Warm-Up for Research Reports

In this unit, you will research a variety of sources to write a report about an important person.

Reflecting on Your Writing

Paraphrasing and Quoting

When you write, you can use ideas from sources, but you must avoid plagiarism—presenting others’ words as your own. Use one of these strategies:

• Paraphrasing is using your own words to express the ideas from a text.
• Quoting is using a text’s exact words in quotation marks and naming the source.

• Paraphrase: Flying fish use sets of fins to glide above water.

• Quote: The article “Flying Fish, Ocean Acrobats” points out that “flying fish are called the dragonflies of the deep.”

Editing in Action

When you edit, you check to make sure your paragraph is correct.

• Paragraph Before Edits

  

• A proper noun was capitalized and a usage and agreement error was fixed.

  

• Paragraph After Edits

  

Revising to Cite Sources

In your topic sentence, you should add the title and author of the text you are summarizing. By doing so, you cite the source of the ideas. Try these strategies:

• Add an introductory part:

According to “K-Pop Goes Global” by Frances Blake, Korean pop music is gaining a worldwide following through a mix of sound and technology.

• Make the title the subject:

Frances Blake’s article “K-Pop Goes Global” describes how Korean pop music is gaining a worldwide following through a mix of sound and technology.

• Add an introductory part and make the author the subject:

In the article “K-Pop Goes Global,” Frances Blake writes that Korean pop music is gaining a worldwide following through a mix of sound and technology.

Writing the Topic Sentence

The topic sentence is the first sentence of a summary. It states the focus (overall point or thought) of the text in your own words. To write an effective topic sentence, follow this formula.