In the example essay on the previous page, you saw how a writer might cite her sources by embedding the name of the source into her own text. There are several other options for citing sources in essays, and none is better than the other. Click through the slides below to see the possibilities for citing sources of evidence.
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When you embed your citation into your essay, you tuck it into a sentence as an ordinary part of the essay.
Kipling's Rikki-tikki-tavi is a brave and resourceful mongoose: "It is the hardest thing in the world to frighten a mongoose, because he is eaten up from nose to tail with curiosity." Another option is to use a phrase at the beginning of a sentence that points to the citation. "According to," "As _______ says," and "In ______ by _______" are all acceptable choices.
According to the author of "Snakes Alive!," there is only one way to learn about snakes: "My work at the park was to help the workers with their jobs for that was the only way for me to learn about snakes." In some cases, you may choose not to use the name of the author or the source in your sentence. In that case, you can put the author and source into parentheses at the end of the sentence.
"The motto of all the mongoose family is 'Run and find out'; and Rikki-tikki was a true mongoose." ("Rikki-Tikki-Tavi," Kipling) When you cite sources, you can use a direct quote (as was done in slides 1-3) or you can paraphrase or summarize the work.
The article "To Russia, with Love and Space Rocks" describes a meteor impact that occurred in a Russian town. |
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