Integrating Sources

This is Unit Twenty-Three of College Composition. Unit Twenty-Two decided which sources to trust. This unit brings trusted sources into your own writing, through quotation, paraphrase, summary and synthesis. Carry one idea through this lecture. In a research paper, the writer's voice should lead and the sources should support it, so every borrowed passage is introduced, trimmed, explained and cited. A worked example near the end turns a dropped quotation into support. By the end you will be able to quote, paraphrase and summarize fairly. To introduce and embed sources with signal phrases. To quote accurately and explain each quotation. And to synthesize sources while keeping your own voice.

Six entries on the three ways to use a source, on quoting, and on paraphrasing fairly.

Three ways to borrow.

CMP 0551 Three Ways to Use a Source

Writers bring source material into their work in three main ways: quotation, paraphrase and summary. A quotation repeats exact words; a paraphrase restates a passage in your own words at similar length; a summary condenses the main ideas into a shorter form. All three need a citation; only quotation needs quotation marks.

Exact words.

CMP 0552 Quotation

A direct quotation repeats an author's or speaker's exact words, in quotation marks, with a citation. Slight changes are allowed only if they are marked, with brackets for changes and ellipses for omissions. Quote only the part you need; long quotations can suggest the writer has little to say.

Reserving quotations.

CMP 0553 When to Quote

Reserve quotations for when you cannot express an idea better yourself, or when the exact words give the strongest support. Quote when the words are precise, making fine distinctions; clear, expressing a complex idea plainly; powerful and authoritative; or vivid and revealing. Quotations should support your points, not make them for you.

Your words, similar length.

CMP 0554 Paraphrase

A paraphrase restates a specific passage in your own words, at about the same level of detail and often the same length. Paraphrase when you need a source's details but not its exact wording, or when the original is hard to follow. Do not add your own commentary inside a paraphrase; save analysis until after you have paraphrased and cited.

Keeping meaning, changing form.

CMP 0555 Writing a Fair Paraphrase

A fair paraphrase keeps the source's meaning exactly while using new wording and sentence structure. Read the passage until you understand it, and note its main and supporting points. Set the original aside and write the ideas in your own words and structure. Compare: have you kept every point, added nothing and changed nothing? Put any distinctive phrase you keep in quotation marks, then introduce and cite the paraphrase. Swapping synonyms into the original's sentence structure is not paraphrasing; it becomes copying with small changes.

Stitched phrases.

CMP 0556 Patchwriting

Patchwriting means stitching together phrases copied from one or more sources, with a few words changed, and it counts as plagiarism. A paragraph assembled from fragments of three articles, lightly reworded, presents others' language as the writer's own. Patchwriting often comes from drafting with sources open; take notes in your own words first, then draft from the notes.

Four entries on summarizing and on the signal phrases and verbs that introduce sources.

Much shorter than the original.

CMP 0557 Summary

A summary restates the main ideas of a text in your own words and is much shorter than the original. It leaves out supporting details and keeps the overarching ideas, whether of an article, a page or a paragraph. A summary that includes every detail has become a paraphrase; one that adds your opinion has become analysis.

Main points, briefly and fairly.

CMP 0558 Writing a Summary

Writing a summary means restating only a text's main ideas, briefly and fairly. Read the whole text and find its main point and major supporting points, often in topic sentences. Set aside examples, details and repetition, and write the main points in your own words in a few sentences. Check fairness: would the author agree this represents the text? Then introduce and cite it. Summaries fail most often by tilting, stressing the points the writer agrees with; leave your response for the sentences that follow.

Introducing borrowed material.

CMP 0559 Signal Phrases

A signal phrase introduces borrowed material and tells readers its source and purpose. "Environmental historian Rosa Diaz argues that" names the source and prepares readers for a claim; a well-known source may need only a name. Without a signal phrase, readers cannot tell where the writer's words end and the source's begin.

The verb in the phrase.

CMP 0560 Choosing the Signal Verb

The verb in a signal phrase indicates the source's tone or intention, so choose it precisely. "Reports" is neutral; "argues" marks a claim; "concedes" marks an admission; "denies" marks a rejection. Vary the verbs and their placement to avoid monotony. The wrong verb misrepresents the source; writing "admits" for something the author stated proudly changes its meaning.

Six entries on embedding quotations, ellipses and brackets, accuracy, block quotations, explaining quotations, and introducing them.

Quotations inside your sentence.

CMP 0561 Embedding Quotations

Embedding a quotation means fitting it smoothly into your own sentence. Introduce it with a signal phrase, quote only the words you need, and make it fit your sentence's grammar; if it does not, quote less, rewrite your sentence, or make a marked change in brackets. A sentence about city dwellers can quote only their assumption that breakfast comes from the grocery and supply the rest itself. Place the citation after the closing quotation mark, and follow with an explanation. The test: the sentence should read correctly aloud with the quotation marks removed.

