Plagiarism, Parenthetical Documentation

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Plagiarism, Parenthetical Documentation
Literary Present Tense
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Why Cite Sources?

• Help others find sources
• Avoid plagiarism
• What is plagiarism?
• intellectual theft

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What needs to be cited?

• Direct quotes
• Paraphrases (rephrased or summarized material)
• What doesnt need to be cited?
• Proverbs, axioms, and sayings
• Common knowledge

Universally recognized truths ExampleThe
whole is greater than the part.
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Paraphrasing

• Do not copy from the source word-for-word.
• Enclose borrowed language in quotation marks.
• Do not borrow sentence structure.
• Do not plug in synonyms.
• Simply changing a word or two and switching the
  order of phrases is not acceptable.
• A paraphrase must be in the writers own words.

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• ORIGINAL SOURCE
• Half the force holding Fort Pillow were Negroes,
  former slaves now enrolled in the Union Army.
  Toward them Forrests troops had the fierce,
  bitter animosity of men who had been educated to
  regard the colored race as inferior and who for
  the first time had encountered that race armed
  and fighting against white men.
• From pgs. 46-47 of The Fort Pillow Massacre, a
  scholarly article by Albert Castel.

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• SAMPLE
• Albert Castel notes that 50 percent of the Union
  troops holding Fort Pillow were former slaves.
  Toward them Forrests soldiers displayed the
  savage hatred of men who had been taught to view
  blacks as inferior and who for the first time had
  encountered them armed and fighting against white
  men (46-47).

Although the source is correctly documented with
an MLA in-text citation, the second sentence
paraphrases the original source far too closely.
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• ORIGINAL SOURCEApart from the fact that music
  accounts for much of the power of Hindi
  movies,creating a heightened mood , the film
  song spreads out from cinema to permeate many
  other areas of Indian society. From pg. 41 of
  Playback Time A Brief History of Bollywood
  Film Songs, an article in Film Comment by
  Nasreen Munni Kabir

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SAMPLEIn India, film music creates a heightened
mood that accounts for a great deal of the power
of Hindi movies, says Nasreen Munni Kabir (41).
The writer has paraphrased too closely by only
changing a few words and switching order of
phrases. A paraphrase should be in the writers
own words.
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• ORIGINAL SOURCEApart from the fact that music
  accounts for much of the power of Hindi movies,
  the film song spreads out from cinema to permeate
  many other areas of Indian society. From pg. 41
  of Playback Time A Brief History of Bollywood
  Film Songs, an article in Film Comment by
  Nasreen Munni Kabir

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SAMPLENasreen Munni Kabir argues that the film
songs disseminate from the movies to pervade
several other aspects of Indian life (41).
The writer has paraphrased the source too closely
by borrowing the sentence structure of the
original and then plugging in synonyms.
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MLA Citations
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• Alice Stone Blackwell argues that every
  improvement in the condition of women thus far
  has been secured not by a general demand from the
  majority of women, but the argument of a
  persistent few (30).

Signal phrase names the author of the quotation
to follow Page number given in parentheses
Period placed after parentheses
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• Before he dies, Unoka warns Okonkwo, Do not
  despairIt is more difficult and more bitter when
  a man fails alone (Achebe 21).

Signal phrase names the speaker in dialogue
Author name and page number given in parentheses
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• Before he dies, Unoka warns Okonkwo, Do not
  despairIt is more difficult and more bitter when
  a man fails alone (Achebe 21).

Dialogue enclosed in single quotation marks
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• Before he dies, Unoka warns Okonkwo, Do not
  despairIt is more difficult and more bitter when
  a man fails alone (Achebe 21).

Ellipses used when unnecessary words are cut
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• Obierika points out the impossibility of the
  colonialists understanding anything about the
  Umuofians without speaking their language, How
  can he when he does not even speak our tongue?
  (151).

If a question mark or exclamation point is part
of the quotation, leave in the quoted text.
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• Chinua Achebe alludes to the poem The Second
  Coming in the title Things Fall Apart
• Things fall apart the centre cannot
  hold Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world
• The best lack all conviction, while the
  worst Are full of passionate intensity. (185)

Block citation is used for four or more lines and
set off from the text quotation marks are omitted
Period before parenthetical documentation
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MLA Conventions

• Double spaced
• White 81/2- by 11-inch paper
• 1 inch margins
• Heading

Last Name page Name Teacher Class
Name Day Month Year Title Centered
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• Literary present
• The idea that fiction exists in a timeless world
  properly described in the present tense

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Literary Present Tense

• Use the present tense when discussing fictional
  events.
• Example
• In Things Fall Apart, Achebe shows the dynamics
  between the individual and society.

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Historical Events

• Use past tense when writing about a certain
  historical events.
• Example
• Chinua Achebe wroteThings Fall Apart in 1959.

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Present and Past

• Sometimes you must use both present and past
  tense in a sentence.
• Example
• Things Fall Apart, which Achebe wrote in 1959,
  shows the dynamics between the individual and
  society.
• USE CAREFULLY!

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Works Cited

• Last, First. Title of Book. Place of Publication
  Publisher, Date of Publication.
• Example
• Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New
  York Bantam Classics, 1981.

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Works Cited

• Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart with
  Connections.Austin Harcourt School, 1999.
• Blackwell, Alice Stone. Opposition of Women.
  Oppositions answered. New York National American
  woman suffrage association, 1913. Votes for
  Women Selections from the National American
  Woman Suffrage Association Collection, 1848-1921
  lthttp//memory.loc.gov/ammen/naw/nawshome.htmlgt
• Hacker, Diana. "Research Exercises."
  Dianahacker.Com. 2 Nov. 2006 lthttp//www.dianahack
  er.com/writersref/gt.

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• Hunter, Judy. "Grinnell College Guide to Verb
  Tenses." Grinnell College Writing Lab. 15 June
  2000. Grinnell College. 7 Nov. 2006
  lthttp//web.grinnell.edu/WritingLab/WritingForum/
• GrammarandSyntax/verbtenses296.htmlgt.
• "Revelle Humanities--the Literary Present."
  University of California, San Diego. University
  of California, San Diego. 7 Nov. 2006
  lthttp//humanities.ucsd.edu/writing/workshop/
• present.htmgt.