Martire 1

Alessandra Martire

Prof. Bennet

ENGL 121: 8:00 A.M.

3 Nov. 2024

NFG Notes

Chapter 12 - Reporting Information

• eg. Renae Tingling, “Sleepless Night of a University Student”

• introduces the topic, makes a personal connection to that topic, thesis is presented as a ques-

tion that her report will answer, information is accurate and well-researched, information is

gathered from several sources, explanation of process(es), causes and effects, includes her

own study conducted, her own experiences and perspectives, concludes with a summary of

research and its implications on the audience

Key Features of Reports

• tightly focused topic

• informative, presented evenhandedly and unbiased

• avoid personal opinions

• accurate, well-researched information

• internet research, library research and scholarly sources, field research (surveys, observa-

tions, studies)

• synthesis of ideas

• reports usually use multiple sources and make connections between them
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• wide variety of sources is beneficial

• various writing strategies

• organize patterns—define, compare, classify, explain, cause+effect

• clear definitions

• clarify terms audience may not know (in words that they do understand)

• appropriate design

• lists, tables, diagrams, illustrations

• videos, audio clips

• links to other sources and information

A Guide to Writing Reports

Choosing a Topic

• if you can choose

• topic that interested you or wish to know more about

• topic should be engaging for you

• academic, personal interests, or both

• can phrase topic as a question the essay will answer

• if topic is assigned

• focus on a limited topic within the larger topic

• decide how to research, narrow topic to git personal interests and of audience

Rhetorical situation

• purpose: why are you presenting the information?

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• audience: who will read and what do they already know? Want to know more about? Back-

ground information/definitions?

• stance: attitude to subject, interesting/important to you

• media/design: what is best way to present information?

Generating Ideas and Text

• explore what is already know by prewriting (free writing, listing, clustering, outlining, brain-

storming)

• narrow the topic by looking at the topic as a whole then focus on a certain aspect you are inter-

ested in/will be able to cover

• tentative thesis; explain what you plan to report/inform; presents topic as interesting and appro-

priately narrows it down

• do necessary research and revise thesis by outlining main points you want to discuss, create re-

search plan

Ways of Organizing a Report

• single or multiple structures

• if reader is unfamiliar with topic

exordium —> background and thesis —> describe topic and define key terms —>

compare/classify/c+e/process/etc. —> restate thesis to conclude

• on events/procedures

intro topic, background info, thesis —> 1st event —> 2nd event (repeat so on) —>

conclude with outcome and/or implications

• compare and contrast

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intro topic (same as above) —> description of item —> description of other item(s) —>

conclude and restate thesis

Writing a Draft

• complete draft in one sitting, focus on lots of detail

• can explain process, analyze effects, compare, etc.

• draft beginning—get reader interested

• state thesis, provide context for report, provoke reader’s interest, and/or begin with illustra-

tive example

• draft ending—create effective ending

• summarize main points, note implications of report, frame report by referring to introduction,

and/or tell what happened in event

• create title

• tell reader something about topic and leaves them wanting more

• informative and enticing

Matters of Design

• consider font, headings, lists/tables/figures/graphs, illustrations

• what does design do for report?

Getting Response and Revising

• peer reviews, constructive criticism

• ask questions that can improve and expand on report

• when revising, consider appeal to audience and overall purpose of report. Are these achieved?

Editing and Proofreading

• check key terms, repetition of key terms is more helpful than using synonyms
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• necessary transitions

• consistent headings

• illustrations have captions, other data have has headings (all are referred to in text)

• appropriate documentation

• proofread and spell-check carefully

Taking Stock of Work

• information is conveyed well and sufficiently

• how did writing strategies contribute to report?

• use of rhetorical situation and appeals

• process of researching, drafting

• synthesis of multiple sources

• use of media

• application of yourself to project

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Chapter 48 - Evaluating Sources

Considering if a Source is Useful

• consider the rhetorical situation (in particular purpose and audience)

• what kind of sources will accomplish purpose/audience find persuasive?

