Introducing summaries and paraphrases (MLA)
MLA-29
Introduce most summaries and paraphrases with a signal phrase that names the author and places the material in the context of your argument. Readers will then understand that everything between the signal phrase and the parenthetical citation summarizes or paraphrases the cited source.
I CHANGED TEXT HERE AND DELETED A PARAGRAPH BELOW., when in fact the whole paragraph is based on the source.
There are times when a summary or a paraphrase does not require a signal phrase naming the author. When the context makes clear where the cited material begins, you may omit the signal phrase and include the author’s last name in parentheses.
- When the ideas and information are important, but the author’s exact words are not necessary or expressive
- When you want to restate the source’s ideas in your own words
- When you need to simplify and explain a technical or complicated source
- When you need to reorder a source’s ideas
- When a passage is lengthy and you want to condense a chapter to a short paragraph or a paragraph to a single sentence
MLA-30
When you want to state the source’s main ideas simply and briefly in your own words- When you want to compare or contrast arguments or ideas from various sources
- When you want to provide readers with an understanding of the source’s argument before you respond to it or launch your own