Chapter Two The Format of a Thesis or Dissertation

2.1 Prefatory Matter

2.1.1 Declaration

Each candidate, upon submitting the thesis or dissertation, must also submit a letter of declaration as shown in Figure 1.

2.1.2 Title Page

A candidate must follow the form of the title page illustrated by Figure 2.

2.1.3 Acknowledgements

A page of acknowledgements offers an opportunity to express thanks to persons who have been helpful and to acknowledge authors and publishers of materials used. If any part of the work is collaborative, it should be specified who contributed what to which sections. The acknowledges are signed with the candidate’s initials, typed or written in permanent black ink.

Figure 1 A Sample Letter of Declaration

I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, it contains no material previously published or written by another person or material which has to a substantial extent been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma at any university or other institute of higher learning, except where due acknowledgment has been made in the text.

Signature: _________

Name: Jiang Linhua

Date: Dec. 21, 2002

Figure 2 A Sample Title Page

Chinese College English Majors’ Reactions to Written Comments on Their Compositions

Mao Xiahong

Under the Supervision of

Professor Wu Keming

Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements

for the Degree of Master of Arts

Department of English

School of Foreign Studies

Nanjing University

February 2003

2.1.4 Abstracts (The Chinese Abstract and the English Abstract)

The content of an abstract cannot be specified uniformly owing to the diversity of possible topics and treatments. It generally contains (1) a statement of purpose, problem, or hypothesis; (2) methods or procedures; (3) results; and (4) conclusions.

To meet international standards, the length of the English abstract is limited to a maximum of 350 words. The length of the Chinese abstract should conform to the requirements of the Graduate School of Nanjing University. Mathematical formulae, diagrams, and other illustrative materials are not recommended for the printed abstract. Reference to specific works in the abstract should be avoided.

The first page should bear the centered heading “ABSTRACT,” the title of the thesis, and the name of the candidate, with quadruple spacing (three lines) before, between and after each item. The text should follow the same paragraph format as the body of the thesis.

2.1.5 Table of Contents

The Table of Contents lists the chapter titles and every subordinate heading, whether major or minor, in exactly the same words that appear in the text. Entries should be single-spaced and separated from one another by one and half spaces. Graduated indentations should precede subordinate headings.

2.1.6 Lists of Tables and Figures

A List of Tables gives the serial number, full title, and page number of every table included in the thesis. A List of Figures on a separate page following the Table of Contents gives the same information for each figure, chart, and illustration.

2.2 Text

2.2.1 Chapters and Headings

Each chapter’s title should appear in bold and enlarged type on a new page (See Figure 3).

Subchapter headings should appear in bold type with initial capitals flush with the left margin.

2.2.2 Paper

Use only A4 white paper of good quality and leave sufficient margins (top: 2.54 cm; bottom: 2.54 cm; left: 3.5 cm; right: 2.54 cm).

2.2.3 Type

The typefaces (fonts) used must be kept consistent throughout the thesis. Times New Roman 12 pt (English) and 宋体 五号/10.5 pt (Chinese) are to be used for the main text, bold Arial (English) and 黑体 (Chinese) for chapter and section titles. Different typefaces may only be used for chapter titles, tables, graphs, appendices, and pagination.

The first line of each paragraph should begin with an indentation of ONE TAB (5 spaces).

The main text should be 1.5 SPACED throughout. SINGLE SPACING should be used for block quotations and illustrative examples. Additional spacing precedes and follows headings as set forth below:

Quadruple spacing (three lines) precedes a chapter number;

1.5 spacing between a chapter number and title;

Quadruple spacing follows a chapter title;

Double spacing precedes a section heading; and

1.5 spacing follows a section heading.

Figure 3 The New Page for a Chapter (Sample)

Chapter Two

Translatability and Functional Equivalence

2.1 Definition of Key Terms

2.2.4 Pagination

All pages of the thesis or dissertation (including appendices) must be numbered in the lower right corner, beginning with the first page of the first chapter. Small Roman numerals (i, ii, iii, iv, etc.) are used for Prefatory Matter (title page, Table of Contents, List of Tables, List of Figures, Acknowledgements, etc.). The title page’s number is omitted, so “ii” should appear on the following page.

2.2.5 Citation

References to materials used in a document enables readers to evaluate its author’s accuracy and deepen their own acquaintances with the issues at hand. Citation systems may differ from one another in details of order, capitalization, abbreviation and punctuation. An M.A. or Ph.D. candidate should consistently adhere to either the MLA’s or the APA’s respective conventions.

