WRITING COURSE 6: USING SOURCES When we read a text we naturally assume that, unless we are told otherwise, the language used and the ideas expressed are the writer s own. What we are going to look at here is how to tell the reader otherwise. For when writing texts, of whatever genre, we sometimes need to borrow other people s words, either because they lend an air of authenticity (for example, in a news report), because they are necessary as evidence (for example, in a book review), or quite simply because someone has expressed something so well that it can t be bettered. In all of these cases, and many others, using other people s words is not only permissible it s excellent. If it is done the right way, this sort of borrowing can lift a text and make it more professional. Notice the use of quotation marks. A colon is used before the quotation here because the quotation itself starts with a whole sentence. If the quotation starts in mid-sentence, no colon is required: The Prime Minister made it clear that there would be no going back on his decision to leave politics, saying that hairdressing was the only important thing in my life. The key to this right way is honesty and clarity. The reader must be in no doubt about whose words or ideas he is reading. If there is any doubt, the impression given will be one of cloudiness and dishonesty. Quoting and referring To quote means to repeat someone else s words, and the first demand we must make of a quotation is that it has to be exact. If we don t know the exact wording of a quotation, then we shouldn t treat it as a quotation at all, but as a reference (see below). If we do have the exact wording, we must signal where the quotation starts and finishes. The Prime Minister made it perfectly clear that there would be no turning back: No, I ve made my decision. Hairdressing is the only important thing in my life. I m leaving politics and starting a salon in Witney. Using quotations is a useful tool in writing texts but don t overdo it! A short, highly relevant quotation is better than a long, slightly relevant one. Avoid quoting long paragraphs and, above all, don t let the quotations become a substitute for your own explanations and reasoning. 338 A WORLD OF LITERATURE
1 5 1 5 If we don t use the exact words of another person if we change them slightly does that mean we can do what we like with them? The answer is no. If we borrow words or even ideas and make them our own, we must still abide by the principle of honesty and clarity. Imagine, for example, that you are writing an article or an essay about nuclear power and you come across the following quotation: My point is that abandoning nuclear power at a time of escalating greenhouse gas emissions is far more dangerous than maintaining it. To abandon it in the knowledge that much of that power will be replaced with unabated fossil fuel is even worse. ( Greens must not prioritise renewables over climate change by George Monbiot, The Guardian 8th August 2011) As it happens, you agree with Mr Monbiot and you want to include the point in your article/essay. There are four ways of doing this; two of them are acceptable, two of them are not. See if you can decide which ones are not: a. I believe that this is not the time to give up on nuclear power as a source of energy. If we do we will just have to make more use of fossil fuels, which could be much more dangerous than nuclear power in the long run. b. In my view abandoning nuclear power at a time of escalating greenhouse gas emissions is far more dangerous than maintaining it. And to do so in the knowledge that much of that power will be replaced with unabated fossil fuel is even worse. c. As George Monbiot writes in The Guardian, abandoning nuclear power at a time of esca- lating greenhouse gas emissions is far more dangerous than maintaining it. He believes that replacing nuclear power with unabated fossil fuel is a worse solution. d. I strongly agree with George Monbiot. Abandoning nuclear power at a time of escalating greenhouse gas emissions is far more dangerous than maintaining it. And to do so in the knowledge that much of that power will be replaced with unabated fossil fuel is even worse. Texts a. and c. are acceptable. In a. the writer has put the ideas into his/her own language, so no acknowledgement is required. In c. Monbiot s words are quoted exactly with acknow - ledgement and clear quotation marks. In b. almost the whole text is stolen property. This is plagiarism in other words, cheating. In d. an acknowledgement has been made, but there is still some stealing going on, because it is not made clear that the wording itself is Monbiot s, not just the opinion. Notice that here the ideas in the text are not seen as Monbiot s property. After all, he is not the originator of them, and he is far from being the only one to hold them. If we come across an idea in an article or a book that is new to us, we should acknowledge the source. There are also more familiar ideas and theories that clearly have an originator Darwin s theory of evolution, for example that should be acknowledged. Paraphrasing and summarising Text a. above is an example of paraphrasing i.e. expressing someone else s ideas in your A WORLD OF LITERATURE 339
