Lesson 6: citing your sources
Doing what with your what??
Citing: it is a form of the word cite--which looks different than, but is pronounced the exact same as the word sight.
Citing: it is a form of the word cite--which looks different than, but is pronounced the exact same as the word sight.
In the previous lesson we learned a ton about doing research to find evidence to support an academic argument.
The quotes and facts that people find (the sources) to support their academic arguments need to be properly cited.
This means that anytime you use words (direct quotes), ideas or facts that are not your own, you MUST say where you got that information. That's what citing sources means.
Ok, that's not hard to understand, is it? No way! You got this!
Like most things, there are rules to citing sources.
In this lesson, we will begin to learn the rules for citing sources.
Pay careful attention and take notes! You'll need to be able to cite your sources later in the unit when you write your academic argument essay.
If you haven't yet, read the information on slide 2. Then return here to get an explanation of direct quotes, paraphrase and summary.
direct quoting, paraphrasing, summarizing
If you took the English I A course, then this is not new information to you...in the first unit the concepts of direct quoting, paraphrasing and summarizing are covered.
If this is the first time you've seen these words, don't fret! Let's go over them right now!!
So basically, anytime you find facts or quotes written by someone else that you want to incorporate into your own writing, there are three different ways to do that:
SUMMARIZING: this means to provide a summary (recap the highlights) of an idea or event IN YOUR OWN WORDS.
PARAPHRASING: when you paraphrase, you give a shortened version of something somebody said IN YOUR OWN WORDS.
DIRECT QUOTING: this is the one that is different, when you direct quote, you write EXACLTY WHAT SOMEONE ELSE WROTE, NOT CHANGING ONE THING ABOUT IT.
Please spend a few minutes on slide 2 in the lesson. Click on the link to the President Obama speech, read it and then look at the table on slide 2. Observe what an direct quote, summary and paraphrase look like.
NOTE: The use of parenthesis ( ) and quotation marks " " are important. Pay close attention (and I recommend taking notes) on where they go in each.
Spend time with the 'Check Your Understanding' interactive at the bottom of slide 2. By the time you are done, you should have a basic understanding of at least what a direct quote and a paraphrase are.
If this is the first time you've seen these words, don't fret! Let's go over them right now!!
So basically, anytime you find facts or quotes written by someone else that you want to incorporate into your own writing, there are three different ways to do that:
SUMMARIZING: this means to provide a summary (recap the highlights) of an idea or event IN YOUR OWN WORDS.
PARAPHRASING: when you paraphrase, you give a shortened version of something somebody said IN YOUR OWN WORDS.
DIRECT QUOTING: this is the one that is different, when you direct quote, you write EXACLTY WHAT SOMEONE ELSE WROTE, NOT CHANGING ONE THING ABOUT IT.
Please spend a few minutes on slide 2 in the lesson. Click on the link to the President Obama speech, read it and then look at the table on slide 2. Observe what an direct quote, summary and paraphrase look like.
NOTE: The use of parenthesis ( ) and quotation marks " " are important. Pay close attention (and I recommend taking notes) on where they go in each.
Spend time with the 'Check Your Understanding' interactive at the bottom of slide 2. By the time you are done, you should have a basic understanding of at least what a direct quote and a paraphrase are.
citation rules
Now that you know how to use the information that is reasearched, you need to know how to cite your sources according to the rules.
Yes, there are rules.
View the video for a pretty decent overview of what, as 9th graders, you are expected to understand about da rules.
Yes, there are rules.
View the video for a pretty decent overview of what, as 9th graders, you are expected to understand about da rules.
Ok, so you weren't really expected to learn everything about MLA citing rules just from watching one video..but hopefully is helped prep your brain for the information coming at you on slide 3 of the lesson.
Go to slide 3 now.
Notice that the lesson explains to you several words and phrases that (I know this because I'm the teacher) will continually pop up again in this unit.
The words/phrases are:
internal citations (aka in-text citations): there are 3 different types of in-text citations
1. parenthetical citation
2. parenthetical reference
3. signaling phrase
I am not extremely concerned that you know what each of those are at this point. I just want to be sure you understand what the phrase internal citation aka in-text citation aka parenthetical citation all kinda mean the same thing. All three mean this:
"Blah Blah blah blah," says an expert named Smith (67).
An in-text citation is anything where you, the writer of an essay, give credit to an outside source WITHIN the body of the essay. That's what the word 'internal' is referring to. Get it?
Now, as opposed to an in-text citation, an essay will also have an entirely separate page called...
Works Cited page: the lesson has not explained anything about a Works Cited page, but luckily, you watched the video that briefly introduced you to what a Works Cited page is. It's a page where all the sources cited in an essay are listed in alphabetical order.
The tabs on slide 3 are semi-important in that they give us the rules of how to create our in-text citations based off of what kind of source we are citing.
Notice that there are different ways of typing in-text citations depending on which kind of source the information comes from.
PLEASE NOTE: THIS LESSON IS NOT THE AUTHORITY ON HOW TO CREATE IN-TEXT CITATIONS
You will not be marked down for following the rules given to you in this lesson, but as your teacher, I feel that you should know that the real rules can be found at: OWL at Purdue
You can view an example of what an argument essay paragraph using in-text citations and a Works Cited list looks like on slide 4.
Note the links to OWL at Purdue and Easy Bib at the bottom of the slide.
EasyBib is one of many websites that claim to be able to create accurate MLA Works Cited entries for sources. Feel free to use EasyBib at this point in your journey to understanding MLA rules.
practice, practice, practice!
Reading the rules and knowing how to use a website will only get you so far.
From here on out, teachers (high school and college) assume that you have a working knowledge of how to use another person's words and ideas correctly in your own work. To do otherwise is viewed as intellectual theft and/or plagiarism
Please spend considerable time with the interactive on slide 5 to practice your new skills.
Feel free to print out the MLA Formatting Guide provided on slide 5. You'll need to be able to demonstrate your understanding of how to create an MLA works cited entry on the quiz at the end of this lesson.
From here on out, teachers (high school and college) assume that you have a working knowledge of how to use another person's words and ideas correctly in your own work. To do otherwise is viewed as intellectual theft and/or plagiarism
Please spend considerable time with the interactive on slide 5 to practice your new skills.
Feel free to print out the MLA Formatting Guide provided on slide 5. You'll need to be able to demonstrate your understanding of how to create an MLA works cited entry on the quiz at the end of this lesson.
ASSESSMENT: QUIZ
There is a 12 question quiz at the end of this lesson.
You'll need to know:
How to punctuate titles in MLA format
How to identify summary, direct quote, paraphrase
How to format a Works Cited entry
How to format a Works Cited page
What plagiarism is
Create a Works Cited entry using a book/magazine/website, etc that you have laying around.
EXCELLENT!!
All this skill building is getting you prepared to be able to write a strong argument essay of your own!
In the next lesson, we will have the chance to chose our topic and start our research!!
You'll need to know:
How to punctuate titles in MLA format
How to identify summary, direct quote, paraphrase
How to format a Works Cited entry
How to format a Works Cited page
What plagiarism is
Create a Works Cited entry using a book/magazine/website, etc that you have laying around.
EXCELLENT!!
All this skill building is getting you prepared to be able to write a strong argument essay of your own!
In the next lesson, we will have the chance to chose our topic and start our research!!