About quotation in the thesis
When we write an academic paper, we almost always need to borrow ideas, statistics, and previous research findings to strengthen our own ideas, to explain our own arguments, and to support our own evidence. Such practice not only fits our research into the larger picture of a particular field of research, but also lends a basis and persuasiveness to our arguments.
Generally speaking, there are three legal ways of using outside sources and information:
1. Direct quotation
2. Paraphrasing
3. Summarizing
Each of these three ways is used extensively in academic research. As a matter of fact, academic research requires the combined use of these three methods. If a research paper is written without using any outside ideas or information, that paper might be considered as deficient in academic value.
Ⅰ. Direct Quotation:
1. Definition
A direct quotation is exactly the same as the original and must be put in quotation marks. Everything within the quotation marks, that is to say, not only the words but also the spelling, capitalization and interior punctuation, should be exactly the same as the original.
2. When to use direct quotations
(1) When the original wording expresses the idea so precisely and succinctly that we cannot improve on it;
(2) When the direct quotation comes from an authority in a particular field and therefore strengthens our point of view;
(3) When we need to borrow a special term or expression that is a particular writer’s invention and carries special meaning;
(4) When we need the original wording for the purpose of further discussion.
3. How to use direct quotation
(1) When we do quote, we should make every effort to work the direct quotation into our own statement so that it may become part of an organic whole.
(2) Use a colon if our direct quotation is introduced by a complete sentence:
Sample 1
Sinclair Lewis, the first American Nobel Prize winner for literature in 1930, believed that Dreiser better deserved the prize: “Dreiser…more than any other man, marching alone, usually unappreciated, often hated, has cleared the trail from Victorian and Howellsian timidity and gentility in the American fiction to honesty, boldness and passion of life.”
(3) Treat the direct quotation as part of the sentence and punctuate accordingly if it is not introduced by a complete sentence:
Sample 2
To Sinclair Lewis, “Dreiser…more than any other man, marching alone, usually unappreciated, often hated, has cleared the trail from Victorian and Howellsian timidity and gentility in the American fiction to honesty, boldness and passion of life.”
Exercise
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
From “I have a dream…”, a speech by Martin Luther King, Jr.
4. We should observe the following rules when using direct quotation:
(1). Keep the quotation as brief as possible;
(2).Be accurate. What appears between quotation marks should be exactly the same as the original. No word, punctuation, or even spelling should be charged;
(3). Always indicate the source of the quotation;
(4). When the quotation is less than three lines, incorporate it in the flow of the paragraph with a pair of quotation marks. When the quotation is longer than three lines, use a separate and indented paragraph, without quotation marks, to indicate the quotation;
Eg:
The view that writing is typically a socially-situated act has been reinforced by the aims and experiences of the recent Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) movement (Young and Fulwiler, 1986). A primary research agenda for WAC has been firmly laid out by Faigley and Hansen:
If teacher of English are to offer courses that truly prepare students to write in other disciplines, they will have to explore why those disciplines study certain subjects, why certain methods of enquiry are sanctioned, how the convertions of a discipline shape a text in that discipline, how individual writers represent themselves in the text, how a text is read and disseminated, and how one text influences subsequent texts.(Faigley and Hansen, 1985: 149)
(5). When only parts of a long sentence or passage are quoted, the omitted words may be indicated three dots. However, the parts that do appear as a quotation still have to be accurate;
(6). The volume of direct quotations in any piece of academic writing should be kept within10～20﹪ of the total paper length. Too much quoted material may spoil the originality or style of the academic paper.
5. The following expressions are often used to indicate the source of a direct quotation. It is often advisable to include when and where the person said so.
As X said… As X reported…
As X stated… As X wrote…
As X mentioned… As X maintained…
As X insisted… As X declared…
X said… X further stated…
X later insisted… X continued…
X firmly believed…
Ⅱ. Paraphrasing
I. The definition of paraphrasing
Paraphrasing means to restate the idea of a sentence or passage in a different and usually simpler way.
Language teachers often employ paraphrasing to explain difficult sentences to check students’ understanding, and to train them to express complicated ideas in more readily understandable terms. More importantly, academic writers employ paraphrasing to borrow ideas and previous research findings in the field of study. It is one of the three important methods of incorporating outside sources.
Compared with direct quotation, paraphrasing is more flexible. This flexibility exists in at least three different ways:
1. Flexibility in elaborating the original idea if necessary for better and clearer understanding;
example1：
原文：University registration procedures-once a nightmare of lists, lines, and paper strips-have been streamlined by using computers.
译文： Computers have lessened the pains of the process of university registration: it involves fewer lists, less waiting, and more efficiency.
2. Flexibility in emphasising different aspects of the original material to suit a particular purpose.
example 2:
原文： "Poetry-the height of a language's expression-is perhaps the hardest aspect of the language for the second-language learner to conquer."
译文： The most difficult part of a language for a non-native speaker is poetry, the most profound and subtle form of expression.
