blog post no. 8

In chapter seven in the Bedford Book of Genres, the chapter goes over how to properly summarize, quote, paraphrase, and cite a work used in a paper or presentation. There is a section in the chapter where they analyze a student’s use of speeches by Mahatma Gandhi. The student, Paul, decides to use a direct quotation and uses a proper lead in to the quote and a proper citation. This is always helpful I believe, and I think one of the easiest ways to cite a source. There’s no question about whether or not you are plagiarizing if you have direct quotes from the person you are taking the information from.

However, an entire paper cannot be in someone else’s words, that much is obvious. The chapter goes on to identify other ways to cite a source in writing, such as paraphrasing and summarizing, which are what you do when you don’t want to quote directly, or if you just want to get information across. They also made a point that I thought was very important: “you want your tone to dominate.” Since it is your paper, it should be mostly your voice and your own flow. I tend to take after whoever I am sourcing on accident, which can be problematic because the I am not really saying anything, I am just emphasizing what someone else has already said.