How to quote effectively

Saturday, December 9, 2006

The most effective way to use quotations from literature (or other texts) is to work them into your own ideas.  To do this, you rely on summary, paraphrase, and transitions to lead you into the most important supporting phrases.

GUIDELINES TO USE WHEN QUOTING:

(1)   Never begin a sentence with a quotation.  You must use an introductory statement

to give context to the quotation and show its purpose in your essay.

Some examples of introductory statements are given below (they are underlined). 

A. James says, “The death penalty is inefficient and inhumane” (41).

 B. According to Leu, “Our society would be uncivilized without the death penalty” (42).

C. James believes there is no logical reason to use capital punishment:  “The death penalty is inefficient and inhumane” (41). 

D.  Although some critics say the death penalty is unconstitutional, Leu argues that “our society would be uncivilized without the death penalty” (42).

(2) Never quote an incomplete sentence.  When using ellipsis (…), to indicate you’ve removed words, make sure the parts of the quote you are connecting form a complete sentence.

(3) Never leave a quote floating in the middle of a paragraph without an explanation before and/or after the quotation.  Before the quote you want to provide enough background from the text so that the quote makes sense.  After the quote, you need to explain what it means, how it connects to the topic sentence, and why this is important to your topic overall.  In other words, always explain what the quotation is doing in your paper. 

(4) Use a colon (:) when you are using a complete sentence as your introductory statement (see example 1(C) above).  This is a good option when your sentence leads nicely into a full sentence quote from the text.   

Use a comma (,) when you are using an incomplete sentence (phrase) as your introductory statement (examples 1(A) and 1(B) above). 

If you weave the quote into a sentence (example 1(D)), then you do not have to use any punctuation.

ADDITIONAL GUIDELINES

·         Always use present tense when discussing an author’s ideas (notice that the quotes

·         Always cite all quotations with quotation marks; if you use a writer’s exact words.  Failure to do so, constitutes plagiarism.

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Book Review - The Starbucks Experience

Thursday, December 7, 2006

Currently I am reading the book "The Starbucks Experience: 5 Principles for Turning Ordinary into Extraordinary" by Joseph Michelli. This is a very interesting book giving details of five principle followed by the Starbucks staff - starting from the CEO to the Partners (the Baristas).

The Starbucks Experience: 5 Principles for Turning Ordinary into Extraordinary covers day-to-day incidents in Starbucks on how they handle various scenarios that a business could face. The most interest principle I found was "Embrace resistance". Very few corporate in today's world would take a resistance and make it a business opportunity. Examples varying from taking note of community feelings to quick response on complaints / suggestions have been mentioned. Starbucks is a true example of the phrase: "A TRUE entrepreneur is one who sees opportunities where others see problems". Each Partner is trained to owned the company and hence be an Entrepreneur in his / her own right

The five principles of Starbucks (according to Joseph Michelli) are:

1. Make it your own: all people in the organization feel a true sense of ownership and believe that they have a stake in the success of the company.

2. Everything matters: What goes on behind the counter is just as important as what customers see. Cleanliness, atmosphere, a desired product, customer service, are all important and no detail should ever be overlooked.

3. Surprise and delight: Using as an example the success of Crackerjacks as a snack that people enjoyed that also caught them by surprise when first introduced, Starbucks tries to have new and innovative ways to attract new customers and keep committed customers interested so that the business never becomes static.

4. Embrace resistance: Starbucks, unlike many businesses, does not rely on good public relations to be rid of problems and criticisms. Instead, Starbucks tries to engage in discussions with its dissenters to convince where it's necessary and change when change is what is necessary.

5. Leave your mark: Making money may be a goal of any business, but businesses also have a responsibility to contribute to the greater good. Starbucks does this through financial transparency, involvement in the community, a commitment to making sure that its suppliers are justly paid, and delivering a quality product.

Overall The Starbucks Experience: 5 Principles for Turning Ordinary into Extraordinary is a good read for someone who wants to practice a culture of entrepreneurship and service quality in their enterprise

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How to write articles fast?

Sunday, October 8, 2006

With the internet business blooming off late, more and more people get into the business and various job opportunities available online. There are so many affiliate programs and various ways one can earn money. The most popular and in boom at this time is the content writing job. Often people ask and want to know the best and fastest way to use for writing articles relevantly and error free. I am sure there are many people who want to know the way to go about this. So let me share some of my experience about writing articles and content for web.

