17f Take notes and annotate sources.

Note-taking methods vary greatly from one researcher to another, so you may decide to use a computer file, a notebook, or index cards. Regardless of the method, however, you should (1) record enough information to help you recall the major points of the source; (2) put the information in the form in which you are most likely to incorporate it into your research essay, whether a summary, a paraphrase, or a quotation; and (3) note all the information you will need to cite the source accurately. The following example shows the major items a note should include:

ELEMENTS OF AN ACCURATE NOTE

image
image Use a subject heading. Label each note with a brief but descriptive subject heading so that you can group similar subtopics together.
image Identify the source. List the author’s name and a shortened title of the source, and a page number, if available. Your working-bibliography entry (17b) for the source will contain the full bibliographic information, so you don’t need to repeat it in each note.
image Indicate whether the note is a direct quotation, paraphrase, or summary. Make sure quotations are copied accurately. Put square brackets around any change you make, and use ellipses if you omit material.

Taking complete notes will help you digest the source information as you read and incorporate the material into your text without inadvertently plagiarizing the source (see Chapter 18). Be sure to reread each note carefully, and recheck it against the source to make sure quotations, statistics, and specific facts are accurate.

Quoting

Some of the notes you take will contain quotations, which give the exact words of a source. Here, for example, is a note with a quotation that David Craig planned to use in his research paper:

QUOTATION NOTE

image
image Subject heading
image Author and short title of source (no page number for electronic source)
image Direct quotation

Guidelines for Taking Notes

AT A GLANCE

  • Copy quotations carefully, with punctuation, capitalization, and spelling exactly as in the original.
  • Enclose the quotation in quotation marks; don’t rely on your memory to distinguish your own words from those of the source.
  • Use square brackets if you introduce words of your own into a quotation or make changes in it, and use ellipses if you omit material. If you later incorporate the quotation into your essay, copy it faithfully—brackets, ellipses, and all. (44b)
  • Record the author’s name, the shortened title, and the page number(s) on which the quotation appears. If the note refers to more than one page, use a slash (/) within the quotation to indicate where one page ends and another begins. For sources without page numbers, record the paragraph or other section number(s), if any.
  • Make sure you have a corresponding working-bibliography entry with complete source information. (17b)
  • Label the note with a subject heading, and identify it as a quotation.

Paraphrasing

A paraphrase accurately states all the relevant information from a passage in your own words and sentence structures, without any additional comments or elaborations. A paraphrase is useful when the main points of a passage, their order, and at least some details are important but—unlike passages worth quoting—the particular wording is not. Unlike a summary, a paraphrase always restates all the main points of a passage in the same order and often in about the same number of words.

ORIGINAL

Language play, the arguments suggest, will help the development of pronunciation ability through its focus on the properties of sounds and sound contrasts, such as rhyming. Playing with word endings and decoding the syntax of riddles will help the acquisition of grammar. Readiness to play with words and names, to exchange puns and to engage in nonsense talk, promotes links with semantic development. The kinds of dialogue interaction illustrated above are likely to have consequences for the development of conversational skills. And language play, by its nature, also contributes greatly to what in recent years has been called metalinguistic awareness, which is turning out to be of critical importance in the development of language skills in general and of literacy skills in particular.

– David Crystal, Language Play (180)

UNACCEPTABLE PARAPHRASE: STRAYING FROM THE AUTHOR’S IDEAS

Crystal argues that playing with language—creating rhymes, figuring out how riddles work, making puns, playing with names, using invented words, and so on—helps children figure out a great deal about language, from the basics of pronunciation and grammar to how to carry on a conversation. Increasing their understanding of how language works in turn helps them become more interested in learning new languages and in pursuing education (180).

This paraphrase starts off well enough, but it moves away from paraphrasing the original to inserting the writer’s ideas; Crystal says nothing about learning new languages or pursuing education.

UNACCEPTABLE PARAPHRASE: USING THE AUTHOR’S WORDS

Crystal suggests that language play, including rhyme, helps children improve pronunciation ability, that looking at word endings and decoding the syntax of riddles allows them to understand grammar, and that other kinds of dialogue interaction teach conversation. Overall, language play may be of critical importance in the development of language and literacy skills (180).

