In-Text Citation Lessons
What are in-text citations? In-text citations are when the student writer presents evidence from a primary or secondary source in his/her essay. The student may choose to present evidences from these sources as either a direct quote, block quote. paraphrase, or summary. What's the difference between a direct quote, paraphrase, or summary? A direct quote is when the student takes evidence from either the primary or secondary source and uses it in his or her paper word for word. The student puts quotation marks around the word-for-word evidence to show that all of the words belong to another author. If the student uses word-for word evidence that is a bit long (takes up more than three (3) lines in your essay), he or she is required to put the long piece of evidence in block quote form. This means 3 inch margins on each side of the quote, and no quotation marks. For example: Suggesting that Kate Chopin was "never a feminist in the dictionary sense of the term," Seyersted insists that Chopin be studied with the complexity she deserves, Mrs. Chopin saw that the problems confronting her sex were too complicated to admit of easy solutions, she was also well acquainted with the manifold tendencies in the women themselves. It seems more than an accident that her three earliest extant stories are each in turn devoted to one of what we might call the three main types of women: the "feminine," the "emancipated," and the "modem" (to use the terminology of Simone de Beauvoire's The Second Sex), and that the tension between the two leading components of this triad was to reverberate through her whole oeuvre. (Seyersted 1) Note: the parenthesis comes outside of the period, which is the only time you would do this. A paraphrase is when you use 75 % of your own words and 25 % of the author's words. You should fairly represent the author’s entire idea. For example, The story opens with the narrator telling us that Mrs. Mallard has "heart trouble" (Hicks 1). A summary is when you use all of your own words. For example, In the solitude of her room Mrs. Mallard understands the fundamental change taking place in her life. ... She begins to comprehend that she is joyful that her husband is dead .... (Overview, 3).
What information must I include after I present a direct or block quote, write a paraphrase, or write a summary? The student must include 2 pieces of evidence: 1) 2) the author's last name page number where evidence is located
All other information (title, publisher, city, etc.) will go in the Works Cited page, which is a list at the end of the essay. What if there is no author? Use a shortened version of the title of the secondary source. What if there is no page number? Then use this sign: np. Does the author's last name and page number go inside the sentence, or after the sentence in parenthesis? You have four (4) options: Example #1: author's last name is in the sentence and page number is in parenthesis after the sentence (before the period). According to Angelou, Maya was not happy about being black. She hated her nappy hair and "squinty" eyes. She dreamed of being "blond" and "blue-eyed" (4). Example #2: page number is in the sentence and author's last name is in parenthesis after the sentence. On page 4, it is apparent that Maya is not happy about being black. She hates her nappy hair and "squinty" eyes. She dreams of being "blond" and "blue-eyed" (Angelou). Example #3: author’s last name and page number are in the sentence. No parenthesis needed at the end. According to Angelou, on page 4, Maya was not happy about being black. She hated her nappy hair and "squinty" eyes. She dreamed of being "blond" and "blue-eyed." Example #4: author's last name and page number go in parenthesis after sentence (and before period). Maya was not happy about being black. She hated her nappy hair and "squinty" eyes. She dreamed of being "blond" and "blue-eyed" (Angelou 4).
Your classroom/homework assignment: Part I: Find a piece of evidence from the article that you know you must use in your Researched Proposal Argument. Place the evidence below exactly as it is from the source, but include author's last name and page number at the end of the evidence in parenthesis:
Now produce a paraphrase of the evidence. Put the author's name in the sentence, and the page number at the end of the sentence:
Then produce a summary of the evidence. Put page number in the sentence, and author's last name at the end in parenthesis:
Lastly, produce a block quote from the evidence. Put author's last name and page number in sentence that introduces the block quote (remember to indent about 2 inches on either side of quote).