Using Sources Appropriately

1. Using Sources Appropriately Usually, you need to cite ONLY key words or phrases – NOT entire sentences. Crystal says, “People think that the written language seen on mobile phone screens is new and alien, but all the popular beliefs about texting are wrong” (747). Crystal says that while many people find messages on phone screens to be “new and alien,” such beliefs about texting are simply “wrong” (747).

2. Using Sources Appropriately Any sentence that includes quoted or paraphrased material should contain the author’s last name (or, if the author is unknown, the title of the book, article, web page, or appears first in the citation on the “Works Cited” page) and the page number from which the material is taken. Crystal says that while many people find messages on phone screens to be “new and alien,” such beliefs about texting are simply “wrong” (747).

3. Using Sources Appropriately • If the author’s name and/or page number appears in the body of the sentence, do NOT repeat that information in parentheses. • If both the name and the page number appear in the body of the sentence, do not use parentheses at all. • If the name appears in the body of the sentence, use only the page number in parentheses. • If neither the name nor the page number appears in the body of the sentence, use BOTH in parentheses. • On page 749, Crystal notes that deviant spellings are “part of the English literary tradition.” • Crystal claims that deviant spellings are simply “part of the English literary tradition” (749). • Some people consider deviant spellings to be “part of the English literary tradition” (Cyrstal 749).

4. Using Sources Appropriately • If you use parenthetical citations – that is, if you include a name and/or page number in parentheses – quotation marks at the end of the sentence go after the last word of the sentence, but before the parentheses; the period goes after the parentheses. • On page 749, Crystal notes that deviant spellings are “part of the English literary tradition.” • Crystal claims that deviant spellings are simply “part of the English literary tradition” (749). • Some people consider deviant spellings to be “part of the English literary tradition” (Cyrstal 749).

5. Using Sources Appropriately If possible, work the key word(s) or phrase(s) into your own sentence. If you quote an independent clause, use a signal phrase to introduce it – and to show how the quoted material fits with the rest of the paragraph. According to Crystal, “English has had abbreviated words ever since it began to be written d own” (748).

6. Using Sources Appropriately Some verbs you might use in signal phrases: acknowledges, adds, admits, addresses, agrees, argues, asserts, believes, claims, comments, compares, concedes, confirms, contends, declares, denies, disputes, emphasizes, endorses, grants, illustrates, implies, insists, maintains, notes, observes, points out, reasons, refutes, rejects, reports, responds, says, shows, states, suggests, summarizes, thinks, writes