citingstories

=Citing Your Stories=


 * Guidelines:** Even though this is a creative assignment, you still must follow proper citation format in your writing. This includes:
 * maintaining a complete and correctly formated Works Cited. Refer to your handout from Ms. Westfall.


 * using parenthetical citations appropriately within the body of your story/article/editorial


 * General Rules of Thumb:**
 * You DO NOT need to cite general information. For example: The 1920s was a decade of general prosperity. This is a common description of the 1920s and does not require a citation.


 * You DO need to cite information/ideas that might surprise the reader or cause doubt.


 * You DO need to cite information/ideas that are not your own. This is not limited to direct quotes. You should supply a citation when you use the //main idea// from another source even if you are paraphrasing.


 * For example, let's say I'm creating a "What's Hot and What's Not" list for Flappers. I include in the "What's Hot" column, a reference to cigarette smoking. I learned about the prevalence of flappers smoking cigarettes from reading a chapter in Frederick Lewis Allen's //Only Yesterday//. I would include a parenthetical citation even though I'm not directly quoting.


 * Another example: I'm writing an editorial on the Scopes Trial. In one paragraph, I argue that the trial was a way for fundamentalists to oppose the changes occurring in American culture during the 1920s. I draw my ideas for this paragraph on information presented in //The American Journey//. I would provide a parenthetical citation at the end of the paragraph.