we don't always think about the little
rules that govern our behavior but we
can usually tell if something about an
interaction is off for instance imagine
there's a cafe and I see the barista
wearing a Star Wars pin I recognize the
reference so I say may the force be with
you she'd think I was acting strange if
I followed up with that's a quote from
George Lucas used in the well-known Star
Wars series when we talk about ideas and
phrases that someone else said first we
use different ways of acknowledging that
we didn't come up with them ourselves
sometimes the reference only requires a
quick mention and other times we share a
lot of information to give due credit in
writing there's a wide variety of ways
to share the stage with another writer
using their words or ideas but also
making your own contributions we'll talk
about how to work with others words
today in study hall composition
presented by Arizona State University
and crash course I'm Eunice a me and
let's get started
[Music]
depending on our experiences in school
or work we might be really afraid of
plagiarism the act of using someone
else's ideas or words without giving
them appropriate credit in school and
professional settings plagiarism is
considered a major problem when people
suspect you've taken someone else's
ideas or words and claimed them as your
own they have a hard time trusting you
in the future that's because they may
consider plagiarism cheating or even a
kind of identity theft ideas are in some
ways more precious than property you
could face consequences like failed
assignments or distrust in your
workplace but we know that the rules and
expectations for how to acknowledge
sources can feel overwhelming we'll
explore some tools to make sure you're
crediting your sources even if the
standards are complex but before we talk
in depth about how to avoid plagiarism
let's focus on how we actually want to
treat other people's words in our rating
we want to give them credit and still do
interesting work where we add to the
conversations being had to start we want
to avoid sending other people's ideas up
as being undeniable evidence of how
right we are or you know how wrong they
are there's a common misconception that
source material is just there to confirm
what we've already said or just for us
to tear down rather we want to explain
and then respond to the people who we
include in our work consider your
writing as one statement in a much
larger conversation you're in a dialogue
with the people whose words and ideas
you include in your project the
conversation will continue after your
particular writing project - this is
because knowledge grows incremental and
conversations within and between pieces
of writing slowly create new knowledge
over time it can be uncomfortable to
realize that nothing is really ever
settled there's always the possibility
of new information but this lets us
focus on interesting complex ideas
rather than trying to shut down all
debate forever
we use other people's words and ideas in
a few different ways as writers we can
think of them as quotation paraphrase
and explanation quotation is when we
represent the exact words of others
because their phrasing is brief and
clear or contains clever insight we want
to share with our readers this is when
we have those double quotation marks
don't miss a single word and cite the
person who made the statement
paraphrasing is not word-for-word
quotation but it is a representation of
someone else
ideas it's when we rewrite someone
else's work in our own words either to
save space or to put our own unique spin
on it if I want to quickly compare three
sources in a single sentence I'll
paraphrase their main points rather than
shoving three quotations into a clunky
page long sentence we still include a
citation when we paraphrase even though
we rewrite the idea to make it quicker
and clearer for our work we still want
to give credit to the original thinker
or writer we also want to let our
readers know where they can find more on
that topic which is another major goal
of citing our sources citations by the
way are accepted ways of expressing
where other people's words or ideas came
from and they can include information
like the person's name their book
article or chapter title and even the
page of the book where they came from
our citation depends on the context in
which we write on Twitter for instance
it might be enough to include the handle
of the person you're quoting but in a
scientific research report you may have
to include
a lot more information because that's
the norm for citing in that context
lastly explanation is where you further
shed light on either your own ideas or
the ideas of someone else it's often
used in combination with paraphrasing
and quotation because it helps your
reader continue to process the deeper
meanings from the quotes or paraphrases
a quotation without any kind of
explanation afterward is called a drop
quote the drop refers to the quote just
parachuting into the text dropping in
without clear reasons for being there
you know I think about that sandwich a
lot huh I just said something totally
irrelevant in the middle of this video
as it turns out it's a quotation from
the 2015 season of the great british
baking show but you wouldn't know
because I didn't tell you anything about
it and I didn't explain it afterward
well now I did but you know what I mean
perhaps you've referenced a quote from a
book or TV show to your friends only to
get blank stares that signaled they need
