How to Get Started
with the paper…
American Literature
Start with a 3 part thesis…
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For your topic, brainstorm 3 things you would
like to discuss.
Example:
Mrs. Tucker’s American Dream is to marry Brad
Pitt, work for a weather station, and see her niece
and nephew graduate college.
 Make sure you incorporate the main element of your
topic: sacrifice, definition of the American Dream,
or obstacles. Use the organizer to help you.
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Once you have your topic, you need
to find articles to include for extra
support…
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Go to MackinVIA (Cobb digital Library)
Type in your ID # and the password “read”
Type in GALE in to the search engine.
Go to Opposing Viewpoints or Literature
Resource or Student Resources in Context
Type in The American Dream
Choose an article
www.MackinVIA.com
The Lead-in…
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Integration of Quoted Material
Always use correct lead-ins for direct quotes
 Never drop a quotation into a sentence or a
paragraph without proper lead-in.
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Do this:
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Agee points out that “many teachers believe
rules stifle spontaneity,” resulting in a deemphasis in the instruction of grammar in the
modern classroom (10).
Never Do This: There has been a de-emphasis
of grammar instruction in the modern
classroom. “Many teachers believe rules stifle
spontaneity” (Agee 10).

Styles of Lead-ins
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Somebody says
Punctuate as dialogue
 Quote must be a complete sentence
 Use a comma
 Vary synonyms for “says”
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Somebody Says
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Jane Agee comments, “Many students who
would not have attempted college seven years
ago are now coming into state universities
through junior colleges” (10).
Types of Lead-ins continued
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Sentence:
Make sure both are complete, correct sentences
 Begin quote with a capital letter
 Use a colon to separate
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Sentence:
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Agee insists that English instruction on the
college level will not improve until educators
become realistic: “Public school teachers need to
sit down and evaluate the situation” (12).
Types of Lead-ins continued
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Blended
Make the quotation a grammatical part of your
sentence
 Do not use a comma or capital letter unless it would
be called for by the structure of the sentence
 Do not use ellipses at the beginning or end
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Blended
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State universities are now providing “special
remedial programs” in which students who do
not meet the “entrance requirements are
admitted on probation” (Agee 13).
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Note: Do not use the author’s name as a possessive and
then make reference with a personal pronoun.
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Do this:
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In The Grapes of Wrath Steinbeck comments,
“There grew up governments in the world, with
leaders, with elders” (269).
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Never do this:
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In Steinbeck’s novel, he says, “There grew up
governments in the world, with leaders, with
elders” (269).
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Practice
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Using a quote from a book (any book, but not
dialogue) write three lead ins using:
Somebody says
 Sentence
 Blended
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Compare with partner
Share with class
For your paper…
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Each kind of lead in needs to be evident AT
LEAST once…
Said
 Sentence
 Blended
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Parenthetic Documentation
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Material taken from an outside source is
referenced in parentheses in the text of the
paper.
These references are called parenthetical
documentation.
•Whenever paraphrasing or quoting, identify
in parentheses the author and page
number(s) of the source (if book).
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Example 1:
This comedy has been highly acclaimed by
literary critics: “Twelfth Night is the most nearly
perfect festive comedy that Shakespeare wrote”
(Schwartz 509).
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•If no author or editor is given, use the title
and page number(s).
Example 2:
Twelfth Night has more playfulness than any
other of Shakespeare’s comedies (“Analyzing
Humorous Plays” 6).
Punctuation Reminders
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•Place commas and periods inside quotation
marks.
•Place semicolons and colons outside quotation
marks.
•Place question marks and exclamation marks
inside quotation marks when they are part of the
quote; place them outside the quotation marks if
they are part of your sentence.
•
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The author’s name MUST be either in the
lead-in or in the parenthetical
documentation, but never in both.
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Schwartz contends, “Twelfth Night is the most
nearly perfect festive comedy that Shakespeare
wrote” (509).
or
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One critic contends that “Twelfth Night is the
most nearly perfect festive comedy that
Shakespeare wrote” (Schwartz 509).
Guidelines
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1. Use parenthetical documentation to lead the
reader to the exact page cited.
2. Match exactly the documented sources in
the research paper to the sources listed on the
Works Cited page.
3. Place the parenthetical documentation as
close as possible to the information it
documents, usually at the end of a sentence.
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4. Place parenthetical documentation before the
comma or period.
5. Use transitional expressions to link several
paraphrased sentences from the same source so
the flow of the paragraph is not interrupted by
excessive parenthetical documentation.
6. Place the parenthetical documentation
between the closing quotation marks and the
end punctuation if a direct quotation occurs at
the end of a sentence.
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Example:
G. K. Hunter regards “the song as an extended
comment on the central ideas of the play” (100).
Note: For three-digit page numbers in parenthetical
documentation, give only the last two digits of the second
number unless more are necessary, for example 210-11
or 395-401.
Practice (lead in and parenthetic)

Page
170
Author
Homer Rice
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205
Bill Curry
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17
Grant Teaff
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Quote
Leadership itself is a
worthy subject of study.
Our inner computer can
be programmed for
positive or negative.
A true positive leader
brings people together
for a common goal.
Block Quotations:
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Sometimes the author says it better than you
can. If you have a quote that is more that 4 lines
after it is typed, you need to create a block
quote. Block quotes:
Every line is indented
 They DO NOT have quotation marks around them
 The period comes before the parenthetical citation,
not after.
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Block Quotations:
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Example:
Nelly Dean treats Heathcliff poorly and dehumanizes him throughout her
narration:
They entirely refused to have it in bed with them, or even in their room,
and I had no more sense, so, I put it on the landing of the stairs, hoping
it would be gone on the morrow. By chance, or else attracted by hearing
his voice, it crept to Mr. Earnshaw's door, and there he found it on
quitting his chamber. Inquiries were made as to how it got there; I was
obliged to confess, and in recompense for my cowardice and
inhumanity was sent out of the house. (Bronte 78)
Your research paper:
One
of your quotes needs to
be a block quote. You only
need 1. If there is not enough
room on the outline, please
indicate which quote you
intend to block.
Reminder…
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Quotes from Novella
Quotes from Critical Viewpoints (TBD)
Quotes from 3 articles
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One of the 3 may be from an article we read in class
***5 sources TOTAL need to be evident in your paper
and cited on your works cited page.