Because the highlighted phrases are either borrowed from the original without quotation marks or changed only superficially, this paraphrase plagiarizes.

UNACCEPTABLE PARAPHRASE: USING THE AUTHOR’S SENTENCE STRUCTURES

Language play, Crystal suggests, will improve pronunciation by zeroing in on sounds such as rhymes. Having fun with word endings and analyzing riddle structure will help a person acquire grammar. Being prepared to play with language, to use puns and talk nonsense, improves the ability to use semantics. These playful methods of communication are likely to influence a person’s ability to talk to others. And language play inherently adds enormously to what has recently been known as metalinguistic awareness, a concept of great magnitude in developing speech abilities generally and literacy abilities particularly (180).

Here is a paraphrase of the same passage that expresses the author’s ideas accurately and acceptably:

ACCEPTABLE PARAPHRASE: IN THE STUDENT WRITER’S OWN WORDS

Crystal argues that playing with language—creating rhymes, figuring out riddles, making puns, playing with names, using invented words, and so on—helps children figure out a great deal, from the basics of pronunciation and grammar to how to carry on a conversation. This kind of play allows children to understand the overall concept of how language works, a concept that is key to learning to use—and read—language effectively (180).

Guidelines for Paraphrasing

AT A GLANCE

  • Include all main points and any important details from the original source, in the same order in which the author presents them.
  • State the meaning in your own words and sentence structures. If you want to include especially memorable language from the original, enclose it in quotation marks.
  • Save your comments, elaborations, or reactions on another note.
  • Record the author’s name, the shortened title, and the page number(s) on which the original material appears. For sources without page numbers, record the paragraph, screen, or other section number(s), if any.
  • Make sure you have a corresponding working-bibliography entry with complete source information. (17b)
  • Label the note with a subject heading, and identify it as a paraphrase.

Summarizing

A summary is a significantly shortened version of a passage or even of a whole chapter or work that captures main ideas in your own words. Unlike a paraphrase, a summary uses just enough information to record the main points you wish to emphasize. To summarize a short passage, read it carefully and, without looking at the text, write a one- or two-sentence summary. On p. 222 is David Craig’s note recording a summary of the Crystal passage on p. 220. Notice that it states the author’s main points selectively—and without using his words.

SUMMARY NOTE

image
image Subject heading
image Author, title, page reference
image Summary of source

For a long passage or an entire chapter, skim the headings and topic sentences, and make notes of each; then write your summary in a paragraph or two. For a whole book, you may want to refer to the preface and introduction as well as chapter titles, headings, and topic sentences—and your summary may take a page or more.

Guidelines for Summarizing

AT A GLANCE

  • Include just enough information to recount the main points you want to cite. A summary is usually far shorter than the original.
  • Use your own words. If you include any language from the original, enclose it in quotation marks.
  • Record the author, shortened title, and page number(s) on which the original material appeared. For sources without page numbers, record the paragraph, screen, or other section number(s), if any.
  • Make sure you have a corresponding working-bibliography entry with complete source information. (17b)
  • Label the note with a subject heading, and identify it as a summary.

Identifying Sources

FOR MULTILINGUAL WRITERS

While some language communities and cultures expect audiences to recognize the sources of important documents and texts, thereby eliminating the need to cite them directly, conventions for writing in North America call for careful attribution of any quoted, paraphrased, or summarized material. When in doubt, explicitly identify your sources.

Annotating sources

Sometimes you may photocopy or print out a source you intend to use. In such cases, you can annotate the photocopies or printouts with your thoughts and questions and highlight interesting quotations and key terms.

You can copy online sources electronically, paste them into a computer file, and annotate them there. Try not to rely too heavily on copying or printing out whole pieces, however; you still need to read the material very carefully. And resist the temptation to treat copied material as notes, an action that could lead to inadvertent plagiarizing. (In a computer file, using a different color for text pasted from a source will help prevent this problem.)