A paraphrase should reproduce the source’s ideas in your own words, unless you incorporate a short quote to preserve the source’s impact. In a paraphrase, you must provide a citation for the source. For example, take the following passage from Wheat’s article: “Prince Prospero’s supposed pride is best seen as a protective mask, a mask of indifference with which he tries to shield himself from death” (51). A paraphrase of this passage would look like the following:
Patricia H. Wheat claims that the seeming arrogance of Prospero is an apathetic disguise which he attempts to use as a defense against death (51).
Citation
Heckman, Christina. "Guide to Major Assignments, Research, and Documentation." Course notes. English 1102. Department of English and Foreign Languages, Augusta University. Print. August 18, 2014.
A summary should provide an overview of the main points of the critic’s argument, without details. It is very short and in your own words:
Countering the unsympathetic responses of other critics, Patricia H. Wheat’s article “The Mask of Indifference in ‘The Masque of the Red Death’” argues that the apparent indifference of Prince Prospero and his companions conceals a primal fear of death and disease. Their attempts to escape the Red Death, of course, cannot succeed, and ultimately they must succumb to the horror of death.
Citation
Heckman, Christina. "Guide to Major Assignments, Research, and Documentation." Course notes. English 1102. Department of English and Foreign Languages, Augusta University. Print. August 18, 2014.
Suggested books for citation help.
APA style guide to electronic references
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The Chicago Manual of Style
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Rules for Writers with 2016 MLA Update
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A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations
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Whenever you're doing research, you should always document your work. Don't plagiarize! If you're not familiar with the academic honesty policy at Augusta University, be sure you read it. The policy is located in the Academic Regulations section of the current Augusta University Catalog.
For additional information and guidance on good documentation practices, the following sites may be useful:
Quote to preserve the impact of a source; to gain support from an author or critic’s expertise; or to argue against a source.
A quote should reproduce the exact words of a source, surrounded by quotation marks and followed by a parenthetical citation. The following sentence incorporates a quote:
In her article, Patricia H. Wheat argues that Prince Prospero’s actions may demonstrate not callous neglect of his fellow human beings, but fear: “Prince Prospero’s supposed pride is best seen as a protective mask, a mask of indifference with which he tries to shield himself from death” (51).
To delete words from quote, use an ellipsis: “Prince Prospero’s supposed pride is best seen as a … mask of indifference with which he tries to shield himself from death” (51).
To insert or replace words (without changing meaning), use square brackets: “Prince Prospero’s supposed pride [was] best seen as a protective mask, a mask of indifference with which he [tried] to shield himself from death” (51).
Citation
Heckman, Christina. "Guide to Major Assignments, Research, and Documentation." Course notes. English 1102. Department of English and Foreign Languages, Augusta University. Print. August 18, 2014.
