“Writing from Sources” by Brenda Spatt – To the Student

The post below was taken from the Introduction session To the Student written in this book. Enjoy!

Information about this book

Spatt, Brenda. Writing from Sources. 7th ed. New York; Bedford/ St. Martin’s, 2007. ISBN – 10: 0-312-43797-8

 

The good aspects of this book:

• A stronger focus on academic writing throughout the book, with examples of documentation presented throughout and more frequent practice in working with academic sources
• Nine new exercises to provide practice on topics such as selecting quotable material, identifying plagiarism, and documenting sources
• Expanded sections in Chapter 1 on analyzing sources to determine the author’s thesis, method, intention, use of evidence, and possible logical fallacies
• A new section on incorporating visual materials, ranging from charts to pictures to film clips, into the research essay
• A new chapter sequence that makes Writing from Sources easier for you and your students to use
• A new, easier-to-follow layout that includes more headings, lists, and marginal annotations
• A new section on writing introductions and conclusions
• A new model research essay–“Looking at Horror Films”–using MLA documentation and including an opinion survey (Spatt vii)

 

This book provides explanation about the following steps in academic writing:

1. Choosing a topic
2. Finding sources and acquiring information
3. Determining your main idea
4. Presenting your sources
5. Organizing your material
6. Writing your assignment
7. Giving credit to your sources (Spatt xi-xii)

 

Table of Contents of this book

Part I. Making Sources Your Own

• Reading for Understanding

Part II. Presenting Your Sources to Others

• Summarizing Sources
• Quoting Sources
• Paraphrasing Sources

Part III. Writing from Sources

• The Single-Source Essay
• The Multiple-Source Essay

Part IV. Writing the Research Essay

• Finding Sources
• Evaluating Sources
• Writing the Research Essay
• Acknowledging Sources
• Three Research Essays
• Some Basic Forms for Documentation: MLA, APA, and Endnotes

Appendix A. Writing Essay Examinations

Appendix B. Readings for a Research Essay

======================

The book can be purchased here: WRITING FROM SOURCES