Using Sources

• Use sources as the backup singers -- you are the LEAD SINGER

• Choose reliable source material

• Select sources that BEST fit the argument or point you are making

3 Ways to Incorporate Sources

• Summarize

• Paraphrase

• Quote

Summarize

• Use your own voice and words

• Condense material -- leave out minor details.

• Give credit to your source in text or parenthetically.

You do not need to quote or change:

• Names (George Bush, Michael Jordan)

• Geographical Locations (Elgin High, Maine, New Hampshire, USA)

• Date and Figures (Dec. 1, 2004, 146,795)

• Key Terms (Democrat, Republican, Title IX)

The Focused Summary

• Focuses on a specific question or issue --yours or an instructor’s

• Condenses helpful information from throughout the source

• Uses a topic sentence

• Uses specific detail

• Uses ONLY your words -- no quotations

Use Transitions and Signals

Words to signal critical thinking

• Make your logic transparent

• Use frequently• Use correctly! • See list in HP

Terms of qualification• Indicate your level

of comfort with the source and your interpretation of it

• Indicate levels of doubt expressed or suggested in the source

• See list in HP

Signal & Transition Examples

Brady clearly believes that the mainarea of concern over Title IX today isathletics.

Obviously, Title IX is not a perfect concept.Undoubtedly, as Kerryann Cook suggests,the fact that, to date, not one school haslost funding as a result of Title IX decreasesthe law’s effectiveness.

REMEMBER:

• YOU MUST GIVE CREDIT EVERY TIME YOU SUMMARIZE A SOURCE

• ACCORDING TO ________. . . • _________ SAYS . . . • ________ SUGGESTS . . . • _________ INDICATES . . . .

Sample Focused Summary:

Another great benefit to Title IX is that students are treatedmore fairly in public schools. As stated in “AchievingSuccess Under Title IX,” Title IX has played a large role inimproving attitudes, assumptions, behaviors, and overallunderstanding of how discrimination against one specificsex can limit educational opportunities for all. Forexample, the dropout rate is decreasing as a result of newlaws that deny schools the right to suspend, expel, ordiscriminate against students (like teenage mothers) ineducational programs and activities.

Use a Topic Sentence

Credit the Source

Briefly state the point

Sample Focused Summary:

Use a Topic Sentence

Qualify the source

Credit the Source

Female athletes who finished school before the passage of Title IX have recognized the positive effects that Title IX has had on the female athletes. One example would be Mary Jo Kane, a fifty-year-old sports sociology teacher, who as a child loved to play sports. Kane would play football, basketball, and baseball with her brothers, but she was not given the opportunity to play anything, except for golf, in high school. According to Lynch, Kane is impressed by Title IX’s success in making women’s sports

possible.

Focused Summary Check List

Topic Sentence – restate thequestion

Source Reference– in text notparenthetical

Completeness and accuracy Student voice Transitions and clear wording Accurate spelling and punctuation