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§ 5
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RESEARCH IN PHILOSOPHY
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Kavastad goes on to explain that if a person understands the meaning of a concept in relation to a particular type of sense experience, he will also know something about another type of sense experience if the same concept is used. For example, if one knows what an unpleasant sound is, the same concept that is used to describe the sound may be used to describe an unpleasant odor. The smell may still be ineffable, but some aspects of it can
be communicated (161-162). |
Notice in the above MLA example that the author’s name is not included in the parenthetical citation, because it is obvious that Kavastad is the source of the information being paraphrased.
Direct Quoting
Another common way to cite an author is to quote her directly. The general rule of thumb is that you should use direct quotations only if you have a specific reason for doing so. For example, you should directly quote an author if (1) you are using the author as an authority to support your position or (2) the meaning of an author’s ideas would be lost unless you used her own language, (3) the author’s own language is historically significant (e.g., Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence), or (4) the author’s own language is so moving, inspiring, or poetic that the significance of her ideas would be lost without quoting her directly.
Direct quoting of a source can be done in various ways as the examples below indicate:
Direct Quoting
Another common way to cite an author is to quote her directly. The general rule of thumb is that you should use direct quotations only if you have a specific reason for doing so. For example, you should directly quote an author if (1) you are using the author as an authority to support your position or (2) the meaning of an author’s ideas would be lost unless you used her own language, (3) the author’s own language is historically significant (e.g., Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence), or (4) the author’s own language is so moving, inspiring, or poetic that the significance of her ideas would be lost without quoting her directly.
Direct quoting of a source can be done in various ways as the examples below indicate:
1. Selective Quoting of Words or Phrases
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Smart begins his analysis by defining mysticism primarily as "an interior or introvertive quest culminating in certain interior experiences which are not described in terms of sense experience or of mental images, etc" (42).
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2 Directly Quoting a Sentence
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The only true right that man possesses is the right to defend his life and limb. For Hobbes and Spinoza, however, this right is always relative to his power to do so: "Therefore the first foundation of natural right is this, that every man as much as in him lies endeavor to protect his life and members" (Gert 115). All other benefits that man seeks to enjoy are likewise relative to the power he has to enjoy them.
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3. Weaving a Quote into Your Text
The most stylistically desirable way to use quotes in a paper is to try to weave these quotes as seamlessly as possible into your own writing. This will take some work on your part, but the end result will make your writing much more interesting than it would otherwise be.
The most stylistically desirable way to use quotes in a paper is to try to weave these quotes as seamlessly as possible into your own writing. This will take some work on your part, but the end result will make your writing much more interesting than it would otherwise be.
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The manner in which one loves the vast array of good things we encounter within the world, furthermore, determines the entire moral direction of one’s life. "My weight is my love," writes Augustine, "wherever I am carried, it is my love that carries me there" (Confessions 104).
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4. Block Quoting
A final method of citing sources, and one that should be used sparingly, is to use block quotation. In general, you should try to average no more than one block quotation for every five pages of text that you are writing.
In MLA format a block quotation must be longer than four lines. Such quotations should be double-spaced and indented 1 inch from the left margins of your text. No quotation marks are necessary for block quotes. For example:
A final method of citing sources, and one that should be used sparingly, is to use block quotation. In general, you should try to average no more than one block quotation for every five pages of text that you are writing.
In MLA format a block quotation must be longer than four lines. Such quotations should be double-spaced and indented 1 inch from the left margins of your text. No quotation marks are necessary for block quotes. For example:
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In Book One of the Nichomachean Ethics, Aristotle maintains that, although happiness must be connected primarily with virtue (arete), certain external goods are also necessary in order to make life supremely happy. Thus, the absence of such goods as health, wealth, family and the like will affect the happiness of the wise man:
Thus Aristotle is convinced that major successes in life can make the virtuous man even happier, and his strength of character enables him to bear minor losses.
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5.2 Tricky Quoting Situations
Not every quoting situation will be as straightforward as the above examples. The general rule when citing sources is to be extremely clear about the source of your material. In some cases, this will mean that you will have to provide additional information:
1. Source with No Author
In the event that a work that you are citing has no author, you may use an abbreviated version of the source’s
title.
