Sample Student Researched Argument Ess’ay

1. Where is the work published?

2. Does the work rely on other reputable sources for information?

3. Does the work seem biased?

As a writer, you must ultimately make the decisions about what is or is not an appropriate source, based on

your goals and an analysis of your audience. Answering the questions above can help you assess the

appropriateness of sources.

INSIDE WORK Evaluating Sources

For this exercise, either look at the sample essay from Timothy Holtzhauser in Chapter 4 or look at an essay

that you wrote for a class in the past. Choose one of the references listed in the essay’s bibliography, and

write answers to the following questions.

Who are the authors? Do they possess any particular credentials that make them experts on the topic? With what institutions or organizations are the authors associated?

Who is the intended audience — the general public or a group of scholars? How do you know?

Where is the work published? Do works published there undergo a peer- review process?

Does the work rely on other reputable sources for information? What are those sources, and how do you know they are reputable?

Does the work seem biased? How do you know this? Is the work funded or supported by individuals or parties who might have a vested interest in the results? If so, is there a potential conflict of interest?

SUMMARIZING, PARAPHRASING, AND QUOTING FROM SOURCES Once you’ve located and studied the sources you want to use in a research paper, then you’re ready to

begin considering ways to integrate that material into your own work. There are a number of ways to

integrate the words and ideas of others into your research, and you’ve likely already had experience

summarizing, paraphrasing, and quoting from sources as part of an academic writing assignment. For

many students, though, the specifics of how to summarize, paraphrase, and quote accurately are o�en

unclear, so we’ll walk through these processes in some detail.

Summarizing

Summarizing a text is a way of condensing the work to its main ideas. A summary therefore requires you to

choose the most important elements of a text and to answer these questions: What is this work really trying to say, and how does it say it? Composing a summary of a source can be valuable for a number of reasons. Writing a summary can help you carefully analyze the content of a text and understand it better, but a

summary can also help you identify and keep track of the sources you want to use in the various parts of

your research. You may sometimes be able to summarize a source in only a sentence or two. We suggest a

simple method for analyzing a source and composing a summary:

1. Read the source carefully, noting the rhetorical context. Who composed the source? For whom is the source intended? Where was it published? Identify the source and provide answers to these questions at the beginning of your summary, as appropriate.

2. Identify the main points. Pay close attention to topic sentences at the beginnings of paragraphs, as they o�en highlight central ideas in the overall structure of an argument. Organize your summary around the main ideas you identify.

3. Identify examples. You will want to be able to summarize the ways the writer illustrates, exemplifies, or argues the main points. Though you will likely not discuss all of the examples or forms of evidence you identify in detail as part of your summary, you will want to comment on one or two, or offer some indication of how the writer supports his or her main points.

The following excerpt is taken from the text of Jack Solomon’s “Masters of Desire: The Culture of American

Advertising,” which appears in Chapter 4:

Status symbols, then, are signs that identify their possessors’ place in a social hierarchy, markers

of rank and prestige. We can all think of any number of status symbols — Rolls-Royces, Beverly

Hills mansions, even Shar Pei puppies (whose rareness and expense has rocketed them beyond

Russian wolfhounds as status pets and has even inspired whole lines of wrinkle-faced stuffed

toys) — but how do we know that something is a status symbol? The explanation is quite simple:

when an object (or puppy!) either costs a lot of money or requires influential connections to

possess, anyone who possesses it must also possess the necessary means and influence to acquire

it. The object itself really doesn’t matter, since it ultimately disappears behind the presumed

social potency of its owner. Semiotically, what matters is the signal it sends, its value as a sign of

power. One traditional sign of social distinction is owning a country estate and enjoying the

peace and privacy that attend it. Advertisements for Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar, and Audi

automobiles thus frequently feature drivers motoring quietly along a country road, presumably

on their way to or from their country houses.

