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Quoting and Citing Sources

Let’s make a distinction between two different kinds of sources. In a literature class, your primary sources are the works you are writing about (what we have been reading in this class). Secondary sources are writings about these works, such as you might find on the Internet.

 

Why Quote?

I’m talking about quoting from the literary works you’re writing about. I’ll discuss quoting from secondary sources  later. Quotation from the primary source (the story or novel) is your way of backing up your points, showing the reader that you know what you’re writing  about.

 

You’re like a guide to paintings in a museum, pointing out what you want your audience to see.  Doing this by paraphrase (your own words)  is not effective. It’s like meeting your museum tour group outside the museum and  having him describe the paintings that are inside. How do we know he's accurate? We want to see for ourselves.

 

When to Quote?

In general, if you are discussing an obvious fact about a story we have read for the class, there’s no need to quote. But if you are talking about a matter of interpretation of the story’s ideas or characters, here’s the way it works:

 

·        You can assume the reader has a pretty good recollection of the stories we’ve discussed  but has not memorized them, She may have less recall about the new stories necessitating more explanation on your part..

 

·        You do not want your reader to have to double check your accuracy by going back to the stories, so use quotation to support the points you are making, especially if they are fairly original and the reader might not agree. If you don’t provide evidence, the reader is free to challenge you and say “Huh? How do you know this??”

 

         For instance, say you are discussing Mrs. Mallard in “The Story of an Hour.”  You can assume I’m aware that she dies at the end of the story so you don’t have to quote the ending.  

 

·        However, if you are maintaining that she hates her husband, you need to quote to support that. Be sure that you can support it. If you can’t you may have to rethink your idea.

     Also remember that any discussion of any story must take its ending into account. Endings are important. In the case of "The Story of an Hour" you should not simply discuss how Mrs. Mallard finds happiness as a widow and leave it at that. You must consider the ending even if parenthetically: Although it's true that Mrs. Mallard's happiness is short-lived due to her death, she finds moments of joy as a supposed widow.

 

How to Quote?

Quotes must make sense and be in context. Once again, you don’t want to send the reader back to your source to check your accuracy. You don’t want your reader to say “What in the world is this quotation about?”

 

Primary Sources  

 Do not quote in such a way as to confuse your reader. Here’s a confusing quotation:

 

In a conversation with Estevan, Taylor begins to learn about the limitations of her background.  “Oh, I believe she did. This is how Americans think. [….] You believe that if something terrible happens to someone, they must have deserved it” (117).

 

The reader has read the book. But the writer is assuming the reader has the book open in front of her and will look for the quotation if she’s confused. But the reader wants a smooth read. She doesn’t want to be confused or irritated. She doesn’t remember the context of the quotation.  Who is speaking? What does “Oh, I believe she did” refer to? We might guess that “she” is Mrs. Parsons, but  the speaker believes she did what? We need more about the context of the quotation. Here’s another try:

 

In a conversation with Estevan, Taylor begins to learn about the limitations of her background.  After Mrs. Parson’s rude remark about people of other cultures, Taylor tries at first to excuse her behavior, but Estevan has a different idea about Americans:  “Oh, I believe she did. This is how Americans think [….] You believe that if something terrible happens to someone, they must have deserved it” (117).

 

Now we know who the speaker is and when he said it. But this is still not enough.  “Oh I believe she did” still needs to be explained.  Here's a revised example:

 

In a conversation with Estevan, Taylor begins to learn about the limitations of her background.  After Mrs. Parsons' rude remark about people of other cultures, Taylor tries  at first to excuse  her behavior, telling Estevan that Mrs. Parsons didn’t “know what she was saying,” but  Estevan has a different idea about Americans:  “Oh, I believe she did. This is how Americans think. [….] You believe that if something terrible happens to someone, they must have deserved it” (117).

Now it’s clear. Of course there are other possibilities. You might not need this level of detail. If you don’t want to dwell on Mrs. Parsons, you may just eliminate her altogether:

 

In a conversation with Estevan, Taylor begins to learn about the limitations of her background.  He tells her that Americans “believe that if something terrible happens to someone, they must have deserved it” (117).

