English 101: Understanding Quoting and Paraphrasing To Prevent Plagiarism

1. English 101: Understanding Quoting and Paraphrasing To Prevent Plagiarism

2. Link to SCC English Department’s Plagiarism Policy

3. What the entry would look like in a student’s Works Cited page: Gopnik, Adam. "Moon Man: What Galileo Saw." New Yorker 11 Feb. 2013: 1-10. Web. 18 Feb. 2013. Sample Works Cited page from Purdue University’s OWL

4. Quoting Accurately You must enclose every direct quotation in quotation marks, and you must cite its source in your essay, within parentheses., e.g., (Gopnik 3). [The period is placed after the parenthesis] Regarding transcription: A quotation must present the words of your source exactly as they appear in the original text, unless you use ellipsis marks or brackets [interpolation] to indicate that you have made changes in the original. To prevent inaccuracy, be careful not to distort the meaning of the original text by omitting key words or by using the quoted passage in a sense not intended by the original writer.

5. Quoting Accurately Inaccurate use of quotation: (How does the following differ from the original you have in front of you?) When Galileo first pointed his telescope at Jupiter, “he noticed night after night, they waltzed back and forth near our largest planet. First left then right, never quite clearing Jupiter’s path, as if it was sticky and they wanted to be near it”(Gopnik 3). Original: The passage above makes these transcription errors: When Galileo first pointed his telescope at Jupiter, “he noticed that, night after night, they were waltzing back and forth near the big planet.First left then right, never quite clearing it’s path, as if it was sticky and they wanted to be near it”(Gopnik 3).

6. Quoting Accurately Inaccurate use of quotation: (Respond just to the final quote) (The interpolations and ellipsis are correct) Adam Gopnik discusses how Galileo used his telescope to observe Jupiter: “he noticed that, night after night, they were waltzing back and forth near the big planet[.]” Then, pondering the force of gravity, he had “a flash of intuition . . .[,]” that these were “new stars”near Jupiter (3). [use just the page number when the author is mentioned] Thepassage above distorts the meaning of the original Adam Gopnik discusses how Galileo used his telescope to observe Jupiter: “he noticed that, night after night, they were waltzing back and forth near the big planet[.] Then, pondering the force of gravity, he had “a flash of intuition . . .[,]” thatthese were “new stars”near Jupiter (3). (red indicates a transcription error) Original: the new stars near Jupiter were actually moons, orbiting the planet as our moon orbits us.

7. Quoting Accurately Accurate use of quotation: (You are allowed to interpolate using brackets and omit words using ellipsis marks . . . (Be sure to space between the periods) When Galileo first observed Jupiter, according to Adam Gopnik, “he noticed that, night after night, they [waltzed] back and forth near the big planet[.]” The renowned astronomer, after reflecting on a possible gravitational pull, “had it: . . . [they] were actually moons, orbiting the planet as our moon orbits us” (3). [use just the page number when the author is mentioned]

8. Paraphrasing Accurately You must cite the source of every paraphrased idea unless that idea would be considered common knowledge. To accurately paraphrase an idea, you must follow these guidelines: Change the original words, as best you can, into your own, without distorting the meaning of the idea. 2. Change the grammatical structure of the original. In general, several words in succession taken from another source may be said to constitute direct quotation. Thus, you cannot turn a quotation into an acceptable sentence of your own simply by changing a few words in the original.

