Module 4: The Writing Workshop
Module 4: The Writing Workshop
In this module, you will learn about how to integrate sources properly and avoid plagiarism. You'll also turn your focus toward
giving and receiving written feedback and take part in a Peer Workshop.
4-1 Reading: Source Integration
Reading: Source Integration
When you begin drafting your paper, you will be using information from your sources as evidence to support your points.
However, there are multiple ways to integrate that information into your writing, and some of those methods are more
appropriate than others in particular circumstances. In what follows, we'll discuss methods of source integration including
quotation and summary.
Guidelines for Quotations
When you quote a source, you use the exact words and phrases your source used to convey information. Plagiarism occurs
when quotes are not attributed to the appropriate sources, so it is important that you keep careful notes so that you don't
unintentionally represent someone else's work or ideas as your own. Overquotating can also be problematic. This happens
when writers rely too heavily on quotations. Overquoting can result in stilted writing where the author contributes too little.
Ultimately, you will want to balance quotations with summaries.
The following graphic reviews tips for successfully integrating quotation into your writing.
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Introduction to Summarizing: Why Summarize?
Students are often tempted to draw quotations from their research
sources to support points they want to make. Well-chosen quotations
from respected authorities can indeed be valuable evidence; however, too
many quotations
eak up the flow of your writing, so you should use
them only when the phrasing is unique, memorable, or particularly
powerful.
You should aim to present most of your evidence through summary, and
this will require you to rewrite the author's content in your own words.
When you take notes from your reading, it's a good idea to use your own
vocabulary and phrasing to record information. (Remember to document
a source with all the information you will need to cite it so that you don't
confuse your ideas with the ideas of others!) This practice has a few
enefits:
You will better understand the content because recording it in your own words ensures that you process the information in
the source when you read it.
You will be less tempted to use the source as a quotation.
Your notes will be shorter because you can rephrase just the main points that the source's author is making.
You will avoid inadvertently using the author's words without quotation marks or without citing the source, which is
plagiarism. Remember that even paraphrases need to be followed by in-text citations that cite author, publication date, and
page number or other specific look-up information.
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Why Summarize Rather Than Use a Quotation?
Research writing asks that the writer's voice speak through the research. Relying too heavily on the original words of source
authors (as inexperienced writers do when they rely too heavily on direct quotations) would compromise the effectiveness of
the research writer's own research paper. Good writers choose their words carefully. As a research writer, it's your job to
figure out how to use the ideas of authors for your own purposes and for your audience.
When you summarize, you identify the ideas that are most relevant and important to your project and rewrite other authors'
ideas in your own words, emphasizing those points. Paraphrasing also gives you an opportunity to untangle the language of
a passage if it is likely to be too confusing to your reader as a quotation taken out of the context of its su
ounding paragraphs
or if it contains jargon that you need to explain to your reader. As a result, paraphrases can sometimes be longer than the
passages they are paraphrased from.
You should only use quotations when there is no other way to communicate the content of the original source into you
writing, or when you want to maintain the author's tone and emotion.
If you find a short passage particularly striking and think you may want to quote it, write it in your notes exactly as stated in the
text, being careful to use quotation marks and note the citation.
How to Write a Summary
Your summary should cover the same ground as the original passage, but it should not contain any direct quotations, and you
should make sure that your summary doesn't have any language too close to the source language. Unknowing plagiarism (and
sometimes knowing plagiarism) occurs when summaries are phrased too closely to source materials, so be sure that you
phrasing is sufficiently different. Even though you can change the emphasis of the original writing, you cannot add to or change
the meaning! You should not mix your own ideas with your summary. A good summary will make the following information clea
to the reader:
Where you found the source.
The fact that you are summarizing a source rather than presenting your own ideas or opinions: an author may find it
effective to alert the reader that they are summarizing by using a lead-in phrase such as, "According to Smith . . . ," though
this is only one strategy for effective summarizing.
Steps for Writing a Summary
1. Use your active reading skills to read through two paragraphs of the original source until you fully understand what the
author means.
2. Set aside the original source and write what you remember on a note card or on your computer without refe
ing to the
original.
