12.5: The Basics of Writing About Reading

Quoting and Citing

In English 101, teachers will require different levels of citation with different assignments. For example, you will probably be forgiven for forgetting a page number with a quote in your first discussion of the semester. But if a teacher has given you specific instruction or feedback regarding citation, it is best to double check that you are doing things correctly. That said, it is always best to cite and to do so properly.

Quoting is the most basic method of source use and involves using direct language from a source. In order to show that language is directly from a source, put it in double quotes and be sure to cite the source.

You generally have two methods for citing a source: using a parenthetical and/or using a signal phrase. If you are using a quote, you should generally have the page number for the quotation in a parenthetical and a signal phrase before the quote:

Signal Phrase Example: Keller concludes, "There were barriers still, it is true, but barriers that could in time be swept away" (23).

Parenthetical Example: "There were barriers still, it is true, but barriers that could in time be swept away" (Keller 23).

Using Signal Phrases to Avoid Plagiarism

Whether you quote from a text or relay the information in your own words, you MUST credit the author clearly for their ideas. Failing to clearly credit the author with the ideas from the work, even if you aren't using their direct words, is considered plagiarism.

Signal phrases are a great tool to help avoid plagiarism by giving authors credit for their work. It is good practice to introduce the author of a text the first time you mention it (In the essay "Title," author First Name Last Name...). In the passage below, you can see how the student relays lots of ideas from Frederick Douglass in their own words, but they are sure to mention Douglass' name every few sentences to keep the source boundaries clear.

Example: Signal Phrase Use Look through the example below and underline the signal phrases (the author's name plus the verb) to examine how the student author gives Douglass credit throughout the summary.

In his essay “Learning to Read and Write,” Frederick Douglass describes his self-education as a person enslaved by the American slavery system. Douglass used many methods to educate himself, but he had to be careful in all methods because learning to read and write had severe consequences for him as an enslaved person. Douglass was initially taught by his female master who began to teach him how to read, but after her husband expressed displeasure with her actions, Douglass had to become his own teacher. As a result, he found his teachers and lessons in unlikely places. For example, he would bribe poor white children with bread to learn a new letter or word. Even though Douglass was an enslaved person, food was more readily available to him than to some impoverished white children in his community. Douglass also used his wits to learn new words and letters: he would challenge white children to writing contests in the street and learn as the children showed off their knowledge to beat Douglass in the competition.

Reflection

Before you write a formal response to a text or source, you should have a clear grasp on each source individually. As discussed at length earlier in this chapter, you can develop a better understanding of a source through close reading and annotation. To illustrate the larger principle of reflection, consider the following two reading responses. Both texts respond to a very wellknown piece, “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” by Martin Luther King, Jr. In the letter, King responds to criticism from other clergymen who had called his methods of civil rights struggle “unwise and untimely.” Both student writers were given the same response prompt:

After reading King’s piece several times and with a pen or pencil in hand, consider what shapes King’s letter. Specifically, what rhetorical strategies is he using to achieve a persuasive effect on his readers? In making your decisions, consider such factors as background information that he gives, ways in which he addresses his immediate audience, and others. Remember that your goal is to explore King’s text, thus enabling you to understand his rhetorical strategies better.

Example: Student A

Martin Luther King Jr’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” is a very powerful text. At the time when minorities in America were silenced and persecuted, King had the courage to lead his people in the struggle for equality. After being jailed in Birmingham, Alabama, King wrote a letter to his “fellow clergymen” describing his struggle for civil rights. In the letter, King recounts a brief history of that struggle and rejects the accusation that it is “unwise and untimely.” Overall, I think that King’s letter is a very rhetorically effective text, one that greatly helped Americans to understand the civil rights movement.

Example: Student B

King begins his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by addressing it to his “fellow clergymen.” Thus, he immediately sets the tone of inclusion rather than exclusion. By using the word “fellow” in the address, I think he is trying to do two things. First of all, he presents himself as a colleague and a spiritual brother of his audience. That, in effect, says “you can trust me,” “I am one of your kind.” Secondly, by addressing his readers in that way, King suggests that everyone, even those Americans who are not directly involved in the struggle for civil rights, should be concerned with it. Hence the word “fellow.” King’s opening almost invokes the phrase “My fellow Americans” or “My fellow citizens” used so often by American Presidents when they address the nation. King then proceeds to give a brief background of his actions as a civil rights leader. As I read this part of the letter, I was wondering whether his readers would really have not known what he had accomplished as a civil rights leader. Then I realized that perhaps he gives all that background information as a rhetorical move. His immediate goal is to keep reminding his readers about his activities. His ultimate goal is to show to his audience that his actions were non-violent but peaceful. In reading this passage by King, I remembered once again that it is important not to assume that your audience knows anything about the subject of the writing. I will try to use this strategy more in my own papers. In the middle of the letter, King states: “The purpose of our direct-action program is to create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation.” This sentence looks like a thesis statement and I wonder why he did not place it towards the beginning of the text, to get his point across right away. After thinking about this for a few minutes and re- reading several pages from our class textbook, I think he leaves his “thesis” till later in his piece because he is facing a not- so-friendly (if not hostile) audience. Delaying the thesis and laying out some background information and evidence first helps a writer to prepare his or her audience for the coming argument. That is another strategy I should probably use more often in my own writing, depending on the audience I am facing.

See this page for more explanation of how reflection can be useful in essay writing.