A summary of this part of Solomon’s text might read something like this:

In “Masters of Desire: The Culture of American Advertising,” Jack Solomon acknowledges that

certain material possessions may be understood as representations of an individual’s rank or

status. He illustrates this point by identifying a number of luxury automobiles that, when

observed, cause us to consider the elevated economic status of the vehicles’ owners (63).

You’ll notice that this summary eliminates discussion of the specific examples Solomon provides. Further, it

removes any discussion of the concept of semiotics. Though Solomon’s ideas are clearly condensed and the

writer of this summary has carefully selected the ideas to be summarized in order to further his or her own

aims, the core of Solomon’s idea is accurately represented.

Paraphrasing

Sometimes a writer doesn’t want to summarize a source because condensing its ideas risks losing part of its

importance. In such a case, the writer has to choose whether to paraphrase or quote directly from the

source. Paraphrasing means translating the author’s words and sentence structure into your own for the

purpose of making the ideas clear for your audience. A paraphrase may be the same length or even longer

than the part of a text being paraphrased, so the purpose of paraphrase is not really to condense a passage,

as is the case for summary.

O�en, writers prefer to paraphrase sources rather than to quote from them, especially if the exact

language from the source isn’t important, but the ideas are. Depending on your audience, you might want

to rephrase highly technical language from a scientific source, for example, and put it in your own words.

Or you might want to emphasize a point the author makes in a way that isn’t as clear in the original

language. Many social scientists and most scientists routinely paraphrase sources as part of the

presentation of their own research because the results they’re reporting from secondary sources are more

important than the exact language used to explain the results. Quotations should be reserved for instances

when the exact language of the original source is important to the point being made. Remember that

paraphrasing requires you to restate the passage in your own words and in your own sentence structure.

Even if you are putting the source’s ideas in your own words, you must acknowledge where the information

came from by providing an appropriate citation.

The following paragraph was taken from William Thierfelder’s article “Twain’s Huckleberry Finn,” published in The Explicator, a journal of literary criticism.

An o�en-noted biblical allusion in Huckleberry Finn is that comparing Huck to the prophet Moses. Like Moses, whom Huck learns about from the Widow Douglas, Huck sets out, an orphan

on his ra�, down the river. In the biblical story, it is Moses’s mother who puts him in his little

“ra�,” hoping he will be found. In the novel, Huck/Moses takes charge of his own travels. . . .

Inappropriate Paraphrase

William Thierfelder suggests that Huckleberry is o�en compared to the prophet Moses. Huck, an

orphan like Moses, travels down a river on a ra� (194).

Although some of the language has been changed and the paraphrase includes documentation, this

paraphrase of the first two sentences of Thierfelder’s passage is inappropriate because it relies on the

language of the original text and employs the author’s sentence structure. An appropriate paraphrase that

uses new language and sentence structure might look like this:

William Thierfelder notes that numerous readers have linked the character of Huckleberry Finn

and the biblical figure of Moses. They are both orphans who take a water journey, Thierfelder

argues. However, Moses’s journey begins because of the actions of his mother, while Huck’s

journey is undertaken by himself (194).

Quoting

Depending on your rhetorical context, you may find that quoting the exact words of a source as part of

your argument is the most effective strategy. The use of quotations is much more common in some

academic fields than in others. Writers in the humanities, for example, o�en quote texts directly because

the precise language of the original is important to the argument. You’ll find, for instance, that literary

scholars o�en quote a short story or poem (a primary source) for evidence. You may also find that a

secondary source contains powerful or interesting language that would lose its impact if you paraphrased

it. In such circumstances, it is entirely appropriate to quote the text. Keep in mind that your reader should

always be able to understand why the quotation is important to your argument. We recommend three

methods for integrating quotations into your writing. (The examples below follow American Psychological

Association style conventions; see “Understanding Documentation Systems” and the Appendix for more

information about documentation styles.)

1. Attributive Tags Introduce the quotation with a tag (with words like notes, argues, suggests, posits, maintains, etc.) that attributes the language and ideas to its author. Notice that different tags suggest different relationships between the author and the idea being cited. For example: De Niet, Tiemens, Lendemeijer, Lendemei, and Hutschemaekers (2009) argued, “Music-assisted

relaxation is an effective aid for improving sleep quality in patients with various conditions” (p. 1362).