 

You may put part of the quotation into your own sentence as I did above, but remember that the quotation also has to make sense in your sentence. Don’t do this: 

 

 He tells her that “believe  that if something terrible happens to someone, they must have deserved it” (117).

 

Add the necessary words to make the quotation grammatical as in the quotation preceding the messed-up one.

 

Secondary Sources

For this assignment you do not need to use secondary sources. I would prefer that you do not. But if you do (meaning perhaps that you are not confident about your own abilities), there are rules for how to do this.

I think that it’s usual now for students to copy/ paste from the Internet into papers. It’s so easy to do. But don’t. Not acknowledging sources is plagiarism. It’s still not acceptable in academic circles. Sometimes students aren’t really sure what it is, so let me give you some examples.

 

For instance, here’s a passage I’m quoting word for word from an online source:  

 

“The book grabs the reader, emotionally, lulling one into a sense of security with the witty prose and rich characters. Then, Kingsolver challenges her characters with some painful experiences.”

 

This is by John Q. McDonald at his website “The Thumbnail Book Reviews” and can be found at  the  website I’ve listed right here: http://sprg.ssl.berkeley.edu/~jmcd/book/revs/tbt.html  

It is a fairly general idea and you may have some of the same thoughts. But you’d say it differently since no two people will create identically similar sentences. So if you use the exact series of words or phrases of this quotation -- phrases such as “witty prose and rich characters ” or “ lulling one into a sense of security,” you must make clear that the choice of words is not your own. In other words, use quotation marks and cite your source.

 

Here is an example of out-and-out plagiarism:

 

A.  In The Bean Trees, Barbara Kingsolver grabs the reader, emotionally.  We are lulled into a sense of security with the witty prose and rich characters. Then,  the characters are faced with some painful experiences.

 

The hypothetical student here has altered a few words of the quotation, but that doesn’t matter. Quotation marks are not used and the source of the quotation is not given. This is plagiarized.

Here’s a better way:

 

B.  On his website, “The Thumbnail Book Reviews,” John Q. McDonald describes The Bean Trees as a book that “grabs the reader, emotionally, lulling one into a sense of security with the witty prose and rich characters.”  

 

Here we see that quotation marks are used. If they hadn’t been, even with the reference to McDonald, example “B” would count as plagiarism.  Here quotation marks are used and the source is acknowledged in the text so all is well. The full reference  would be at the end of the paper in a Works Consulted page.

 

Works Consulted:

At the end of your paper, list, alphabetically, any sources consulted, including the “primary sources,” the stories or novel.  

 

Here's an example of a Works Consulted page.

 

Works Consulted:

Atwood, Margaret. “Hairball.” The Penguin Book of International Women’s Stories, Kate Figes. Ed. London: Penguin Books, l996, 260-273.

“Bharati Mukherjee,” BBC World Service, March 29, 2006. < http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/arts/features/womenwriters/mukherjee_work.shtml >

Mukherjee, Bhrati . Jasmine. New York: Grove Press, 1989.

 

Notice that these works are listed alphabetically by last name of author if possible.  When we don’t know the author for instance of a site article, we alphabetize according to title.

 

Other Tips

Titles of full length books are italicized or underlined:  The Bean Trees.    Italicized is better in online courses (underlines refer to links).

Titles of short stories are enclosed in quotation marks. “The Story of an Hour”

The first time you refer to an author in your text, use the full name; thereafter the last name.  Kingsolver.  Not the first name. Not Barbara! She’s not your friend or your online teacher!!

 

Documenting Sources in Your Text:

The Modern Language Association style manual is used in most English courses. The MLA has abolished footnotes in favor of short parenthetical citations in your text. The main principle is one of economy and common sense. Avoid long parenthetical citations and needless repetition as long as your source is obvious. They are distractions. Every citation in the paper should be repeated more completely in the Works Consulted list at the end of the paper.

The links I provided on the actual assignment page should prove helpful if you have more questions. Or ask me.