Incorporating Research Material into Papers

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Incorporating Research Material into Papers

• Constance S Meadows
• South Charleston High School

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BIG VOICE, little voice

• One of the concepts of incorporating material
  into a paper concerns the WRITERS CONTROL over
  his own material. Writers should be jealous of
  allowing others (SOURCES) to speak in THEIR
  papers. Yours is the BIG VOICE, and you cant
  afford to give your paper over to others.

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Your reasoning, not research material

• Most of the content of your paper should contain
  original material generated from the thoughts
  that you have about your topic. Other material is
  there in the paper to SUPPORT your reasoning.

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What can you do with research material?

• Quote
• Paraphrase
• Summarize

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Paraphrasing

• To paraphrase research material is to take the
  ideas expressed in the original and recast them
  in your own words. Even though all of the
  material may be in your own words you must
  provide a citation because the ideas came from
  another source

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Paraphrasing

• Paraphrased material may be as long as or longer
  than the original quote.
• Paraphrased material MUST HAVE the author and the
  page number, if available
• The citation goes at the exact end of the
  paraphrased material wherever that might be in
  the sentence

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BIG VOICE

• In order to make your paper sound like YOU and
  not the Tower of Babel, you must use the vast
  majority of your research material in the form of
  a paraphrase. When you paraphrase ideas, then the
  language of your paper is still your own. Your
  discussion will appear to be coming from one
  person, and the paper will be fluid, without
  distracting interruptions.

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Problems with paraphrasing

• Remember that any TWO WORDS IN SUCCESSION require
  quotation marks and cannot be considered to be a
  paraphrase. If you omit the quotation marks and
  provide the authors name and even a page number
  in the parenthetical material, you still have
  PLAGIARIZED if you have used two words in
  succession from the original without enclosing
  them in quotation marks.

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Paraphrasing dominates use of research material

• Seventy-five per cent of the research material
  (material not the paper) that you are using
  should be PARAPHRASED. Remember that paraphrasing
  means to put the ideas of the original in your
  own words (using two successive words would
  require quotation marks). Although every single
  word of your material may be different from the
  original, if you got the IDEA or the ORGANIZING
  strategy from someone else, you need to
  acknowledge the borrowing by identifying the
  original author and source. (Documentation is no
  big trick why flirt with disaster about
  plagiarizing?)

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Summarizing

• To summarize original material indicates that you
  are CONDENSING. Obviously, this will be shorter
  than the original.
• You still need the citation for summarizations
• You still need to enclose sections which are
  verbatim (exact quotes) in quotation marks

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When should you quote rather than paraphrase?

• When the original is so precisely and wonderfully
  expressed that it cannot be better said
• When the information is outrageous, and someone
  will question what the material really said
• When there is a particularly vivid or striking
  phrase
• When you are analyzing a passage, and you must
  provide the passage that is being analyzed in
  order for your reader to understand your
  discussion.

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Block Quotes

• Long quotes four lines or more should be very
  few and far between. Why? Mostly students use
  long quotes to fill up space. If a short quote is
  disruptive, think how many long quotes affect the
  voice of your paper.
• Long quotes, for the most part, imply laziness.
• Paraphrase that material!

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When you need to use a block quote four lines or
more

• You need significant lead-in and lead out
  commentary to explain the importance of the quote
• The only correct punctuation for the introduction
  to the quote is a colon
• Indent 2 tabs on the left margin and run to the
  regular right hand margin
• DONT USE QUOTATION MARKS the act of indenting
  fulfills the need for quotation marks
• The period for a block quote comes before the
  parenthetical material

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Lead in and lead out commentaries

• All quotes need to have lead in and lead out
  material, but this is especially true of block
  quotes. This material acts as blending device
  for the (after all) foreign matter.

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Example of lead out commentary

• It can be also pointed out that carcinogen tests
  for rodents are ninety percent accurate when it
  comes to predicting the same cancer in human
  beings (Fano 70). The fact that rat carcinogen
  testing can confirm the same cancer in people
  helps to prove the point that animal tests are
  generally valid and accurate in their results.

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Pre and post quoted material

• Lead-in and Lead-out Quotes need a small
  discussion before the inclusion of the quote to
  lead-in to the material and quotes need a small
  discussion after the quote to indicate its
  importanceactually to justify their reason for
  being

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Avoid Stand Alone Quotes

• Never use quotes that end up being entire
  sentences by themselves.

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A quote found in a source whose author is not the
author of the source

• Suppose you found a quote by Mark Twain in a book
  called Southern Literary Legends by H.F. Williams
  that you want to use.
• In text
• Twain, in his later years wrote that youth is
  wasted on the young (qtd. Williams 45).
• Works Cited page
• The selection is listed under Williams and
  Southern Literary Legends

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Where to put the quotation marks and periods

• As you finish the last word of the quote, put the
  quotation marks, then the parenthetical
  information, and then the period.

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Embedding a quote

• According to the Foundation, many breakthroughs
  in medical procedure and technique have also
  occurred as a result of animal experimentation,
  including pacemakers, artificial joints, organ
  transplants, and freedom from arthritic pain
  (FBR).

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Verbs of Attribution

• The verbs of attribution attribute or assign
  quotes to specific authors
• Verbs of attribution should be in the present
  tense.
• Verbs of attribution are not necessarily
  interchangeable

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Verbs of Attribution

• Verb of attribution should be in the present
  tense. Verbs of attribution are not universally
  interchangeable, but there are multitudes of
  meanings says, states, declares, avows, avers,
  believes, delineates, traces, announces, affirms,
  pronounces, proclaims, verbalizes, utters,
  relates, tells, narrates, recounts, relays,
  transmits, communicates, shares, demarcates,
  conveys, reports, links, expresses, voices,
  considers, supposes, thinks, deems, doubts,
  defines, outlines, describes, explains.

