Cite Text Evidence

So, looking at these two examples, can you tell me which comes from the most credible source? If you set example B, you are correct. Why? Well, example a is not a fact. It's just an opinion, and the source, the person making the statement lived in Greece, but that doesn't make them an expert on what it was like thousands of years ago, does it? Example B is still somewhat opinionated, but our speaker is a professor who studies ancient cultures, so he would be an expert on ancient Roman Greece and frankly, his opinion is the one I'm much more likely to trust. The second thing we're looking for when choosing evidence is relevance. That means the evidence has a logical connection to the point being discussed, which, in this case, is our topic sentence. So which of these two examples is more relevant? If you've said example B, you are correct. Example a is talking about tourism in modern day Roman Greece. 

While example B is focused on the political process, the government of early Roman Greece. So, B is more relevant. Text based essays call for ample support, which means you need to identify at least four examples of sided text evidence. One or more from each of your source documents. Also, your evidence should be expressed as a complete thought. One or two words copied from a source document is rarely enough. Compare the original text to the two examples. Which one correctly cites text evidence. Yep, the first example correctly quotes from the original, and even though it did not copy the entire sentence from the text, it used ellipses to show where a portion had been left out, and even without the middle part it was a complete sentence. The second example did not quote enough of the original text. Now, if you leave those quotation marks out, it's actually a pretty good example of an indirect quote, also known as paraphrasing. 

That's when you sum up an idea using words that are your own and different from the original words. Now, when using indirect quotes, don't try to sum up an entire article or worse yet several of them at once. You should be able to point to the specific line or lines of text in the source document, and say, that's it. That's my evidence. Study the highlighted portions of these two source documents. Now which of these examples uses an indirect quote to accurately cite a specific source. Is it the first one? While both were located in the Mediterranean, Rome was more accessible than Greece, which was isolated by the mountains and the sea. From sources one and three. Or is it the second? Rome's location in a middle Mediterranean temperate zone, mint had crops to sell and regular access to trade partners, from source one. Greece, on the other hand, was more isolated. 

The second example correctly cites source one with the information about Rome. In a separate sentence the writer comments about the contrast in the location of Greece. Finally, when citing evidence you must identify where you found it. Since text based essays require you to cite from several different sources. That means you must identify which source document you found your evidence in. Now, the examples we just looked at are called parenthetical citations. They all identified the source by reference number, source one, source two, or source three. You can also introduce your evidence with a signal phrase like, according to source one. I personally like this type of citation because it alerts readers that you're about to present someone else's ideas. These often include a reference to the sources title. The author, or even a combination of identifiers. The signal phrase method of citing evidence also gives you an opportunity to show off your mad vocabulary skills by changing the verb used in the phrase to fit either your topic or the mood you're trying to create. 

This can be especially important when you're writing an argumentative essay, where you want to portray one subject or idea as better than another. Notice how changing the verb in this signal phrase can make it seem as if Rome's location was obviously an advantage. Or give readers a reason to doubt what the author is saying. So let's review what you just learned about siding text evidence. First, when choosing evidence make sure it has a logical connection to the idea you want to support. The source should be trustworthy, and have knowledge of this topic. Sight at least four pieces of text evidence, one or more from every text in the passage set. Don't cite too little, just a word or two, but don't cite too much, trying to summarize an entire article. You can either use direct or indirect quotes. Just be sure quoted evidence is surrounded by quotation marks and copied exactly as it appears in your source. 

Indirect quotes must be in your own words without quotation marks. You must attribute or name your source by title, author, reference letter or line number. You can use an in text citation, which appears in front of the quoted text, or you can use a parenthetical citation which appears after the quoted text. That's a lot to remember, but you've been practicing. And you can always rewind and review this tutorial too. Now, get out there and sight right.