Citing Textual Evidence
you can choose DIRECT QUOTATIONS or PARAPHRASING
Prove It with Text Evidence
- because the text states...
- For instance, in the text...
- The author stated...
- Within the reading, I found...
- In paragraph _____ of the text....
Verbs for Citing Sources
In academic writing, you will want to project objectivity, distance and detachment instead of emotional subjectivity. Thus, you need to avoid citing published sources using the verbs that you normally use in conversation such as:
believe feel hear like listen love think try suppose want wonder
Verbs that will help you project this objectivity and will help your answer and/or argument appear stronger. When you choose a verb, pay attention to
- the author &his/her purpose,
- how you determined your evidence.
Good choices include:
compare observe determine distinguish identify prove comments concludes
explains indicates notes remarks states emphasizes illustrates points out
proposes shows suggests confirm establish maintain denies describes details
RACES-text evidence writing
A answer the question
C cite specific evidence
E explain the significance (so what?)
S sum it up
Tips for paraphrasing/Put it in your own words
2. Guess and check the meaning of unfamiliar language or words
3. Think about your quote and try to summarize it in a sentence
4. Read for general understanding of a text
When to Quote/When to Paraphrase
- provide indisputable evidence
- communicate an idea state in a unique way
- provide direct evidence of an author's claim
- support information you've already cited form a source
- provide a definition for a term or phrase
When to Paraphrase: Paraphrasing provides an author the opportunity to tailor the passage for the purpose of his or her own essay, which cannot always be done when using a direct quote. If your quote is over three lines, you need to paraphrase! Paraphrase when:
- you need to simply a hard-to-understand passage
- maintain the flow of writing
- eliminate less relevant information
- communicate relevant statistics or data