Using and Integrating Sources
and Proper Citation
In order to use a source properly and
avoid plagiarism, you must perform
three different stages of integration.
Stage One. Attribution
• At the point where you first begin to use another
author’s ideas (whether through quotation or
paraphrasing), you must attribute those ideas
directly to the author. For example:
In Comic Book Nation, Bradford Wright suggests,…
The first attribution you make for a
specific author should contain the
name of the author's work. However,
you must continue to use other
attributions for as long as you are
discussing that author's ideas - even
when you are paraphrasing.
Wright claims (insists, argues,
maintains, believes, etc.) . . .
According to W right . . .
Stage Two. Citation
• After you have introduced the author's ideas
with an attribution, you must tell the reader
where you found those ideas. To do this,
you must provide a page number citation.
This is called parenthetical documentation.
In Comic Book Nation, Bradford
Wright suggests, Òonce confident
symbols of hope, superheroes now
spoke to the paranoia and
psychosis lurking behind the rosy
veneer of ReaganÕsAmericaÓ
(266).
The attribution and the citation work
together to help separate your ideas
from the ideas of another author. In
other words, all of the information
that comes between the citation and
the attribution "belongs" to the
attributed author.
Frank Miller’s Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
has been called the most important superhero
comic since the first issue of Superman. Miller’s
comic is certainly one of the most important
comics of the mid-1980s deconstruction of the
superhero. Bradford Wright claims, “once
confident symbols of hope, superheroes now
spoke to the paranoia and psychosis lurking
behind the rosy veneer of Reagan’s America”
(266). Miller’s Dark Knight serves as one of the
first and most influential examples of this trend.
Stage Three. Bibliography
• The bibliography completes the process of telling
your reader where you found your information.
This happens at the end of your paper and is called
(under the MLA format, which we are using) the
"works cited" page. For each author whom you
discuss in your paper, you must provide a
bibliographic citation. If you have multiple
authors, you should list them in alphabetical order.
Works Cited
Brown, Jeffrey A. Black Superheroes,
Milestone Comics, and Their Fans.
Jackson: University of Mississippi Press,
2001.
Wright, Bradford W. Comic Book Nation:
The Transformation of Youth Culture in
America. Baltimore and London: The
Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003.
Frank Mille rÕsBatman: The Dark Knight Returns has been called
the most important superhero comic since the first issue of
Superman. Mille rÕscomic is certainly one of the most impo rtant
comics of the mid-1980s deconstruction of the superhero.
Bradford Wright claims, Òonce confident symbols of hope,
superheroes now spoke to the paranoia and psychosis lurking
behind the rosy veneer of ReaganÕsAmericaÓ(266). MillerÕs Dark
Knight serves as one of the first and most influential examples of
this trend. Wright suggests that MillerÕscomics were popular both
for their thematic content and the strength of his storytelling (266).
According to Wright, MillerÕs revision of Bat man also
sparked a major resurgence in BatmanÕspopula rity that
peaked several years later with the release of Warner
BrothersÕenormously successful Batman movie , directed by
Tim Burton and starring Kichael Keaton and Jack Nickolson.
(266)
Indeed, one could claim that the popularity of MillerÕscreation i s
also partially responsible for the continued t ransition of the
superhero from page to screen exemplified in recent films such as
Spider-Man and The Hulk.