Citations

[nanki_c]

Well, i looked for something on this topic but couldn't find anything that explained what I'm about to ask, so if there is a topic, apologies. =)

Through the course of your extended essay, how important is to have citations all the way through? Because though my bibliography has quite a reasonable amount of research, through the essay, there aren't many citations. A lot of what I've mentioned is from books, however, none of it is lifted. Some of it is the kind of thing that must commonly be mentioned when discussing the book i'm doing mine on. I don't know whether ideas that are strictly in your own words, but the basis of which may be from books, should be cited?

Also, in a literature EE, are textual quotes very important? I have a few, but not many at all. As my topic is theme based, on how sin and punishment is portrayed through literature, I don't seem to NEED a lot, but I know the criteria mentions quoting. So basically, how important is it to quote?

And one more thing, I used a lot of book notes (barrons, cliffnotes etc) when I was reading about one of my texts, are they frowned upon in the bibliography?

Thanks in advance. =)

Edited February 9, 2008 by nanki_c

[Afterglow]

The basic thing;

- support your arguments using examples such as quotes

- only bring up examples, quotes or statements that are relevant.

- always and I mean always, provide reference for things that is not yours.

The thing is, if you do your EE in literature, you might read some literary criticism and then they might bring up an idea or theory that you didn't originally think of but that you think may be reasonable for your essay. Since this isn't your original idea, it is someone's else and thus you need to cite.

You don't need quotes to cite someone. It can simply be one or two sentences in which you talk about it and then you put a footnote for the reference of where you got this information.

As for cliffnotes and such, I cannot honestly say much about it. I asked my teacher when I wrote mine what she thought about sparknotes and she said she would avoid it so I avoided it.

Edited February 9, 2008 by Afterglow

[nanki_c]

The basic thing;

- support your arguments using examples such as quotes

- only bring up examples, quotes or statements that are relevant.

- always and I mean always, provide reference for things that is not yours.

The thing is, if you do your EE in literature, you might read some literary criticism and then they might bring up an idea or theory that you didn't originally think of but that you think may be reasonable for your essay. Since this isn't your original idea, it is someone's else and thus you need to cite.

You don't need quotes to cite someone. It can simply be one or two sentences in which you talk about it and then you put a footnote for the reference of where you got this information.

As for cliffnotes and such, I cannot honestly say much about it. I asked my teacher when I wrote mine what she thought about sparknotes and she said she would avoid it so I avoided it.

Thanks for the help =).

I realise that you don't need quotes to cite someone, i meant when you use an idea found somewhere else to develop your own. The thing is, say you mention something about the structure of your piece. For example, in Dante's inferno, it is structured in three's (several examples for this), which i did read somewhere but then developed to argue my essay. Do i still need to cite where I read this originally? It is very possible that I came by the idea honestly and then read about it and then developed my argument further. I know you just said cite everything, but that would mean an awful lot of citations =p.

Edited February 9, 2008 by nanki_c

[IBStuck]

As for cliffnotes and such, I cannot honestly say much about it. I asked my teacher when I wrote mine what she thought about sparknotes and she said she would avoid it so I avoided it.

my advisor sia the same thing, she said i could read them if i wanted to help me understan the tex better, but not to use them in my paper.

and afterglow is right about the citations, you want to support what you have with direct or inderect quotes.

you could also do endnotes instead of the footnotes, and then have your biblograhpy at the end.

with my EE i just used internal citations, and then have my biblography at the end

[Chuck10112]

And one more thing, I used a lot of book notes (barrons, cliffnotes etc) when I was reading about one of my texts, are they frowned upon in the bibliography?

Thanks in advance. =)

You should definitely steer clear of any booknotes, especially mainstream companies like Barrons and Cliffnotes, remember that they want your ideas not someone elses.

[nanki_c]

Okay, i see about the citations/book notes, thank you very much everyone. =)