1. Source with No Author
In the event that a work that you are citing has no author, you may use an abbreviated version of the source’s
title.
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As one anonymous on-line critic puts it, "the great American novel of the past 100 years was not written by Faulkner or Joyce, but by John Kennedy Toole. His Confederacy of Dunces is a truly
groundbreaking work, one that is as subversive as it is prophetic" ("Legacy of Toole"). |
2. Two Works by Same Author
In MLA format, if you are using two or more works by the same author, it will be necessary to indicate from which work the information being discussed was derived. You will therefore need to also include an abbreviated version of the title of the work in your parenthetical citation:
In MLA format, if you are using two or more works by the same author, it will be necessary to indicate from which work the information being discussed was derived. You will therefore need to also include an abbreviated version of the title of the work in your parenthetical citation:
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Robbins rejects the "conventional assumption" of our society that animals are simply dumb brutes with no real feelings worth considering. Instead, he argues, we need to begin viewing animals as "creatures of marvelous complexity, beauty, and mystery" (Diet 35).
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3. Two Authors With the Same Last Name
In MLA format, if you are citing sources in which two or more authors have the same last name, it will be necessary to indicate which author is being cited by including the author’s first initials (or even his whole first name if there are two authors with the same last name and first initial):
In MLA format, if you are citing sources in which two or more authors have the same last name, it will be necessary to indicate which author is being cited by including the author’s first initials (or even his whole first name if there are two authors with the same last name and first initial):
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Recently some historians have begun to argue against the popular myth of Theodore Roosevelt, the icon of Mount Rushmore, which has held sway in the American imagination. As one author puts it, we need to begin to see Roosevelt for what he truly was: "a crass American imperialist, who had no difficulty using the ‘big stick’ when it came to perpetuating American interests overseas" (J. Barnes 54).
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5.3 The Meaning of "Drafts"
You are now ready to begin writing your paper. If you did all of the preliminary work described above, writing your paper should prove to be a relatively straightforward process. This does not mean, however, that it will be an easy or painless process. There is one simple rule for good writing: Once you have written anything, revise, revise, and revise some more.
Many students mistakenly believe that the first draft of their paper will be adequate to serve as their finished product. Unfortunately, a well-written paper usually has to go through at least two additional drafts before it is suitable to be handed in to an instructor.
Just keep in mind as you are writing that you are NOT Ernest Hemingway. The first draft of anything you compose, therefore, will probably be awkwardly written, a bit disjointed, and filled with grammatical and typographical errors. The difference between a good writer and a lousy one is that the good writer takes the time to revise, edit and polish his first draft, whereas the lousy writer is happy to settle for whatever he can crank out in the shortest amount of time possible and with the least amount of stress.
Here’s a glimpse of how your writing process should go as you are working on your paper:
The First Draft: Free-Writing
As you write your first draft, your aim should be clarity of thought and expression above all else. Just try to get your ideas down on paper in as orderly a manner as possible, adhering as closely as possible to the organizational structure that you established when creating your outline.
Don’t worry so much at this stage about how polished your writing is or about spelling mistakes, typos or grammatical errors. You will have plenty of time later to clean up any messes that you have created while writing your first draft.
The Second Draft: Revising
After you have written a first rough draft of your paper, read through it again with a critical eye. At this point it is probably best to focus on problems of structure rather than flow—that is, on the overall organization of your thoughts rather than on your writing style. After all, it really doesn’t matter how well you have expressed yourself in a paper if your ideas are confused and disorganized. Among the things that you will need to examine at this point are:
The Third Draft: Editing
Before you hand in your final draft, go through your paper again to make sure that you have expressed your ideas in the most interesting, engaging and charming manner possible and that your paper is free of any serious mistakes. Among the things that you will need to examine at this point are:
Finding a Proofreader
After you’ve finished writing multiple drafts of your paper and believe that you now have the most perfect bit of research ever produced by mortal man, then, and only then, should you find another intelligent person to read over your writing. You will probably be surprised to discover how many mistakes still remain in your paper.