9. Paraphrasing Accurately Unacceptable paraphrase: (The following constitutes plagiarism; even though the words are changed and the source cited, the writer uses similar sentence structure) In a moment of intellectual insight which can, even today, bring on palpitations, Galileo, during many evenings, observed the objects’ back and forth dance near Jupiter, as if they wanted to adhere to the planet: from a brillant spark in thought, he concluded that what he once thought to be stellar bodies were indeed satellites in orbit, much like our moon travels around the earth (Gopnik 3). compound-complex sentence Original’s structure: In an episode in the history of thought that can still make the heart beat faster, he noticed that, night after night, they were waltzing back and forth near the big planet: first left, then right, never quite clearing its path, as though the planet were sticky and they wanted to stay near it; in a flash of intuition, he had it: the new stars near Jupiter were actually moons, orbiting the planet as our moon orbits us. compound-complex sentence

10. Paraphrasing Accurately Unacceptable paraphrase: (The following constitutes plagiarism; even though some phrasing is modified and structure is changed, the writer uses exact words and phrasing from the original. When Galileo pointed his telescope at Jupiter, he observed that what he thought were stars waltzing back and forth adjacent to the large planet. He imagined that Jupiter was sticky and that the objects wanted to stay near it. Suddenly, he determined that these stars were actually moons orbiting the planet. (Gopnik 3)

11. Paraphrasing Accurately Acceptable paraphrase: The intriguing anecdote Mr. Gopnik presents tells of Galileo’s first observations of Jupiter and what he initially thinks are four surrounding stars. But the nucleus of the brief story lies in the great astronomer’s having a scientific epiphany of sorts, leading him to conclude that the objects are really satellites orbiting our largest planet (3). [use just the page number when the author is mentioned]

12. Link to Quoting, Paraphrasing and Summarizing at Purdue’s Online Writing Lab

13. English 101 Paraphrasing Correctly

14. To accurately paraphrase another writer’s idea(s), you must comply with the following MLA guidelines: Change the original words--as best you can--into your own, without distorting the meaning of the original. Change the grammatical structure of the original idea(s) 3. Use an accurate MLA parenthetical citation Access to Harvard University Library for help in understanding plagiarism.

15. Original passage written by Alvin Kernan in The Playwright as Magician,1979, pp.102-03 It is even closer to the surface when Hamlet enters his mother’s room and holds up, side by side, the pictures of the two kings, Old Hamlet and Claudius, and proceeds to describe for her the true nature of the choice she has made, presenting truth by means of a show. Similarly, when he leaps into the open grave at Ophelia’s funeral, ranting in high heroic terms, he is acting out for Laertes, and perhaps for himself as well, the folly of excessive, melodramatic expressions of grief. complex sentence complex sentence Paraphrasing the text while maintaining the basic paragraph and sentence structure: hence, this constitutes plagiarism. The theme is even more obvious when Hamlet compares the pictures of his mother’s two husbands to show her what a bad choice she has made, using their images to reveal the truth. Also, when he jumps into Ophelia’s grave, hurling his challenge to Laertes, Hamlet demonstrates the foolishness of exaggerated expressions of emotion (Kernan 102-03). complex sentence complex sentence

16. Original passage written by Alvin Kernan in The Playwright as Magician,1979, pp.102-03 It is even closer to the surface when Hamlet enters his mother’s room and holds up, side by side, the pictures of the two kings, Old Hamlet and Claudius, and proceeds to describe for her the true nature of the choice she has made, presenting truth by means of a show. Similarly, when he leaps into the open grave at Ophelia’s funeral, ranting in high heroic terms, he is acting out for Laertes, and perhaps for himself as well, the folly of excessive, melodramatic expressions of grief. complex sentence complex sentence Paraphrasing the text using different sentence structures Kernan rightly interprets the play-acting Prince’s cleverly presenting his idea for getting his mother to admit the truth about her choice of husbands, juxtaposing pictures of the former and current King. The author further exemplifies Hamlet’s eccentricity at Ophelia’s funeral. Here, following a leap into the grave by Laertes, Hamlet does the same, explaining his love for her, but his act appears to want to challenge Laertes--to call attention to his own remarks as being more sincere and respectful. (Kernan 102-03). simple sentence simple sentence compound sentence

17. Paraphrase the following: Mark Twain once said, “Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it“(Kaplan 85). complex sentence A humorous postulation by former famous cynic Mark Twain speculates on two methods of world leadership: an intelligent ruse or well-intentioned Vacuity (Kaplan 85). simple sentence