In the final draft of my first paper, I used my sources to enhance my arguments with actual proof as opposed to stated proof. As I look back at the way I cited my sources, I notice that I used quite possibly too little to quote with, such as this example where I wrote that “the author spoke to doctors who agreed that one ‘could subsist on Soylent’, but the real question is ‘would it be a good idea?’ (Widdicombe, 9)” As seen there, I did indeed use the proper MLA format of placing the author last name, with the page number next to it in parenthesis. But as seen from my quote, I used only enough to finish my own sentence. This barely gets the point of the author across at all. In fact, it is so little quoting that it could be perceived that I simply used words from the writing, then twisted them out of context. As such, I have since then learned to use more of a balance of framing writing to quote ratio, letting the quote do the talking as opposed to claiming the context as my own, clipping a few stray words to quote, then blanketing it in my own phrasing. This class also further reinforced the idea that the quote shouldn’t be distracting, as in it shouldn’t be too big as to remove from the essay, as well as making sure the grammar all lines up accordingly without any hitches. That has been invaluable to reinforce.
