Documentation for Research Papers

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Documentation for Research Papers

• Ms. Hatcher
• English II

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MLA Documentation

• Used in humanities courses -- English, religion,
  art, theater, speech, drama, and some history
• Also called in-text or parenthetical
  documentation
• Eliminates the need for footnotes and allows the
  reader to see source information within text of
  paper

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Quotes

• Anytime you copy information down word for word
  from another source, that is a quote
• A quote does NOT have to be something someone
  said in another text, i.e. something with quotes
  around it already
• Quotes are usually short 1 to 2 sentences in
  length, or even partial sentences
• You place quotation marks around a quote once you
  put it in your paper, and you MUST cite it in
  your paper

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Paraphrase

• When you use someone elses idea but put it in
  your own words, thats a paraphrase.
• Paraphrases are generally short 1 to 2
  sentences in length or even parts of sentences.
• Paraphrases do NOT need quotation marks but MUST
  be cited in your paper.

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Summary

• A summary is an extended paraphrase.
• It occurs when you paraphrase a larger amount of
  text and make it more concise as you put it in
  your own words.
• Summaries do not need quotation marks, but they
  do need to be cited in your paper.

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Tagging

• Tags alert the reader that a quote or paraphrase
  is about to occur or has just occurred, depending
  on the location of the tag.
• Tags help your writing flow and prevent
  choppiness when incorporating quotes and
  paraphrases.

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Tagging Examples - Website

• According to John Bell, the death penalty is
  inhumane and unconstitutional (Death to
  Death).
• The tag is at the beginning and is the authors
  name the citation is at the end and is the
  article name.

• The death penalty is inhumane and
  unconstitutional, suggests John Bell (Death to
  Death).
• Here, the quote comes first, then the tag, then
  the citation.
• Notice the location of the comma and the period.

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Tagging Examples Books/Mags

• Politician John Bell argues that the death
  penalty is inhumane and unconstitutional (7).
• In this example, I tag the quote with the
  authors name and then only have to put the page
  number of the quote in the citation.

• This only works assuming I have one author named
  John Bell and only one work by him.
• Another version would be-
• Politician John Bell argues that the death
  penalty is inhumane and unconstitutional (Death
  Matters, 7).
• This would be necessary if he had multiple works
  I was using in my paper.

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Tagging Continued

• If you dont know the authors name, or to add
  variety to your tagging methods, you may also do
  this
• Death to Death asserts that the death penalty
  is inhumane and unconstitutional
  (www.death.com).
• In this case, Ive tagged the quote with the
  article name and used the website address as my
  citation.

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Tagging continued

• In your paper, you should try to tag your quotes
  and paraphrases in a variety of ways.
• Alternate tagging with the authors name and the
  article name.
• Also alternate placing your tagging information
  at the beginning and end of your sentences.
• Finally, change the wording of your tagging
  whenever possible.

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What should YOU do?

• Your final paper will need 7 sources cited within
  the text. These citations should be a combination
  of quotes, paraphrases, and summaries.
• Note that you may cite a particular source more
  than once, but you must cite 7 different sources
  to earn a passing grade.
• One of the seven sources must be a NON-INTERNET
  source (book, magazine, newspaper, encyclopedia,
  interview, etc.)

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Continued

• The rule of 2/3, 1/3 applies to this paper. No
  more than 1/3 of the paper information should be
  from other sources the majority of the opinions
  and ideas should come from you.
• Make sure your sources are credible and worthy of
  use.
• Read p.475-477, 491 in your language book to help
  you further.

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Due Date

• I will be taking up your revised rough drafts on
  Friday 1/16/09.
• These rough drafts should be typed, with several
  of your sources and citations included, and
  should be 3 or more pages in length for full
  credit.
• Remember, you should double space with 1 margins
  and size 10 or 12 font.