Words of Protest, Words of Inspiration: Famous Speeches: Using Quotations & Parenthetical Citations

When borrowing from the works of other writers as you research, what is most important is that you give credit to the writers whose works you are using in your paper or project. To do this writers use three strategies - quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing - to blend source materials with their own, while making sure their own voice is heard. 

1. QUOTATIONS are the exact words of an author, copied directly from the source word for word. Quotations must be cited!

 Use quotations when:

• You want to add the power of an author's words to support your argument
• You want to disagree with an author's argument
• You want to highlight particularly eloquent or powerful phrases or passages
• You are comparing and contrasting specific points of view
• You want to note the important research that precedes your own

2. PARAPHRASING means rephrasing the words of an author, putting his or her thoughts in your own words. A paraphrase can be viewed as a "translation" of the original source. When you paraphrase, you rework the source's ideas, words, phrases, and sentence structures with your own. Paraphrasing text is often, but not always, slightly shorter than the original work. Like quotations, paraphrased material must be followed with in-text documentation and cited on the Works Cited page.

Paraphrase when:

• You plan to use information on your note cards and wish to avoid plagiarizing
• You want to avoid overused quotations
• You want to use your own voice to present information

3. SUMMARIZING involves putting the main idea(s) of one or several writers into your own words, including only the main point(s). Once again, it is necessary to attribute summarized ideas to the original source. Summaries are significantly shorter than the original and take a broad overview of the source material.

Summarize when:

• You want to establish background or offer an overview of a topic
• You want to describe common knowledge (from several sources) about a topic
• You want to determine the main ideas of a single source