Mixing quotation with summary and paraphrase - Quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing sources - Writing your paper

Student's guide to writing college papers, Fourth edition - Kate L. Turabian 2010

Mixing quotation with summary and paraphrase
Quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing sources
Writing your paper

Although we have explained summary, paraphrase, and quotation as though they were entirely distinct, experienced writers often incorporate quotations into the other two. For example, when you weave a quotation into your own sentence, that sentence usually includes some paraphrase (the paraphrase is underlined):

As Diamond points out, the “lesson for the modern world” in the history of the Fertile Crescent and China is that you can't count on history to repeat itself because “circumstances change, and past primacy is no guarantee of future primacy” (417).

In his discussion of religion, Posner says of American society that “a notable feature . . . is [its] religious pluralism.” He argues that to understand how well social norms control what we do, we should consider “the historical importance of religion as both a source and enforcer of such norms” (299).

Similarly, you can include quotations in a summary:

Colomb and Williams (2010) emphasize that drafting is “an act of discovery” (83) that can fuel a writer's creative thinking. They acknowledge that some writers have to draft carefully and stick close to their outlines, but they advise writers to draft as freely and as openly as they can. They encourage even slow and careful drafters to be open to new ideas and surprises and not to be limited by what they do before drafting. They still stress the value of steady work that follows a plan—for example, writing a little bit every day rather than all at once in a fit of desperate inspiration. But they show writers how to make the best of a plan while hoping that you will “discover what your storyboard has missed” (83).

When you mix a few quotations into your summaries and paraphrases, you seem a more sophisticated writer. You give readers a better sense of the source without quoting so much that your paper seems a cut-and-paste job. You can also take advantage of those places where your source offers an especially interesting or memorable phrase. If you find that you have drafted a couple of pages that are all summary and paraphrase, go back to your notes to find notable phrases or sentences that you can add to liven up your prose.