- In a paragraph summarizing the views of an
author, state the name of the author in the first
sentence. Also state the title of the piece you
are summarizing. For instance:
According to Margo Gonzalez in "Reasons
Kids Join Gangs," teenagers join gangs in order to
establish a sense of identity.
or
In "Reasons Kids Join Gangs," Margo
Gonzalez says teenagers join gangs in order to
establish a sense of identity.
- Throughout the paragraph, keep repeating the
name of the author as often as needed to keep it
clear that the author's ideas are not YOUR ideas.
Use only the author's last name for subsequent
references. For example:
In "Reasons Kids Join Gangs," Margo
Gonzalez says teenagers join gangs in order to
establish a sense of identity. Gonzalez also says
teenagers often fail to establish an identity that
is acceptable to the community at large.
- Place article titles in quotation marks (see
the MLA Handbook, p. 76).
- When you are summarizing the ideas of an
author, you are reporting them in your own words.
This is called paraphrasing. No quotation marks
are needed. Use quotation marks only when you are
quoting verbatim (word-for-word) the words of an
author. NOTE: For this assignment, you are asked
NOT to quote directly the words of an author, just
to summarize the author's ideas.
- For this assignment, you do not need
parenthetical references, just a Works Cited page.
You will learn more about parenthetical references
later in the semester, before you write the first
version of your research paper.
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