A parenthetical citation belongs to the clause in which the cited material occurs and should thus precede the punctuation mark that ends the clause. It is not, however, part of any clause in a block quotation and should accordingly follow the last clause.

2.2.6 Quotations

Quotations must be accurate and must signal changes by use of brackets and ellipses.

A short quotation of fewer than three lines should be incorporated into the text and set off by quotation marks. A comma or period precedes the closing quotation mark under all circumstances even if only one word is quoted. A colon or semicolon always follows the quotation mark. A question mark follows the quotation mark unless the question is itself part of the material quoted.

A longer quotation (of more than three lines) should be set off in a separate paragraph called a “block quotation.” A block quotation is single spaced within margins ONE TAB or five spaces wider than those of its surrounding text. An additional indentation of four spaces should precede the first line that begins a new sentence (rather than continues a sentence from the text). Quotation marks are NOT used at the beginning and end of block quotations.

The reference citation of each quotation must state the exact page or pages quoted.

2.2.7 Tables, Figures, Charts, and Illustrations

Tables and figures should not be wider than the text. In exceptional cases oversized tables or charts may be folded in from the right provided that the same margin is maintained as on a normal text page. Still larger tables and charts may be reduced by a photo-duplication process to paper of standard size.

2.3 Postscriptural Matter

2.3.1 References

All references cited in the text must be listed in a “Works Cited” or “References” section (depending on the style manual the candidate follows) that follows the last chapter but precedes the appendices. The references must be arranged alphabetically by their authors’ surnames and should not be numbered. They should contain the information in the order prescribed by the style manual. The reference list begins a new page.

2.3.2 Appendices

An appendix contains material that threatens to interrupt the thesis’ flow or bore its reader unbearably. Information provided in an appendix should be necessary and complete.

Appendix pages continue the pagination of the thesis as a whole. The letter designation, full title, and page number of each appendix should appear in the Table of Contents.