3. Flexibility in modifying the tone and style of the original source for a better fit into the context of the writing.
Paraphrasing is probably more often employed in academic papers
than direct quotation. This section discusses the correct ways of using paraphrasing.
example3:
原文："A family of lion, often consisting of a male, two or three lionesses, their offspring, and perhaps a yearling or two, is called a pride."
译文： A pride is a lion family, the members of which are one male, two or three females, their babies, and one or two other young lions around one-year old.
II. Guidelines for paraphrasing
Two simple rules govern paraphrasing
1. Rule 1
Always give credit to the source of idea or material being paraphrased. Failing to do so is regarded as dishonesty.
The following expressions and structures may be used to introduce a paraphrase:
1) In an article/ a study by X, ...
2) As X points out, ...
3) X states...
4) A study by X indicates that...
5) X has drawn attention to the fact that...
6) X claims that...
7) X found/ discovered that...
8) Research by X suggests that...
9) X argues that...
2. Rule 2
Always restate the idea in different vocabulary and sentence structure. A mere change of a few words without changing the structure may be regarded as plagiarism in disguise.
However, changing the vocabulary does not mean that every word in the original sentence needs changing. Ordinary words and special technical terms do not require a change. Only “character words,” that show a strong personal preference and therefore are like a writer’s signature, need changing. There “character words” are mostly substance words—nouns, verbs, special adjectives, and unusual adverbs. They may also be terms or jargon that have been given some special meaning by the original writer.
One task of paraphrasing is to replace the character words with other, perhaps more ordinary words and expressions. One word in each of the following groups of words is more unusual and has the capability of becoming a character word. Please identify the word.
1. one, tick, was, and, man
2. beautiful, cumbersome, interesting, important
3. walk, run, amble, move
4. late, delayed, tardy
5. rule, maxim, law
III. Two steps of paraphrasing
Mainly two steps are used to achieve this purpose:
1. Identifying the character words and finding appropriate substitutes (synonym)
2. Understanding the original sentence and rewriting it in a new framework
exercise：
“Attitudes are selectively acquired and integrated through learning and experience” (John D. Faust).
In this sentence, three words (selectively, acquired, integrated) are character words and should be changed in a paraphrase. The following are two possible versions.
a) John D. Faust expresses the view that through learning and experience, feelings and attitudes are carefully chosen and absorbed.
b) As John D. Faust points out, individuals change their attitudes because of things they learn and the things they experience.
Summarizing
In terms of frequency of use when comparing direct quotation, paraphrasing, and summarizing, summarizing is probably the most common way of thinking, writing, and organizing ideas.
If direct quotation is mostly used in both fiction and non-fiction, and if paraphrasing is mostly used in both language teaching and academic writing, summarizing is used in almost every aspect of human thinking and communication. Whenever we recount a story, an idea or an event in the form of main ideas, we are summarizing.
Summarizing assumes various forms depending on such factors as what and why you are summarizing.
A summary of a story will contains both the events and the motives not necessarily in chronological order;
A summary of a process will involve all the main stages;
A summary of an event will usually list the subsections of the event in chronological order;
A summary of news article will contain answers to the questions “who,” what,” “where,” “when,” “why,” and “how.”
In academic writing, our present concern, summarizing is an important form of borrowing from outside sources without plagiarizing.
Guidelines for an academic summary
Summary writing for academic purposes usually follows these steps.
1. Read the source material carefully several times to understand the central idea and the main arguments
2. Write down on a separate piece of paper the central idea and the main arguments. (And the important supporting ideas, if necessary). Depending on your purposes, minor details and minor examples may be omitted or included between parentheses.
3. Write the summary according to the skeleton without referring to the source material.
4. Check the summary against the source material to ensure that all the main points are included for your purpose, removing at the same time any unintended direct quotation or character words. If certain key words are needed, use quotation marks to so indicate.
5. Control the length of the summary. Although the length is flexible according to the occasion, a summary is usually less than 200 words. For very long source material (over 10,000 words, for example), the summary may still be as short as a few hundred words.
6. Mention the source of the material in the text of the summary, or note it at end of the summary.
Salaries Rise in Line with Fees
By George Will
Education Weekly
December 15, 2001
Students are borrowing more money to finance college education compared with 10 years ago, but when they graduate, their loan payments are taking up a smaller percentage of the salaries.
One-half of all graduates borrow money, according to figures from the US Department of Education, up from 34% in 1990. The average debt for recent graduates is $9,800, up from $ 6,000 in 1990.
The government has been deliberately shifting the emphasis from grants to loans, and more students have been forced to take out loans because of rising fees.
“College students are borrowing more than they did 10 years ago to pay for rising college tuition,” said Acting Secretary of Education Ted Sanders. “But when you take earning into account, debt should not be a hardship for most graduates.” (129 words)
Summary version
According to George Will (“Salaries Rise in Line with Fees,” Education Weekly, December 15, 2001), more students (50%) are taking out loans to finance college education than in 1990 (34%) due to rising fees. However, when earnings are taken into account, the debts should not be a hardship for the majority of graduates. (53 words)
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