2. Further Grammatical Integration You may also fully integrate a quotation into the grammar of your own sentences. For example: Their review of the research revealed “scientific support for the effectiveness of the systematic use of

music-assisted relaxation to promote sleep quality” in patients (De Niet et al., 2009, p. 1362).

3. Introduce with Full Sentence + Punctuation You can also introduce a quotation with a full sentence and create a transitional link to the quotation with punctuation, like the colon. For example: The study reached a final conclusion about music-assisted relaxation: “It is a safe and cheap

intervention which may be used to treat sleep problems in various populations” (De Niet et al., 2009,

p. 1362).

INSIDE WORK Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and Quoting from Sources

Choose a source you have found on a topic of interest to you, and find a short passage (only one or two

sentences) from the source that provides information that might be useful in your own research. Then

complete the following steps and write down your responses.

1. Summarize the passage. It might help to look at the larger context in which the passage appears.

2. Paraphrase the passage, using your own words and sentence structure.

3. Quote the passage, using the following three ways to integrate the passage into your own text:

– attributive tags

– grammatical integration

– full sentence + punctuation

For your own research, which approach (summarizing, paraphrasing, quoting) do you think would be most

useful? Consider your writing context and how you would use the source.

AVOIDING PLAGIARISM Any language and ideas used in your own writing that belong to others must be fully acknowledged and

carefully documented, with both in-text citations and full bibliographic documentation. Failure to include

either of these when source materials are employed could lead to a charge of plagiarism, perhaps the most

serious of academic integrity offenses. The procedures for documenting cited sources vary from one

rhetorical and disciplinary context to another, so you’ll always want to clarify the expectations for

documentation with your instructor when responding to an assigned writing task. Regardless, you should

always acknowledge your sources when you summarize, paraphrase, or quote, and be sure to include the

full information for your sources in the bibliography of your project.

INSIDER’S VIEW

On accidental plagiarism

KAREN KEATON JACKSON, WRITING STUDIES

“Many students come in who are already familiar with using direct quotations. But when it comes to paraphrasing and summarizing, that’s when I see a lot of accidental plagiarism. So it’s really important for students to understand that if you don’t do the research yourself, or if you weren’t there in the field or doing the survey, then it’s not your own idea and you have to give credit.”

Hear more on avoiding plagiarism.

INSIDE WORK Understanding Plagiarism

Most schools, colleges, and universities have established definitions of plagiarism and penalties or

sanctions that may be imposed on students found guilty of plagiarism. You should become familiar with

the definitions of plagiarism used by your institution as well as by your individual instructors.

Locate a resource on campus (e.g., a student handbook or the website of your institution’s Office of Student Conduct) that provides a definition of plagiarism from the perspective of your institution. You may discover that in addition to defining plagiarism, your institution provides avenues of support to foster academic integrity and/or presents explanations of the consequences or penalties for violating rules of academic integrity.

Locate a resource from one of your classes (e.g., a course website, a course syllabus) that provides a definition of plagiarism from the perspective of one of your instructors.

Consider what is similar about the two definitions. Consider the differences between them. What do these similarities and differences reveal about your instructor’s expectations and those of the larger

academic community in which you participate?

UNDERSTANDING DOCUMENTATION SYSTEMS Documentation systems are o�en discipline-specific, and their conventions reflect the needs and values of

researchers and readers in those particular disciplines. For these reasons, you should carefully analyze any

writing situation to determine which documentation style to follow. You’ll find examples of specific

documentation systems in the disciplinary chapters in Part Two. Here are some of the most common ones:

Modern Language Association (MLA)

MLA documentation procedures are generally followed by researchers in the humanities. One of the most

important elements of the in-text citation requirements for the MLA documentation system is the inclusion

of page numbers in a parenthetical reference. Though page