• look at particular evidence for the audience’s field

• relevant—to purpose, what it contributes to

• reliable—scholarly, peer-reviewed, reputable publisher, where you found it, fact-check, watch

for bias

• credentials: qualified author, expert, if audience finds author credible

• stance—various points or single one, suggested bias, consult various sources

• publisher/sponsor—credible author, fact-checked

• written level—easily understandable and authoritative for academics

• currency—last update, published, topics vary for currency or information

• cited in other works—regarded as trustable

• other useful info—lead to other sources, cited sources

• availability—interlibrary loan, accessibility

Fact-Checking Online Sources

• since many online sources are not fact-checked, you often find misleading information

• in the form of exaggerations, false news stories

• determine if information is false news (manipulation)

• fact-checking for accuracy

• what do other sites say about the source?

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• is there a reason to trust the publisher of this source

1. look up main claims—research its reliability based on other sites

2. investigate expertise and stance of author—is the author actually an expert? If not, do

not depend on source as authoritative evidence

3. who runs the site—research publisher

4. date of story and dates w/in story

5. take stock, use judgement—is source accurate and trustworthy, what response does it

provoke (avoid evidences with stance/bias)

Photos and Videos

• can be manipulated by editing programs, or only show one perspective

• reverse search by pasting the image url in google or tineye to show uses of the image

• videos can leave out crucial content, be edited or altered deceptively, and created with AI

• videos may just be presented with false information

• fact-check through other sites, or do your own analysis

Reading Sources with a Critical Eye

• look at sources with an open mind, but evaluate their arguments with a critical eye

• what does it argue? what reasons and evidence is given? what other viewpoints are dis-

cussed? how persuasive is it (how so)? what is author’s stance? what connections can be

made to other sources? what is the intended audience and purpose? how does it compare with

your own viewpoint?

Comparing Sources

• which source is more current?

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• which argument is more persuasive—consider claims, reasons, evidence, opposing arguments

• which is more authoritative—expert for authoritative than journalist

• appropriate stance—objectivity over subjectivity, avoid bias, be sure to present all sides, not

only your own

• which best fits your needs—the information you need, support your argument, provide useful

quotations and studies

• a good source shows that you’ve done the research—enhances credibility

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Chapter 49 - Synthesizing

• Synthesizing: bringing together material from multiple sources and using it to generate new in-

formation/perspectives; analyzing multiple sources

• what what the sources say to inspire what you have to say (basis for your own ideas)

Patterns and Connections

• find information on a topic and determine what will be useful in your writing; synthesize this

information to figure out your own arguments and provide support for them

• synthesizing groups similar information and looks for patterns to identify key points

• eg. different studies under one category, summary of research in conclusion

• Tips to identify patterns + connections:

• keep an open mind

• take good notes, include brief summary of each source, your own thoughts

• consider first reactions to lead you to other ideas

• think creatively, be playful

• what sources make strongest arguments/why? do certain themes/arguments show up in multi-

ple sources? what do I agree/disagree with? what data is the same among sources? what have I

learned/want to learn more about?

• consider rhetorical situation

Synthesizing Ideas Using Notes

• take notes so to examine multiple sources together

• what differences are there in views/arguments/themes/writing strategies?

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Synthesizing Information to Support Ideas

• depending on your purpose for writing, the way you support your ideas will change; always

synthesize to develop ideas about your topic and then support it

• in a report, your ideas will be communicated through the information you present in your writ-

ing, the sources you cite, and how you organize the information

• in an analysis, focus on themes, techniques, and patterns

• in an argument, sources must support your position

Entering the Conversation

• the more you understand your topic (concepts, interpretations, controversies), you’ll realize

there’s a larger conversation

• as you synthesize, you find your own place in the conversation and be able to enter it with your

own ideas

• your stance needs to be clear, show how supports relate to one another and your thesis
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Chapter 50 - Quoting, Paraphrasing, Summarizing

Taking Notes

• Write down useful information to be reminded of main points, and have a record of its source

• computer file, notecards, notebook—label information and its entry of where it comes from

