Bringing in Other Voices (10-15 minutes)
I’m texting some friends to make plans. My one friend tells me the following:
“Yeah it would be great to get together, it’s been a while. I could make next Saturday work, but if not next Saturday then I don’t have any free weekends until November. Would a lunch on a weekday work or is that too tricky with everyone’s job? My life is a black hole where all plans I have are sucked into its gravitational pull and destroyed.”
Here are some possible texts I write. Note my choices and what you think the pros and cons of them are.
Text 1: Mrugesh was reaching out to see if we could get together but he’s pretty busy and is frustrated. He wants to see if either next Saturday or a lunch could work.
Text 2: Mrugesh said “I could make next Saturday work, but if not next Saturday then I don’t have any free weekends until November. Would a lunch on a weekday work or is that too tricky with everyone’s job?”
Text 3: Mrugesh said he could either do next Saturday or lunch on a weekday.
Text 4: Mrugesh wants to meet up but he said that his “life is a black hole where all plans I have are sucked into its gravitational pull and destroyed.” Could next Saturday work or maybe a lunch during a weekday?
Text 5: Mrugesh wants to do next Saturday or a lunch on a weekday. I feel like he’s saying he prefers something during the week because Saturday is on such short notice, not sure he wants to actually do that. Let’s just figure out a weekday? What do you think?
For a quick identification of what is happening here when using Mrugesh’s voice in the writing of my text message, we can quickly go here: The Writing Center | Quotation, Paraphrase, Summary, and Analysis | Guides (gmu.edu)
Purposes of Two Main Ways of Integrating Multiple Voices in Speech and Writing (10-15 minutes)
This resource talks about ways to paraphrase and quote, especially with attention to signal words/phrases:
paraphrasing_and_quoting.pdf (apu.edu)
And, how mixing things together can help make your writing flexible:
Why use direct quotes? Why use paraphrase? When should you summarize and what is the difference?
Here is one perspective: Paraphrasing and Direct Quotations – The Scholarship of Writing in Nursing Education: 1st Canadian Edition (ryerson.ca)
Is anything missing? What else might be important about paraphrasing and quoting? What about summarizing? When and why would you do that?
Let’s paraphrase and quote in MLA format (30-45 minutes)
Here is an example text that quotes and paraphrases.
Let’s read this sample paragraph together from page 9 of Kathleen Blake Yancey’s book, Reflection in the Writing Classroom:
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John Dewey has written extensively about reflection, most explicitly in How We Think: A Restatement of the Relation of Reflective Thinking to the Educative Process. Here he defines reflective thinking as “the kind of thinking that consists in turning a subject over in the mind and giving it serious and consecutive consideration” (3). Reflection, he says, is goal-driven; since there “is a goal to be reached,…this end sets a task that controls the sequence of ideas” (6). Put definitively, reflection is the “Active, persistent, and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it and the further conclusions to which it tends” (9). Reflection is defined here as goal-directed and sequential, controlled by the learner because he or she wants to learn something, to solve a real problem, to resolve an ambiguous situation, or to address a dilemma (14). It relies on a dialogue among multiple perspectives, as the learner contrasts the believed and the known with presuppositions and necessary conclusions.
******************
How are the quotations blended into the author’s own writing and language?
Do you think there might be a rhetorical reason for using the paraphrase toward the end?
Generally, the rule is to not use too many direct quotes because it can read awkwardly (trying to blend your voice with someone else’s). Why do you think there might be so many direct quotes here?
What impact does the first sentence have on the rest of the paragraph?
What else do you notice or have questions about? Could be about rhetorical strategy here, MLA formatting questions, etc.
Try it out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Using signal phrases and words, use paraphrase and/or quotation from one of the texts you are analyzing or another source that is relevant to your paper. Write 2-3 sentences to set up the quote/paraphrase, write it out, and add something else that uses the quote/paraphrase to support a claim explicitly. Paste your sentences to this Google Doc–everyone should have something ready to go.
You have information here that you need along with information in links above along with an example paragraph in MLA format by Kathleen Blake Yancey above.
Here, too, is a list of signal words and phrases for APA and MLA (remember: we voted for MLA): Signal and Lead-in Phrases // Purdue Writing Lab
Another good source: The Writing Center | Signal Phrases | Guides (gmu.edu)
Format according to MLA rules for in-text citations. Here is more on rules for in-text citation: MLA In-Text Citations: The Basics // Purdue Writing Lab.
DEBRIEF: What were you stuck on? How’d it go? How was what you were doing different from what Yancey was doing? How was it similar?
Let’s go back to the example essay from last class. Find a moment that resembles what you tried to do and point it out to us.
Independent Work and Check-ins (20-30 min)
Follow these four steps:
- Give an update about where you are at with your information analysis argument draft.
- Tell your partner what your goal is for your time working together.
- Work for a solid 15-20 minutes.
- Check in with your partner at the end and talk about. [As you work, let me know about questions; I’m going to come around and check in with each pair]
Close out (2-5 min)
- We didn’t have time to talk about the reading for today. We will do this on Tuesday (Nov 1)
- Submit a draft + cover letter by end of day Tuesday
- Complete this survey by Tuesday: Grading Contract + Course Review Survey