Under no circumstances should you even think about handing the final version of your paper to your instructor until you have written at least three drafts and have had at least one reliable person proofread it for you. If you did the work of revising and editing your work properly, you will probably have produced a fairly well-written research paper, and we are confident that you will receive a respectable grade for your work.
Many students mistakenly believe that the first draft of their paper will be adequate to serve as their finished product. Unfortunately, a well-written paper usually has to go through at least two additional drafts before it is suitable to be handed in to an instructor.
Just keep in mind as you are writing that you are NOT Ernest Hemingway. The first draft of anything you compose, therefore, will probably be awkwardly written, a bit disjointed, and filled with grammatical and typographical errors. The difference between a good writer and a lousy one is that the good writer takes the time to revise, edit and polish his first draft, whereas the lousy writer is happy to settle for whatever he can crank out in the shortest amount of time possible and with the least amount of stress.
Here’s a glimpse of how your writing process should go as you are working on your paper:
The First Draft: Free-Writing
As you write your first draft, your aim should be clarity of thought and expression above all else. Just try to get your ideas down on paper in as orderly a manner as possible, adhering as closely as possible to the organizational structure that you established when creating your outline.
Don’t worry so much at this stage about how polished your writing is or about spelling mistakes, typos or grammatical errors. You will have plenty of time later to clean up any messes that you have created while writing your first draft.
The Second Draft: Revising
After you have written a first rough draft of your paper, read through it again with a critical eye. At this point it is probably best to focus on problems of structure rather than flow—that is, on the overall organization of your thoughts rather than on your writing style. After all, it really doesn’t matter how well you have expressed yourself in a paper if your ideas are confused and disorganized. Among the things that you will need to examine at this point are:
- Argumentation. How well did you defend your thesis with arguments, data and facts? Do any sections of your paper need to be bolstered with additional information in order to better defend your thesis? If so, now is the time to include such material in your paper.
- Digressions. Is there any information included in your paper which your instructor might regard as irrelevant or tangential to the main argument of your paper? If so, you might have to eliminate this information completely or relegate it to an endnote.
- Logical Order. Does the overall flow of your paper make sense? Do your arguments in the paper follow a logical order of progression? If not, you may also have to add transitional sentences or paragraphs to show the reader connections between ideas. Entire paragraphs may also have to be shuffled around to see where they fit best. Remember, if your writing seems confusing to you, it will undoubtedly appear even more so to your reader.
The Third Draft: Editing
Before you hand in your final draft, go through your paper again to make sure that you have expressed your ideas in the most interesting, engaging and charming manner possible and that your paper is free of any serious mistakes. Among the things that you will need to examine at this point are:
- Grammatical and Spelling Mistakes. There is no excuse for submitting a paper filled with grammatical mistakes and spelling errors, especially when most word-processing programs will now catch many of these mistakes for you.
- Typographical Errors. Everyone has some typographical errors in their writing. Take the time to find yours and correct them so that your instructor doesn’t think that you are slipshod in your writing.
- Writing Style. How well does your paper read? Can you revise sentences and paragraphs to make them flow more smoothly? Can you vary the sentence structure of your paper so that you don’t have a monotonous string of simple sentences following one after the other? Can you use a thesaurus to replace boring words that have been used repeatedly throughout your paper with more dynamic ones? Style matters as much as content when writing, so make sure that your writing style is as fluid as possible before you submit the final draft of your paper.
Finding a Proofreader
After you’ve finished writing multiple drafts of your paper and believe that you now have the most perfect bit of research ever produced by mortal man, then, and only then, should you find another intelligent person to read over your writing. You will probably be surprised to discover how many mistakes still remain in your paper.
Under no circumstances should you even think about handing the final version of your paper to your instructor until you have written at least three drafts and have had at least one reliable person proofread it for you. If you did the work of revising and editing your work properly, you will probably have produced a fairly well-written research paper, and we are confident that you will receive a respectable grade for your work.
© Michael S. Russo, 2002. Updated 2011. All of the content on this webpage is copyright. The materials on this webpage may not be modified, posted or transmitted without the prior consent of the author. Permission is granted to print out copies for educational purposes and for personal use only. No permission is granted for commercial use.
