CBEL 664: Teaching and Learning for Specialized Populations: Incorporating Sources

Incorporating Sources in Your Writing

There are three main ways to incorporate outside sources into your writing:

1. Quotation
2. Summary
3. Paraphrase

Quotation

Quotations use another writer's exact wording to make a specific point. Quotes should only be used when the full impact of the original text is necessary.

A successful quotation

• does not change any wording.
• uses quotation marks to clearly indicate all borrowed text.
• gives a complete citation, including an in-text citation and an entry in the bibliography.

Here is a quote from Donald Bogle's book, Prime Time Blues: African Americans on Network Television:

"For later generations, the idea of co-starring an African American actor opposite a white one in a dramatic role might almost seem a cliché. But when Leonard discussed casting Cosby (who had not acted before), the concept was considered so daring that I Spy almost didn't happen." (Bogle 118) 

Bogle, Donald. Prime Time Blues: African Americans on Network Television. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2001.

Summary

While it is good to use quotations when they are appropriate, your assignments should be written in your own words. When you draw on someone else's ideas, you need to find other ways to express them. One good way to do this is to summarize content from another source.

A successful summary

• briefly restates the main ideas from another text.
• expresses the borrowed ideas in your own words.
• is shorter than the original passage.
• may incorporate exact quotes set off with quotation marks.
• acknowledges all summarized material with a complete citation.

Here is an example of a summary of the Bogle text: 

Radical for his time, Sheldon Leonard was the first producer to pair an African American and a white as equals in a television series (Bogle 118).

Paraphrase

Paraphrasing sounds simple - just rewrite someone else's ideas. In reality, writing a good paraphrase can be very challenging.

A successful paraphrase

• takes another's ideas but puts them into your own words
• is roughly the same length as the original
• restructures the original passage and does not mirror the original phrasing of ideas
• avoids simply replacing words with synonyms
• may incorporate exact quotes set off with quotation marks
• acknowledges all paraphrased material with a complete citation