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Verbs other than attribution

• Verbs other than those of attribution Discuss
  literature in the present tense. Historical past
  is, naturally, in the past tense. Avoid whenever
  possible passive voice verbs. Struggle (that
  means use a thesaurus) to construct sentences
  that employ active voice verbs

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Sources

• Sources Be aware that your paper is evaluated on
  the STRENGTH OF THE SOURCES that you use. Just
  any source is not suitable. No common
  encyclopedias or bad secondary sources, please
• Primary Sources Original documents from which
  you draw conclusions (GOOD)
• Secondary Sources What other people said about
  your topic (not as good)

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Works Cited page

• All the works which are CITED appear on the page.
  If the source does not appear in your paper it
  does not appear on this page
• It also has a running head
• All the sources are alphabetized
• If a source does not have an author it is
  alphabetized by the first important word of the
  title

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Works Cited page (cont)

• If you use the same source, then the second time
  the source appears you use - - - instead of
  repeating the authors name
• All source entries end with a period
• The first line of the entry is flush with the
  left hand margin. The second and subsequent lines
  of the entries are hanging indents (indented 2
  tabs).

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Rule of thumb

• For the most part, only 25 of the research
  material in your paper should come in the form of
  quotes.
• Quotes are disruptive to the flow of your paper
  and should be used sparingly

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Voice

• Voice Above all else, YOU should be the dominant
  voice of YOUR paper. All of the quotes,
  summaries, and paraphrased material are in
  support of your reasoning and discussion. They
  are embedded in your material and ideally should
  not be intrusive enough to take on an identity of
  their own (unless the material is so critical
  that you manipulate it to be conspicuous)

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Some Common Elements of Research Paper

• Register
• Voice
• Organization
• Development
• Transitional Material
• Introduction and conclusion
• Overview

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Some common things to edit

• Avoid the use of 1st and 2nd person pronouns
• Never refer to self or paper
• Watch pronoun reference
• Avoid creating Sentence Fragments and Sentence
  Run-ons
• Subject-Verb agreement
• Avoid passive voice verbs

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Register

• Register The choice of register indicates the
  degree of formality or informality of the paper

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Organization

• Organization The paper needs a PLAN. Rhetoric is
  the artful manipulation of language. Organization
  is the artful PLACEMENT of material for a
  PURPOSE. Consider what details are subordinate to
  others.

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Development

• Development The thesis needs to be supported
  through the use of facts, statistics,
  illustrations, anecdotes and examples. Each sub
  point needs proof. If you present a premise, you
  must substantiate that statement. Too little
  proof means that the content of the paper lacks
  development.

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Transitional Material

• Transitional Material The artful manipulation of
  transitional material indicates that the writer
  has achieved a degree of sophistication in his
  writing. Transitional material leads the reader
  through the thought processes of the writer.
  Rather than the sub points being presented in a
  staccato manner, there appears to be connections
  from one idea to another.

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Conclusion

• Conclusion The construction of a conclusion is
  a paradox. Mostly, no new information should be
  included in the concluding paragraphs, but you
  dont want to construct a conclusion which is an
  incredibly boring reiteration of what has just
  been discussed either. In appropriate papers, a
  call to action can sometimes be utilized to
  offset the repetitive nature of the conclusion. A
  list of the sub points is really boring. Be
  inventive

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Controlling pronouns

• Control the pronouns EVERY TIME you use he, she,
  it, they, these, those, that, this check to see
  if there is a noun nearby that is the pronouns
  antecedent (word to which the pronoun refers)

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Argumentative/Persusasive

• If you are writing an argumentative or persuasive
  paper on a particular topic
• You should include a discussion about the
  genesis of the controversy.
• You should concede that the other side has valid
  points and try either to undercut or minimize
  those points
• (Although you can place this discussion early or
  late in the paper, many people believe that the
  paper should end with your positions strongest
  defense lasting impression)

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Notecards

• Keep your note cards on a PowerPoint
  presentation. Use the heading to indicate the
  subtopics of your paper and the text box as the
  QUOTED material. Be sure to put source material
  at the bottom of the slide. ALL MATERIAL ON YOUR
  CARDS (SLIDES) SHOULD BE QUOTED AND NOT
  PARAPHRASED. The PowerPoint allows you to sort
  slides to your liking for organizational purposes
  AND if you choose the slide which uses bullets,
  the program creates an outline for your paper
  (with a little revision on your part, you have an
  outline for your paper) The outline view will
  immediately identify holes in your argument or
  discussion.

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Overview of topic

• Read material concerning the origins of the
  problems which abound in your assigned area.
  Begin with an overview of the history of the area
  (cause and effect) and as you read and peruse the
  material begin to make notations about possible
  facets that could be focused to a narrow thesis
  statement which would be suitable in its
  development for a 5 to 8 page paper. After an
  exhaustive research effort which leaves you
  feeling that you are well informed about your
  topic, settle on the focus which matches your
  research material. (Remember that no paper can
  be anything but mediocre unless the thesis is
  narrow enough in its scope to offer an in-depth
  discussion)

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Overview

• The last few slides should be about the
  rhetorical devices which you are using in your
  introduction and conclusion.
• A note As with all essays, defining the overall
  material is a consideration, and naturally that
  definition would occur at the beginning of the
  discussion. Defining does not indicate that you
  should get a dictionary and dutifully look up
  Websters definition (in fact, most pundits
  suggest to avoid this strategy at all cost) Be
  sensible. The background information is a
  courtesy to your reader and a method of showing
  the reasoning behind the construction of your
  thesis. It should not be a significant proportion
  of your paper. However, it should have a
  connection to your thesis.