Omissions and changes.

CMP 0562 Ellipses and Brackets in Quotations

Ellipses mark words omitted from a quotation, and brackets mark words changed or added for clarity. "The results provide hope [to patients with the condition]" clarifies a reference; an ellipsis can drop a digression from the middle of a quoted sentence. Neither may change the source's meaning; cutting a "not" with an ellipsis is a distortion.

Shortening without distortion.

CMP 0563 Accurate Quotation

Shortening a quotation must never distort its meaning or take it out of context. A critic who wrote that a film's plot is exciting but its dialogue lacks energy would be misquoted as saying "the plot is exciting . . . the dialogue has . . . energy." Distorted quotation is a form of dishonesty, however carefully punctuated.

Long quotations set off.

CMP 0564 Block Quotations

A long quotation is set off as an indented block, without quotation marks, introduced by a signal phrase ending in a colon. MLA blocks quotations longer than four typed lines; APA blocks those of forty words or more; the period comes before the citation. Use block quotations sparingly; most papers should quote no more than a few lines at a time.

Saying what it means.

CMP 0565 Explaining a Quotation

Quotations do not speak for themselves; follow each with your explanation of its meaning and relevance. After quoting a writer on city dwellers' blindness to where food comes from, a student explains that the writer sees them as dangerously unaware of how their needs are met. A quotation left unexplained forces readers to guess why it matters.

Quotations from nowhere.

CMP 0566 Quotations Need an Introduction

A quotation set down with no introduction leaves readers unsure who is speaking and why the words matter. Introduce every quotation with a signal phrase or a sentence that names its source and its purpose in your argument. Even a powerful quotation weakens a paragraph if it appears from nowhere.

Six entries on synthesis, summary versus synthesis, synthesizing two sources, your voice, a worked example, and how many quotations to use. The opening idea is paid off at the worked example.

Combining sources.

CMP 0567 Synthesis

Synthesis combines information from several sources, together with the writer's own ideas, to support claims or reach new conclusions. Where a summary looks within one text, synthesis looks for connections and relationships between texts and interprets them. Synthesis is where the writer's own thinking shows; it is more than placing sources side by side.

One source, or several.

CMP 0568 Summary Versus Synthesis

A summary restates one source's key points; a synthesis compares and interprets several sources to make new meaning. Summary demonstrates comprehension and treats sources as separate; synthesis demonstrates critical thinking and connects them. A paragraph that summarizes three sources in turn, without relating them, has not yet synthesized.

Showing how two relate.

CMP 0569 Synthesizing Two Sources

Synthesizing two sources means showing how they relate and what that means for your claim. Summarize each source's point briefly and fairly. Identify the relationship: agreement, disagreement, or different parts of the question. Explain why, such as different data, methods or assumptions, and state what it means for your argument. Write a topic sentence that makes a point about both. Two studies of school start times agree that later starts improve attendance but differ on grades, which suggests the benefit is clearer for attendance. Words such as similarly and however carry synthesis.

Your voice first.

CMP 0570 Your Voice and the Sources

In a research paper, the writer's voice should lead and the sources should support it. Students who lack confidence sometimes overuse quotations, creating a patchwork of other people's voices; the fix is to explain and analyze each source. If a paragraph's sentences are mostly quotations, the writer's argument has disappeared.

A dropped quotation repaired.

CMP 0571 Integrating a Source in a Draft

A worked example, constructed for this course, pays off the opening idea. A paragraph about street trees drops a long quotation on urban temperatures between a vague opening and a conclusion. The quotation gets a signal phrase naming its source, a city environmental study. It is trimmed to the key finding or partly paraphrased. An explanation follows: the neighborhoods with the least green space gain most from planting. A citation is added, and the opening becomes a real topic sentence: street trees measurably cool city neighborhoods. The problem was not the source but its handling; before cutting a quotation, try integrating it properly.

Not too many.

CMP 0572 Too Many Quotations

Unless a source is itself the topic, as in literary analysis, quotations should be few and short. The anchor suggests limiting brief quotations to about two per page and long ones to about one every three pages. When a paragraph is crowded with quotations, paraphrase or summarize most of them and quote only the most precise words.

Look at what you can now do. You can choose among quotation, paraphrase and summary, and paraphrase fairly with new words and new structure, avoiding patchwriting. You can write a fair summary, and introduce sources with signal phrases and verbs that represent them accurately. You can embed quotations grammatically, shorten them without distortion, block long ones, and explain every quotation you use. And you can synthesize sources, keep your own voice in the lead, and repair a dropped quotation. Unit Twenty-Four turns to giving every source its credit: plagiarism and documentation.