. We do not know who Birkenstein and Graff are or where this quote comes from.
Whether Birkenstein and Graff are experts on writing or just some people on the
street with opinions on writing will affect the weight we give their statement.
2. The quote is not introduced in the text and the writer does not explain how she
interprets the quote or how it is relevant to her discussion. As a result, the quote is not
connected to the rest of text and it is not clear why it has been inserted into the text.
Basically, the writer has thrown the quote into her text and then rushed off to discuss
something else.
Here is an example of how the quote could have been incorporated into its new surroundings:
In their book on strategies for using secondary sources, They Say/I Say: The Moves
That Matter in Academic Writing, Cathy Birkenstein and Gerald Graff compare quotes
to “orphans: words that have been taken from their original context and need to be
integrated into their new textual surroundings” (40). In other words, in order for the
quote to make sense in the text, it is necessary that the writer introduces the quote and
then explains it. This way the reader will understand the relevance of the quote in the
text at hand.
In this example, the following things help the reader understand the quote:
1. The quote is integrated into a sentence, which prevents it from disrupting the text.
2. The title, full names of the authors, and page number are mentioned, which enables the
reader to look up the source of the quote.
3. After the quote, it is explained. This way we understand how the writer understands the
quote and also how the quote is relevant in the text at hand.
Sources
Graff, Gerald and Cathy Birkenstein. They Say/I Say: The Moves That Matter in
Academic Writing. New York: W.W. Norton, 2006.
Silverman, Jay et al. Shortcuts for the Student Writer. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2005.