Integrating Textual Evidence into
Your Writing
Miss Kerber
English 3 CP

THE ART OF SUMMARIZING

Mapping Your Claims
• Your claims are better understood when they’re presented relative to others’ claims.
• A good summary balances what the original author stated with what the writer says.
(writer = you)
– You should present what the source or article argues.
– You should maintain your own voice and argument/position/analysis (depends upon the type of writing)

A Good Summary
• Goes back to the source, examines the author’s argument and point of view, and does not confuse that with the writer’s own beliefs.
• Focuses the summary of the author’s argument to fit into the writer’s agenda, while remaining true to the original text. i.e. You choose carefully what you write and how you word it.
• The summary must fit into your agenda.

Templates for Introducing
Summaries and Quotations
• She advocates a radical revision of the juvenile justice system.
• They celebrate the fact that ______________.
• ____________________, he admits.

Verbs for Introducing Summaries and Quotations
• Verbs for Making a Claim
– argue
– assert
– believe
– claim
– emphasize
– insist
– observe
– remind us
– report
– suggest

Verbs for Introducing Summaries and Quotations
• Verbs for Expressing Agreement
– acknowledge
– admire
– agree
– concur
– endorse
– extol
– praise

Verbs for Introducing Summaries and Quotations
• Verbs for Expressing Agreement
– celebrate(s) the fact that
– corroborate
– do/does not deny
– reaffirm
– support
– verify

Verbs for Introducing Summaries and Quotations
• Verbs for Questioning and Disagreeing
– complain
– complicate
– contend
– contradict
– deny
– deplore the tendency to
– qualify
– question
– refute
– reject
– renounce
– repudiate

Verbs for Introducing Summaries and Quotations
• Verbs for Making Recommendations
– advocate
– call for
– demand
– encourage
– exhort
– implore
– plead
– recommend
– urge
– warn

THE ART OF QUOTING

Why Quote?
• to give credibility to your summary
• to help ensure your summary is fair and accurate
• to give proof of evidence for your position

Quotations are Orphans
• They’ve been taken out of their original context and need to be integration.
– Choose wisely- how well does your quotation support this particular part of your text?
– Frame them- surround quotes by explaining whose words they are, what the quotation means, and how the quotation relates to your text
– Connect them to what you say- don’t leave quotations hanging without explanation or purpose

Quote Relevant Passages
• Make sure the quotes support your argument.
• The reader will notice inappropriate quotations.
• Keep in mind that as you develop your argument (i.e. compose your paper) you may need to find different, more appropriate quotations.
• There should be back and forth between your own argument and the quotations you select.

Frame Every Quotation
• Quotations do not speak for themselves.
• Make a quote sandwich!
Introduce the quote
.
Provide the quote.
Explain the quote.

Templates for Introducing
Quotations
• X states, “not all steroids should be banned from sports.”
• As the prominent philosopher X puts it, “____.”
• According to X “______.”
• In her book, _____, X maintains that “_____.”
• Writing in the journal Commentary, X complains that
“_____.”
• In X’s view “_____.”
• X agrees when she writes, “_____.”
• X disagrees when he writes, “_____.”
• X complicates matters further when she writes, “_____.”

Templates for Explaining
Quotations
• In other words, X believes _____.
• In making this comment, X urges us to _____.
• X is corroborating the age-old adage that
_____.
• X’s point is that _____.
• The essence of X’s argument is that _____.

Ways to Avoid
Introducing Quotations
• “Orwell asserts an idea that”
– This is redundant. Avoid being verbose.
• “A quote by Shakespeare says”
– This is misleading, the writer (you) is the one doing the quoting, not Shakespeare.