3. Now compare your summary with the original paragraphs. Make sure that you included all the same ideas but didn't use
language or sentence structure that is too similar to that of the original.
4. If your summary contains unique terms or phrases from the original that cannot be rephrased without losing meaning, use
quotation marks to denote the bo
owed language. Note: this should never be more than a word or short phrase. Fo
example: If your source has used or coined a unique word or phrase with specific meaning such as "deep ecology" o
"ecopsychology" use quotation marks to denote this language from the source.
5. Cite your source. You will learn to create proper citations in Module 6, but for now just be sure to note what source you
are summarizing and the co
esponding pages and sections of that source.
Synthesis
In your paper, you will be synthesizing information from many sources in order to support your project.
Synthesis goes beyond just summarizing your source—you will need to evaluate it as well. In order to evaluate the source, you
will need to answer questions about the value of the source—weaknesses, strengths, or oversights in the content.
Though the term synthesis may scare you if you haven't heard it before, you synthesize information in the world all the time. You
form opinions about movies, musicians, fashion, and restaurants based on your own experience with them but also based on
what your friends or family might say to you or based on what you read on the Internet about these topics.
Compare the following summary, or fact-based, statements to their co
elated synthesis statements. Remember that these
examples are based on everyday topics and examples. Personal opinion about restaurants or movie topics would not be
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acceptable in your research paper.
Black Swan
Summary (Fact-Based) Synthesis (Evaluation/Informed Opinion Based on Facts)
Natalie Portman underwent extensive ballet training to
prepare for her role in the movie Black Swan.
Black Swan portrayed the ways in which the dance
world demands physical and personal sacrifice of the
dancers.
Many scenes in Black Swan portrayed sex, violence,
and abuse.
The movie Black Swan offered its viewers a fascinating
ehind-the-scenes look at the cut-throat world of dance.
Natalie Portman's preparation for the role is a marvel in itself,
and the plot shows how dancers have to sacrifice physically
and personally for success. The movie may not be appropriate
for some, however, because many of the scenes were quite
distu
ing.
East Coast Grill
Summary (Fact-Based) Synthesis (Evaluation/Informed Opinion Based on Facts)
The restaurant East Coast Grill only sells fish that have
een caught that day.
The service at East Coast Grill is accommodating—if a
customer doesn't like her food, the restaurant will send
out another dish for free.
The atmosphere is
ight and noisy with people talking
and laughing.
East Coast Grill is a fantastic restaurant. The food is fresh, the
staff is courteous, and people can go there to have fun without
wo
ying that they are going to inte
upt couples trying to have
a romantic dinner.
4-2 Reading: The PIE Method
The PIE Method
At times it can be difficult to know what information from your sources to include in your paper. The PIE method can help you
make decisions about how to structure your writing to make sure you are providing enough evidence at the appropriate times.
The following graphic describes the PIE method of paragraph formatting.
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The following sample paragraph is constructed according to the PIE method and includes an integrated quotation.
In "Examining the Business Impact of Owner Commitment to Sustainability," Beheiry et al.
explain This first sentence identifies the topic that the rest of the paragraph will be about: the findings
of an experiment. The article's name is cited in the sentence, along with the names of the authors of
publication. Subsequent citations will most likely not include the title again. that their experiment
suggested that companies that were more committed to all three pillars of sustainable business practices
—social development, environmental sustainability, and economic development—were more likely to see
projects coming in under budget and on schedule. The authors claim that this is important because, as
they write, Every time you incorporate a source, you should include an introductory phrase that
includes an introductory word (here, that word is claim). Remember that the introductory phrase should
usually be followed by a comma. "the historical tendency Quotations should be su
ounded by
quotation marks. If the quotation ends in an exclamation point or a question mark, put that punctuation
ight before the closing quotation mark. Commas and periods aren't placed at the end of the quotation.
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They are placed at the end of the citation. to focus on environmental sustainability overaligned SD
[sustainable development] Information added by the writer (for instance, this information, which
explains the acronym SD) can be written in
ackets , with the green movement and alienated the
usiness executives" (Beheiry et al. 384) If you didn't cite the author or authors' names in the phrase
efore the quotation, you should place those names in the parenthetical citation. Because there are more
than two authors, you should list