(author, title, pages or url/doi

• take notes in my own words

• for quoting—enclose in quotations marks to accurately quote

• label notes with a number to identify source and heading—tie notes to a subject/point/element,

to match up in draft

Quote, Paraphrase, or Summarize

• quote when wording is worth repeating or best worded originally, when citing exact words of

author, when author challenges other view, or for emphasis of source

• paraphrase when when wording is not worth repeating but contain worthy details

• summarize longer passages with important main points, non-so-important details

• be sure to include a signal phrase to distinguish between the source’s material and your own

opinion/input

Quoting

• repeating the exact words of somebody else in your text

• can modify to omit details (ellipses) or fit smoothly into text (brackets)

• use signal phrases and enclosing quotation marks to distinguish quoted phrases from your

own material
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• incorporate short quotations

• MLA: 4 lines or less

• APA: less than 40 words

• for 3 lines of poetry, enclose them in text and show lines with slashes (one space on each

side of slash)

• for long quotations, set them off in blocks

• for MLA, quotations of five or more lines are set off by indenting (like a paragraph) for all

lines

• same for 4 or more lines of poetry

• indicate omissions with ellipses—remove any unnecessary words from a quote using three el-

lipsis marks w/ a space before first and after last (“here is . . . my quote”)

• if omitting a sentence, place a period before the ellipses (don’t distort meaning!)

• indicate additions/changes with brackets—add/change words to fit grammatically or make a

comments (“this quote is not a [real] quote”)

• use correct punctuation—may add punctuation to insert quote

• put periods and commas inside closing quotation marks unless there is parenthetical citation

(“This,” I said, “is an example quote” (20).)

• for long quotations, do not include quotation marks, period goes before documentation

• question marks and exclamation points go include marks if they are part of quote, outside

when they are not (punctuation that’s part of my own sentence always goes after documenta-

tion)

• colons and semicolons always go outside closing quotation marks if they are part of my mate-

rial
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Paraphrasing

• paraphrasing is restating information from a source using your own words and sentence struc-

tures; when material is important but original wording is not

• is usually the same length as original material

• be careful not to borrow too much of the original language, or only change it slightly

• do not follow the same sentence structure closely

• patch writing combines the copying of wording and structuring; copying from text, deleting

words, changing structures, or substituting different synonyms instead of original term

Guidelines for paraphrasing

use my own words and sentence structures as much as possible

introduce text that I paraphrase using signal phrases (like quotations)

put quotations marks around any of the original phrasing

indicate the source—document the ideas and information you include in the paraphrase

Summarizing

• summarizing is stating the main points in a source but in your own words

• a summary omits some details, and it is relatively brief

• can summarize a book in a sentence, or paragraphs (keeping in mind the main idea)

Guidelines for summarizing

include the main idea and leave out the unnecessary details—only include enough infor-

mation to give reader the main idea; always shorter than original

use your own words—use correct quotation if quoting original material

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indicate the source—ideas and information are not yours, use correct citation

Introducing Material with Signal Phrases

• must introduce quotations, paraphrases, and summaries to tell the reader whose material this is

• presents author and oftentimes credentials—who is making the assertion, why they have au-

thority to make assertion

• indicates everything between signal phrase and parenthetical citation comes from the source

• signal phrase names author, par. citation names page numbers (otherwise, both in par. cit.)

• for MLA, language used in signal phrase can be loose (This person says…) or suggest stance

(argues, believes)

• can also show information and credentials, specialties, etc.

• highlight the author

• if author has no information, establish their credibility based on the article they appear in

• for APA, give author’s last name and publication date (according to ____ (2000))

Signal verbs

• signal verbs introduce a quote/paraphrase/summary/reference, give information on author’s

meaning, and add variety to writing

• acknowledge, admit, argue, believe, claim, conclude, declare, disagree, illustrate, observe, re-

ject, respond, suggest (more in chapter 50)

Verb tenses

• MLA requires present-tense verbs in signal phrases for quote, paraphrase, or summary

• if referring to act of saying something, not quoting, you don’t need to use present tense

(may use past to focus on year)