own words. It is a useful way of avoiding long quotations, although it doesn t necessarily mean that you don t have to acknowledge the source. That will depend on whether the ideas can be seen as coming from one particular person, or from a more general discussion. Paraphrasing can be tricky there is always the temptation to use the phrasing of the original text. A good way to avoid this is to read the original text carefully, but not have it in front of you when you are writing your paraphrase. Afterwards you can check that your version accurately expresses the ideas in the original without using its phrasing. If there are phrases that you simply cannot do without, remember that it is quite permissible to blend paraphrase and quotation, provided you make it clear which is which, by using quotation marks (as in c. above). A summary is a form of paraphrase, only here the aim is to focus on the main idea of the original text. A summary is therefore shorter than the original. Being able to write summaries is a very useful skill for a writer. Whether we are writing about literature (e.g. reviews) or about factual events (e.g. news articles), it is often necessary to sum up quite complicated narratives without them taking too much space or focus. For tips on writing summaries, look at Toolbox on our website. a bibliography at the end (in more detail). There are many different schools of thought about the best way to do this. Since you will probably not be writing your doctoral thesis this year, you don t need to be too worried about the details. The important thing is to be consistent so that your documentation is easy to understand. The following documentation method should serve you well: Referring to sources in the text After the quotation or reference, write the name of author, the date of the publication and the page number of the source being quoted from or referred to: As Melvyn Bragg puts it, the English laboured and the French feasted (Bragg, 2003, p. 51). For an article in a newspaper, we drop the page reference: Monbiot argues that some greens are putting renewables first, climate change second (Monbiot, 2011) If we don t know the author, as might be the case with websites, we give the name of the source instead: Documenting sources In a formal text, like an essay, a project or a report, we should not only make it clear when we are quoting and referring, we should also document our sources. This should be done both in the text (briefly) and in a list of sources Satellite observations indicate that ice in the Arctic Sea is disappearing at the rate of 11.5% per decade (Wikipedia, 2011). 340 A WORLD OF LITERATURE
1 5 1 5 Bibliography Brief in-text citations like this can only be used if you have a bibliography at the end in which the sources are given in detail. In a bibli - o graphy the sources are given in alphabetical order, using the author s surname (or the publication, if the author is unknown). As well as the author and date of publication, the biblio graphy entry should give the name of the article or book and the name and location of the publisher. There are slightly different ways of doing this for different sorts of sources. The important thing is to be clear and consistent: Book: Bragg, Melvyn. The Adventure of English: The Biography of a Language, Hodder & Stoughton, London 2003 Article: Monbiot, George. Greens must not prioritise renewables over climate change. August 8, 2011 The Guardian Wikipedia. Climate change http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/climatechange accessed October 11, 2011 Remember that direct use of sources, for example in interviews, email correspondence or chat groups, should also be listed in your bibliography: Smith, Fred. October 13, 2011. Interview Bloggs, Bill. July 3, 2011. Email to Merete Strøm. Styles, Fatima. September 14, 2011. Re: Italian Food. Online posting. Wireclub TASKS 1 Read the following extract (slightly abridged) from a blog entitled Football is stupid written by a blogger called a1word. I will start by saying what it is not. It is not religion and it is not an illegal narcotic. Saying that, it does seem to cause many sufferers (or addicts) to seesaw between states of bliss and devastation, spend far more money than they can afford, destroy their closest relationships and even disfigure themselves with tattoos. Fans (as they are better known) collectively ignore the fact they are watching grownups chasing a leather air bubble whilst being shouted at by thousands of men. Fans subject themselves to this ex - perience on a regular basis either at stadiums or in public venues where they can also drink alcohol. These experiences are then replayed, analysed, dissected and discussed for years and years after the event. It goes without saying that football is a phenomenon that we are only just beginning to understand, a bit like god or the appeal of cats. http://a1word.hubpages.com/hub/football-is-stupid A WORLD OF LITERATURE 341
Below is an extract from an essay that refers to the blog above. Correct the punctuation in the essay extract so that the quotations are incorporated correctly into the text. a1word argues that while football is neither a religion nor a drug, it has the same power as both to make its followers seesaw between states of bliss and devastation. Fans fail to recognise that the sport is just about grownups chasing a leather air bubble whilst being shouted at by thousands of men. Not satisfied with just watching a match, fans are happy to have them replayed, analysed, dissected and discussed for years after the event. 2+ Write a paraphrase of the views that a1word expresses in the text (task 1), acknowledging the source of the text. You should use your own language as far as possible, except for the underlined passages, which you should use as quotations in your text. 3 Write a paragraph or two in which you give a personal response to a1word s blog text. Feel free to refer directly to words and phrases that a1word uses, but do so according to the principles of honesty and clarity! 5+ Below is a list of sources for a written project about the European discovery and settlement of Australia. They have been noted down quickly and randomly. Turn them into a proper bibliography. A book called The Fatal Shore by Robert Hughes, published in London by Collins in 1987 A book by Richard Gough, called Captain James Cook: A Biography published 1994 by Hodder & Stoughton in London A web page at the Parliament of New South Wales s web site entitled 1788 to 1810 Early European Settlement, accessed this morning at www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/web/common.nsf /key/historyearlyeuropeansettlement Article by Annabel Crabb published in the Sydney Morning Herald on February 17, 2008 entitled Ancient tensions fail to mar apology. 4 Think of the last film you saw or the last book you read. (Alternatively, your favorite film or book.) Write as short a summary as you can of the plot of the film/book. 342 A WORLD OF LITERATURE