WHEN TO USE A DIRECT QUOTE:

1. Use quotations when another writers language is particularly memorable and will
add interest and verve to your paper
2. Use quotations when another writers language is so clearly and economically
stated that to make the same point in your own words, by comparison, will be
ineffective
3. Use quotations when you want the solid reputation of a source to lend authority
and credibility to your own writing
Formats for direct Quotations
1. Strong author orientation is used when the author is an authority in the field. Start
with the authors surname and then the date of publication enclosed in
parentheses.
Example: Dr. James (1994) states that . (p.122)
2. Weak author orientation is used when the date is important.
Example: In 1992, Pope John Paul II declared .. (p.3)
3. Subject orientation is used when what is said is more important than who said it.
Example: Anxiety causes nightmares for adults as well as for children (Guiley,
1995,p.49).

HOW TO PARAPHRASE
1. Read the original text closely.
2. Understand the ideas contained in the original text. To achieve this, think of the
basic reading guide questions that will extract the ideas presented.
3. In your own words, answer the questions in note form, simplifying the language
whenever possible.
4. Without looking at the original text, string together the notes you have listed.
5. Check if all the pertinent ideas are included in the paraphrased form.
6. Cite the source of the paraphrased form.

Example:
Meditation pervades the entire body like the flow of mercury. You feel the energy rising
upward, or sometimes going downward. You have to keep up your practice. Then,
whatever work you are doing, meditation permeates.

Based on the sample text, you may have the following questions:
1. To what is meditation likened? Why?
2. How does meditation work in ones body?
3. How can meditation be integrated in ones system?

In your own words, you may come up with the following notes:
Flow of mercury- meditation
Pushes up or down energy level
Constant practice; becomes a natural part of ones system

Your paraphrase of the text may look something like this:

When one meditates, one experiences an energy flow like that of mercury pushing up or
down ones energy level and affecting the whole body. Through constant practice,
meditation becomes a natural part of ones system.

EXERCISE 1. Paraphrase the original texts using the guide questions and include the
source in the form of an in- text citation.
1. Vitamin A appears to reduce development of breast cancer. It has substances that
have the ability to inhibit growth of potentially cancerous cells. It is one of the
most powerful regulators of cell growth. (Klinger, 1993, p.HC7)
What does the text claim about Vitamin A?
What is the basis of this claim?

2. One of the challenges which face advertisers in television is coming up with

anti-zapping techniques or techniques which prevent a television viewer from
pressing the remote control to change the channel. An emerging anti-zapping
trend is the soap opera technique. This technique often sustains the attention of
the television viewer because the ad is told through a story, sometimes in sequel
form. (Abrera, 1994, p.13)
What is one of the challenges facing television advertisers?
What is one technique employed by television advertisers to prevent a television
viewer from pressing the remote control to change the channel?
How does this technique mange to hold the viewers attention?

3. Television has been criticized for inducing passivity in the young viewer,
distracting him from reading books, developing in him an inordinate desire for
violence and artificial excitement, promoting commercialism and sexism, making
it easy for parents to neglect their children by using the television set as an
electronic babysitter taking up too much of the viewers time. (Torre,
1991,p.32)
What is television criticized for?
What do parents do to their children because of television?

4. When a woman feels attracted to a man, her feelings are very different. She gets
excited because she anticipates that he could make her happy, and that in turn
makes her feel really good. It brings out the best in her and makes her want to
give him. A woman becomes excited because she anticipates receiving what she
needs and then freely giving in return. ( Gray, 1997, p.41)
What makes a woman excited when she feels attracted to a man?
How does a woman in love react to the object of her affection?