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• APA uses past tense to introduce sources from the past, and present perfect that did not occur

at specific time, or is ongoing

• present tense to discuss results or conclusions that agreed upon

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Acknowledging Sources, Avoiding Plagiarism

• you must acknowledge ideas/words that come from other people (give credit, recognize author-

ities and perspectives, show readers sources, and situate personal arguments)

• using other’s ideas without acknowledgement is plagiarism (serious academic and ethical of-

fense)

Acknowledging Sources

• readers must know where you got your information

• use signal phrases and appropriate in-text documentation of specific material, that directs to

works cited/references

Sources that need acknowledgement

direct quotations—enclosed in quotation marks, cited with brief parenthetical citation, intro-

duced with signal phrase

arguable statements/information that isn’t common knowledge—if an argument can be

made, cite the source, and if in doubt, provide it anyway

opinions/assertions of others—even if you paraphrase/summarize material, it still needs to

be cited

photographs/images/videos—if you didn’t make it yourself, cite the source (try to use origi-

nal source and not a version that appears elsewhere, in case of alterations)

any information you did not generate yourself—data/research/interviews/statistics/graphs/

charts/visuals that you did not create/generate

collaboration with and help from others—cite works that you generated working with others

(help from writing centers, peers) to give credit and thanks

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Sources that don’t need acknowledgement

information that is widely known—don’t cite information that most people are likely to

know; if you aren’t sure it’s common knowledge, just cite it

information/documents that are widely available—if it appears in multiple sources or is

published widely, don’t cite it; eg. the date of the moon landing, Declaration of Indepen-

dence

well-known quotations—be sure quotations is correct

material that you created/gathered yourself—make sure readers know material is yours

• when in doubt, cite your source

• always good to have too much citation than not enough

Avoiding Plagiarism

• plagiarism can be committed by:

1. using someone else’s words/ideas without acknowledging source

2. using someone else’s exact words without quoting

3. paraphrasing/summarizing using too similar language/sentence structure

• to avoid plagiarism, take notes through research, label quotations and use your own language

in paraphrases and summaries; know what sources to document, give credit, include

reference/works cited

• keep track of sources that you’ve pasted from websites

• check draft versus actual source to make sure quotes are appropriate, documentation is correct,

and that you haven’t accidentally plagiarized; acknowledge online sources just like any other

source
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Consequences

• work will be discredited if it resembles a source too closely

• journalists lose their jobs, students fail courses, affects records

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Chapter 52 - Documentation

• when writing results of research, cite sources by quoting/paraphrasing/summarizing, and ac-

knowledge the sources

• information we provide about the sources is called documentation—establishes credibility, and

reader can find information themselves

Understanding Documentation Styles

• MLA - Modern Language Association, humanities

• APA - American Psychological Association, social sciences, sciences, education, nursing

• both include in-text parenthetical documentation, and detailed documentation at the end (refer-

ences, works cited)

1. author/editor, creator of source

2. title of source (and publication/site)

3. version/edition of source

4. name of publisher

5. date of publication

6. retrieval information (website/url)

Differences between MLA and APA

• MLA, first and last name; APA, last name only (for par. citations)

• MLA, no abbreviation for page number (300); APA, abbreviate with p. (p. 300)

• APA, publication date appears after author’s name

In works cited

• in MLA, author’s last name and first name; in APA, only first initial and last name
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• in MLA, date is near the end; in APA, date is after author’s name

• in MLA, most words of book title is capitalized; in APA, only first words and proper nouns/

adjectives are capitalized

MLA

In-text:

John Smith says, “This is what happens” (20).

One observer says, “This is what happens” (Smith, 20)

Works-cited:

Smith, John. Book title. Publisher. Publication date.

APA

In-text:

Smith (1990) suggested, “This is what happens” (p. 20).

One observer has noted, “This is what happens” (Smith, 1990, p. 20)

Reference-list:

Smith, J. (Publication date). Book title. Publisher.

• some differences are related to academic natures the styles are used in

• MLA (for humanities/disciplines) focuses on authorship with full names

• APA (sciences, education, engineering, etc.) focuses on date of publication, recent research