Chapter Three Sample References

.	Modern Language Association (MLA)	American Psychological Association (APA)	参考文献著录规则（国家标准局1987-05 -05批准）
.	Works Cited	References	参考文献
Journal article	Stewart, Donald C. “What Is an English Major, and What Should It Be?” College Composition and Communication 40 (1989): 188-202.	Roediger, H. L. (1990). Implicit memory: A commentary. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 28, 373-380.	王力胜，医用药理学. 自然杂志，1977, 6(7): 25
Journal article: two authors	Brownell, Hiram H., and Heather H. Potter. “Inference Deficits in Right-Brain Damaged Patients.” Brain and Language 27 (1986): 310-21.	Tulving, E., & Schacter, D. L. (1990). Priming and human memory systems. Science, 247, 301-305.
Journal article: more than two authors	Mascia-Lees, Frances E., Pat Sharpe, and Colleen B. Cohen. “Double Liminality and the Black Woman Writer.” American Behavioral Scientist 31 (1987): 101-14.	Barringer, H. R., Takeuchi, D. T., & Xenos, P. C. (1990). Education, occupational prestige and income of Asian Americans: Evidence from the 1980 Census. Sociology of Education, 63, 27-43.
Book	Graff, Gerald. Professing Literature: An Institutional History. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1987.	Rossi, P. H. (1989). Down and out in America: The origins of homelessness. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Book: revised edition	Erikson, Erik. Childhood and Society. 2nd ed. New York: Norton, 1963.	Kail, R. (1990). Memory development in children (3rd ed.). New York: Freeman.
Book: corporate author	College Board. College-bound Seniors: 1989 SAT Profile. New York: College Entrance Examination Board, 1989.	American Psychiatric Association. (1987). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd ed., rev.). Washington, DC: Author.	上海第一医学院编. 医用药理学. 北京：人民卫生出版社，1977. 25
Book: no author	Guidelines for the Workload of College English Teacher. Urbana: National Council of Teachers of English, 1987.	Standards for educational and psychological tests. (1985). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Edited book	Kerckhove, Derrick de, and Charles J. Lumsden, eds. The Alphabet and the Brain: The Lateralization of Writing. Berlin Springer-Verlag, 1988.	Campbell, J. P., Campbell, R. J., & Associates. (Eds.). (1988). Productivity in organizations. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.	王力胜，李文编. 医用药理学. 北京：人民卫生出版社，1977.
Selection from edited book	Glover, David. “The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of: Masculinity, Femininity, and the Thriller.” Gender, Genre and Narrative Pleasure. Ed. Derek Longhurst. London: Unwin Hyman, 1989. 67-83.	Wilson, S. F. (1990). Community support and integration: New directions for outcome research. In S. Rose (Ed.), Case management: An overview and assessment (pp. 13-42). White Plains , NY: Longman.	王力胜，医用药理学综述. 见：李文等编. 医用药理学. 北京：人民卫生出版社，1977. 25-29
Translated book	Lacan, Jacques. Ecrits: A Selection. Trans. Alan Sheridan. New York: Norton, 1977.	Michotte, A. E. (1963). The perception of causality (T. R. Miles & E. Miles, Trans.). London: Methuen. (Original work published 1946)
Republished book	Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. 1937. Urbana: U of Illinois P, 1978.	Ebbinghaus, H. (1964). Memory: A contribution to experimental psychology. New York: Dover. (Original work published 1885; translated 1913)
Magazine article	Miller, Mark Crispen. “Massa, Come Home.” New Republic 16 Sept. 1981: 29-32.	Gibbs, N. (1989, April 24). How America has run out of time. Time, pp. 58-67.
Newspaper article	“Literacy on the job.” USA Today 27 Dec. 1988: 6B.	Freudenheim, M. (1987, December 29). Rehabilitation in head injuries in business and helath. New York Times, p. D2.	王力胜，医用药理学. 光明日报，1977. 3.25（3）
Review	Kidd, John. “The Scandal of Ulysses.” Rev. of Ulysses: The Corrected Text, by Hans Walter Gabler. New York Review of Books 30 June 1988: 32-39.	Falk, J. S. (1990). [Review of Narratives from the crib]. Language, 66, 558-562.
Report available from ERIC	Baurer, Barbara A. A Study of the Reliabilities and Cost Efficiencies of Three Methods of Assessment for Writing Ability. ERIC, 1981. ED 216 357.	Hill, C., & Larson, E. (1984). What reading tests call for and what children do. Washington, DC: National Institute of Education. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 238 904)
University report	Flower, Linda. The Role of Task Representation in Reading to Write. Technical Report No. 6. Berkeley: Center for the Study of Writing at U of California, Berkeley and Carnegie Mellon U, 1987.	Elman, J., & Zipser, D. (1987). Learning the hidden structure of speech (Report No. 8701). Institute for Cognitive Science, University of California, San Diego.
Dissertation	Hubert, Henry Allan. “The Development of English Studies in Nineteenth-Century Anglo- Canadian Colleges.” Diss. U of British Columbia, 1988.	Thompson, L. (1988). Social perception in negotiation. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL.	王力胜，（学位论文）. 医用药理学. 北京：北京大学英语系，1977. 25
Conference paper	Moffett, James. “Censorship and Spiritual Education.” The Right to Literacy Conference. Columbus, Ohio, September 1988.	Hogan, R., Raskin, R., & Fazzini, D. (1988, October). The dark side of charisma. Paper presented at the Conference on Psychological Measures and Leadership, San Antonio, TX.
