Overview

by Amy Minervini

Sometimes you are the best source for your paper, such as when writing a personal narrative. However, the lion’s share of your sources that you are going to be using as part of your evidence and support come from outside entities. These sources could be personal interviews that you conduct or your quoting of experts in their fields–individuals like scientists, doctors, attorneys, psychologists, authors, journalists, speakers, and the list goes on. Ensuring that you capture the words of others or essence of their message accurately and efficaciously is an essential quality of a meticulous writer.

Key Characteristics

Qualities to remember when writing with and using sources:

• There are different rules for quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing
• Attribution is a key component when introducing sources
• Citations, both in-text and on Reference or Works Cited page, are fundamental
• Consider the ways in which sources integrate not only with your ideas and analysis but also with and among other sources
• Critically think about, research, and evaluate the source of information, potential biases, relevance, and context for each piece of evidence you bring in

Essay Types within this Chapter

• Basic Integration: Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing
• Pack Snacks: Use The “Quotation Sandwich”
• Higher-Level Integration: They Say / I Say and Writing as a Conversation
• Signal Phrases
• Using Sources Ethically and Avoiding Plagiarism
• Evaluating Sources Using the SIFT Model