One of the most important and key factor to be kept in mind about article writing is the knowledge. There are two ways one can opt for while writing articles either use your knowledge or use research as a resource. However as said earlier definitely the knowledge is the better and faster way of writing articles. Lets say for an example that you have an interest and follow soccer closely and have zilch knowledge about computers and the applications used in this fast paced environment. Put this simple logic and examine yourself and you will realize that you can write double the pace and fast than what you can write for computer applications and the simple reason behind this is that while writing soccer related articles your knowledge helps you write faster whereas when it comes to the latter on you waste your time doing research.

Article writing can prove to be time consuming and stressful initially but one can get acquainted to it if kept practicing. With time you will also see the difference in the speed of writing, it is already beneficial you can do multi work that is one who has good typing speed as well as runs the thought process at same pace. This helps particularly if you have knowledge about the topic you are writing on.

Talking about the articles which need lot of research to be done before you type anything is usually time consuming initially. However once you practice, gradually you will learn the tricks of getting information faster and at the right place. Let’s say you are writing articles on video games, the first time you need to do a bit of research, search for various details however once you have already written on this topic, you have a fair idea of what it is all about and whenever in future if you get a similar topic you can use your knowledge as well as a bit of new research which might be needed. However it makes things a little simpler. This way one gets to learn a lot about things belonging to various niches.

It is also advisable to follow a set pattern like if it is 500 words article, you can divide the words depending on the importance of the topic into various headlines like introduction, causes and symptoms, methods and ways to solve the problem and why solving the problem is essential. One can also finds various ways of writing articles and a guide for same online.

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The Career Novelist - A Book Review

Friday, February 3, 2006

THE CAREER NOVELIST by Donald Maass
Heinemann Trade
a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.
Copyright 1996
ISBN 0-435-08134-9
$15.95

If you read only one book on writing this year, make that book THE CAREER NOVELIST by Donald Maass. I have added Mr. Maass to my list of Unknown Mentors. These are the people who have helped me hone my natural talent, master the requisite skills, and taught me about the writing business.

Why buy this book? What makes it different from all the other books on writing? Donald Maass is a successful literary agent who knows writing and publishing. What he has to say about the importance of fiction echoes my own thoughts: that it’s a way of understanding ourselves and the world around us and that the world needs storytellers. “In our world of dislocation, of declining institutions, it is imperative that the values that bind us together be reaffirmed.” He asserts that the solo storyteller can show us “new ways of seeing and new paths toward understanding.” (The Career Novelist, p.xvi)

THE CAREER NOVELIST is not a writing primer. Rather it is book that offers hope in this difficult marketplace. Yes, Mr. Maass tells us, there is plenty of bad news out there for writers, but, there is also good news. Read this book, and you will feel hope blossom in your writer's heart like a cactus flower after unexpected rain.

In a conversational style so intimate one feels as if Mr. Maass is sitting next to the reader, he reveals what a writer needs to know in order to be a successful career novelist.

When you finish the book, you will be able to write your own business plan, which is what all writers want a good agent to do for them. You'll know where you have failed in the past. You'll know what the next logical step in your career should be.

Whether you are just beginning to write and wonder if you have the skill and talent needed to create a career as a novelist or you are a writer who feels stuck in midlist or you are a writer who wonders what you are doing wrong, this book is for you. Everyone jokes about the secret of getting published. Well, this comes as close to a secret as anything I've read.

In closing, let me say, in case you didn't get the message loud and clear. Buy this book! You'll thank me, and you'll thank Mr. Maass for writing it.

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Book Review: Justin Cronin’s The Summer Guest

Friday, January 6, 2006

Justin Cronin’s follow-up to his short story collection Mary and O’Neil is a

haunting novel that takes the reader on a journey to the deepest, most secluded parts of New England. The Summer Guest takes place primarily in a fishing camp in a remote area of Maine. A wealthy entrepreneur named Harry Wainwright who is dying of cancer visits the camp, which has been a special place of refuge for him. He has returned one last time to catch his final fish. The story also focuses on the camp owner, Joe Crosby, his wife Lucy and daughter Kate, and Jordan, Harry Wainwright’s favorite fishing guide. Cronin weaves the lives of the characters together, bringing the reader along on a fifty year journey that reveals the significance that this fishing camp has to each character.

The Summer Guest is skillful and guides the reader through several decades of family history with ease. The most interesting feature of the story is its point-of-view; each chapter is told in first person from alternating viewpoints. Harry, Joe, Lucy, Jordan, and finally Kate each get an opportunity to reveal their journey to the moment when Harry visits the camp for his final time. In this way Cronin slowly draws the reader into an understanding of the camp’s significance to the people who live and play there, and the place itself becomes the most important character of all.

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