Q Overview Deciding when and how to use source material in your writing is an important skill to learn. If your essay uses too much source material, especially if it relies too heavily on quotations, it will feel like a patchwork quilt of other people’s voices, rather than your own writing. If you do not use sources enough, your essay may lack support or credibility. To show that you understand the perspectives on an issue, you must use your sources effectively, but to maintain your own voice in your writing, you must balance those sources with your own ideas and development. In this discussion you will practice the important skills of quoting and paraphrasing your sources. You should spend approximately 2 hours on this assignment. Instructions 1. Use the same topic overview you read for Discussion 1: Synthesis Brainstorming for this discussion. Find one paragraph that seems significant to your research on the topic. Cut and paste the paragraph into the top of your message. 2. Think: When you are faced with source material that you want to use as support in your writing, how do you decide how to incorporate it and synthesize it with your own ideas? How can you show your reader which ideas belong to your source and which are your own? How do you give credit to your source when you quote or paraphrase? 3. Write: You will practice quoting and paraphrasing in your initial post. Then, you will consider when to use each strategy: o Pick one sentence that seems important enough to quote. Use a signal phrase to introduce the quotation. Incorporate the quotation into your own writing. You may paraphrase part of the sentence and quote only the most important phrases from the source. o Pick two sentences that contain important material, but that you may not need to quote in order to use them effectively, and paraphrase them. Be sure to combine the two sentences into one sentence. Remember that you must completely rewrite the source material into your own language. No words, phrases, or structure should remain from the original source. o Create a correctly formatted in-text citation, using MLA Style, for your quote and your paraphrase. o Create a correctly formatted Works Cited entry for your article. o Discuss how you decide when to quote and when to paraphrase. What is the benefit of each type of source use? 4. Post one original post, and reply to at least two of your classmates. In your replies to peers, help one another see where quotations, paraphrases, and citations are used correctly, and help one another see where these skills can be improved upon. Discuss the benefits of the different types of source use. Try to further the discussion in your replies by asking thoughtful questions, adding interesting information, or connecting your reply to the material we are discussing. 5. Don't forget that your initial posting is due by the date listed in the Course Schedule. Please post over several days. Points will be lost if you post on only one day of the module. See the Course Schedule and Course Rubrics sections in the Syllabus module for due dates and grading information. See the Grading and Evaluation section in the Syllabus module for general discussion expectations. Feminism: