Parenthetical Citations

Parenthetical Citations in disgustingly gross detail.

Reminder: • We use parenthetical citations to give credit to the people’s thoughts we use. • We give credit for: • direct quotes • paraphrasing • summarizing

The general, garden variety citation: • We see Scout admit that she lies to her father when she says, “I said I could like it very much, which was a lie, but one must lie under certain circumstances” (Lee 128).

Two things to note: • We see Scout admit that she lies to her father when she says, “I said I could like it very much, which was a lie, but one must lie under certain circumstances” (Lee 128). • The author’s name and page number appear without a “p” or comma • we know the number is a page • we don’t need a comma, either • Punctuation appears outside the quotation • there are certain circumstances that require punctuation inside the quotation…

“Certain circumstances:” • When the quotation has pertinent punctuation in it that change the meaning if omitted • The older waiter in Hemingway's "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" asks himself, "What did he fear?" (79). • But notice, there is still a closing punctuation mark after the citation

Speaking of Hemingway… • You might have noticed that the citation didn’t have an author in it! • The older waiter in Hemingway's "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" asks himself, "What did he fear?" (79). • That’s because I already gave the author credit! • Do you see it?

Trickery: • Citing the author this way (in the sentence itself) accomplishes two things: • it cites the author (duh) • it varies your sentence structure automatically for you! • this = good writing

What about those pesky internet sources? • Cite the author, forget the page number • no pages in cyberspace • No author? Should you really use the site? • if no one takes credit for it, is it a credible site? • If you must, cite the website

Internet Example (Preferable) • If you MUST use one without an author, use the article title: • There is no truth to the rumor that al-Qaeda has poisoned the Coca-Cola supply in our country (“Coca-Cola No Al Queda”).

Internet example (no title?): • There is no truth to the rumor that al-Qaeda has poisoned the Coca-Cola supply in our country (snopes.com). • Also note that the good folks at “snopes.com” DO take credit for their work • Their names are Barbara and David Mickelson and they do a nice job fact-checking… • Note: • I did not give the complete URL, only a snippet • the complete URL goes in your reference page

But again, • Try to use as few unaccredited web pages as humanly possible • Source validity is a huge concern when the source takes no credit for their work

Side note: • When we do literary analyses, like the poem one we’ve already done: • do remember that characters don’t talk • authors do!

Multiple authors: • If more than one author wrote your article, they need to be cited. • This applies to less than three authors • less than / including three, cite them all!

Multiple authors example: • There has been a drastic increase in frivolous lawsuits in the United States in the last ten years (Dewey, Cheatum and Howe 45). Note all authors credited with last name only.

More than three authors? • Bust out the Latin stick! • “et al” is your pal! • “et al” literally translates to “and others” • Cite the first author, then slap an “et al” after it! • only applies to references with more than three authors!

Finally, the interview sources: • Cite the last name of the interviewee • Then that it was an interview

Interview example: • As junior students, we were told that this paper is “dummy proof and it’s impossible to do wrong if you try” (Lesh interview). • Note the same rules apply: • no comma • punctuation outside of the parentheses

Parenthetical Citations