more context just because the quote
seemed useful to me doesn't mean my
audience will automatically get it the
bad news is that we have to figure out a
way to avoid drop quotes because they
confuse our readers the good news is
that engaging deeply with every quote
will make our writing much stronger
while also helping us avoid plagiarism
let's go a little deeper on the
formatting of citations since we don't
give credit in the same way in every
situation I'll be real here some of the
rules for citation are
super complex and difficult to wade
through that being said the citation
systems you might use from APA to MLA
style will help you make sure you cite
in a recognizable way for your field
even if you feel confused about citation
formatting don't let fear of getting it
wrong make you give up ignoring citation
is where plagiarism starts to happen the
best way to avoid plagiarism is to
engage with the source material make it
super clear which ideas came from where
and which parts of your writing are your
own responses and ideas then you can
focus on getting the format correct for
your citations by looking up examples
and checking with the style guide a
physical or online document detailing
the rules and formatting guides you're
expected to follow in that particular
field a biochemistry paper has a
different style guide to the non-fiction
book about linguistics and online
articles have a bunch of different
standards now that we've got the basics
of quotation and citation down we can
really dive into strategies for creating
great conversations with your source
material it can take some practice but
you can remember how to do so using the
swag technique yeah that's why with to
geez this technique helps you introduce
and explain your sources thoroughly and
it also serves as a handy revision
checklist here's how it goes S is for
stage setting provide some context for
what is happening in your text and show
why you might need a quote or paraphrase
to support your point W is for words
this is the quotation or paraphrase of
someone else's ideas a is for
attribution tell the reader where the
words or ideas come from small note this
sometimes makes more sense right before
the quote it just depends G is to go
into detail explain to your readers what
words or ideas mean and why they are
important G the second one is for going
forward don't just leave that
explanation hanging take your readers
forward by connecting that explanation
to whatever you want to write about next
this keeps everything flowing because
there's no abrupt change of topic
anytime you need to reference someone
else's words or ideas use this technique
checking for it each time can help you
get into great habits and avoid
plagiarism to see how it works
let's go to a writer in action Parker is
working on a poetry analysis paper they
know that they can't make their point
about turf EF azula's work effectively
without direct quotes but they don't
want to create a drop quote or forget
either Parker follow swag to make sure
their ideas are fully incorporated while
still citing sources correctly they
start with setting the stage turf EF
azula's poems often confront histories
people find hard to face they then
include the quote with a little citation
ahead of it to help the reader know
where the quote is from in her book
seems she says it wasn't enough light to
see clearly by but I still turned my
face toward it Parker knows that this
quote won't automatically matter to
readers so they go into detail she
succinctly acknowledges the
imperfections of looking back in history
without letting herself be swayed toward
ignoring the past and its persisting
effects they think this is an accurate
summary of the quote plus they got to
use the word succinctly in a sentence it
sounds so nice Parker then uses an
explanation to go forward to another
section of their paper widening out the
analysis phase ULA's work may draw on a
particular historical time frame but
often offers a compelling lens for other
broader questions of history
Parker pauses and tries out other words
like window glass telescope etc before
sticking with lens Parker then uses the
mla citation style the professor
suggests including both in-text citation
and an entry into their works cited list
at the end of the paper they might have
to look up examples to see how this
works but they can handle it Parker's
our writer in action so yes the dire
warning about plagiarism in most school
settings can make us scared the rules
vary so much across disciplines that it
makes following them a real ordeal at
times that being said we want to
approach adding our ideas to a body of
knowledge as a conversation and doing
that means acknowledging which ideas
inspired us or made us think about
something new the swag acronym lets us
mirror how new knowledge is created as
we carefully introduce and acknowledge
the influence of others on our work
don't be afraid to be part of the
conversation be careful and
conscientious you might find yourself
noticing citations in everyday life from
Star Wars quotes on pins to casual
conversations among friends that loop in
twitter handle's for support tune in
next time where we'll turn our attention
to critical thinking and argumentation
diving in beyond the buzzwords to how
these ideas can help us right thanks for
watching study hall composition which is
produced by Arizona State University and
a crash course team at complexly if you
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time