Internet articles based on a print periodical	Bleich, Eric. “From International Ideas to Domestic Policies: Educational Multiculturalism in England and France.” Comparative Politics 31.1 (Oct. 1998): 81-90. Expanded Academic ASAP. Middlebury College 2 Aug. 2000 http://myriad.middlebury.edu/verify-iac.	VandenBos, G., Knapp, S., & Doe, J. (2001). Role of reference elements in the selection of resources by psychology undergraduates. Journal of Bibliographic Research, 5, 117-123. Retrieved Oct. 13, 2001, from http://jbr.org/articles.html.
Article in an Internet-only journal	Burka, Lauren P. “A Hypertext History of Multi-User Dimensions.” MUD History. 1993. http://www.utopia.com /talent /lpb/muddex /essay (2 Aug. 1996).	Fredrickson, B. L. (2000, March 7). Cultivating positive emotions to optimize health and well-being. Prevention & Treatment, 3, Article 01a. Retrieved Nov. 20, 2000, from http://journals. apa.org/prevention/volume3/pre01a.html.
Newspaper article (electronic version by search)	Verhovek, Sam Howe. “Microsofts Might Be Better Than One.” The New York Times. 1 May 2000. Retrieved 3 June 2001 <http://www.nytimes.com/ library/tech/00/05/Biztech_articles /01seat.html>.	Hilts, P. J. (1999, February 16). In forecasting their emotions, most people flunk out. New York Times. Retrieved November 21, 2000, from http://www.nytimes.com.
Stand-alone document on the Internet	Eilola, John. “Little Machines: Rearticulating Hypertext Users.” 3 Dec. 1994. ftp://ftp.daedalus. com/pub/CCCC95 /john-eilola (14 Aug 1996).	GVU’s 8th WWW user survey. (n.d.). Retrieved August 8, 2000, from http://www.cc.gatech.edu/gvu/usersurveys/survey1997-10/.
Document available on university program or department Web site	Felluga, Dino. Undergraduate Guide to Literary Theory. 17 Dec. 1999. Purdue University. 15 Nov. 2000 <http://omni.cc.purdue.edu/7Efelluga/theory2.html>.	Chou, L., McClintock, R., Moretti, F., & Nix, D. H. (1993). Technology and education: New wine in new bottles: Choosing pasts and imagining educational futures. Retrieved August 24, 2000, from Columbia University, Institute for Learning Technologies Web site: http://www.ilt.columbia.edu/publications/papers.html.
Electronic copy retrieved from database	Christopher, Warren. “Working to Ensure a Secure and Comprehensive Peace in the Middle East.” U.S. Dept. of State Dispatch 7:14, 1 Apr. 1996. FastDoc. OCLC. File #9606273898 (12 Aug. 1996).	Brockman, E. & Belanger, K. (2001, January). CPA recruiters’ preferences for resume length. Business Communication, 38 (1), 29. Retrieved June 20, 2001, from InfoTrac College Edition database, Article No. A71327300.
Posting to an online discussion group	Stevens, Melissa. “Take Our Daughters to Work Day.” Online posting. 24 Apr. 2001. Career and Workplace Issues Forum. Retrieved 2 May 2001 <http://forums. nytimes.com/webin/WebX?13@@efded73>.	Weylman, C. R. (2001, September 4). Make news to achieve positive press [Msg. 98]. Message posted to http://groups.yahoo. com/group/sales-marketing-tips/ message/98
Online reference source	“Fine Arts.” Dictionary of CulturalLiteracy. 2nd ed. Ed. E. D. Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, and James Trefil. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. 1993. INSO Corp. America Online. Reference Desk/Dictionaries /Dictionary of Cultural Literacy (20 May 1996).	Fine arts. (1993). In E. D. Hirsch, Jr., J. F. Kett, & J. Trefil (Eds.), Dictionary of cultural literacy. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. INSO Corp. America Online. Reference Desk/Dictionaries /Dictionary of Cultural Literacy (20 May 1996).
Software Programs and Video Games	ID Software. The Ultimate Doom. New York: GT Interactive Software, 1995.	ID Software. (1993). The ultimate doom. NY: GT Interactive Software.
Content notes (For further comment, explanation, or information)	Examples are conveniently available in Weinberg. See Segni, Rettorica et poetica d’Aristotile (Firenze, 1549) 281, qtd. in Weinberg 1:405, and Salviati, Poetica d’Aristotle parafrasata e comnetata, 1586, ms. 2.2.11, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, Firenze, 140v, qtd. in Weinberg 1:616-17.
Bibliographic notes (sources or evaluative comments on sources)	For a sampling of materials that reflect the range of experiences related to recent technological changes, see Moulthrop, pars. 39-53; Armstrong, Yang, and Cuneo 80-82; Craner 308-11.
preface/introduction	Doctorow, E. L. Introduction. Sister Carrie. by Theodore Dreiser. New York: Bantam, 1982. v-xi.

Chapter Four Argumentation and Evidence Writing Skills

4.1 Developing a Thesis Statement

A thesis or dissertation is like a long essay made up of short essays, i.e., chapters. Each chapter is likewise made up of shorter essays, i.e., sections and sub-sections. The analogy extends all the way to individual paragraphs, which can be regarded as mini-essays. All these long and short “essays” must be written in a way that best serves their readers: as readers begin to read an essay, what they want to know most (and therefore what you as the writer should tell them first) is the purpose and argument of writing, i.e.,, your thesis.

Every section and paragraph of your thesis or dissertation should include a clear thesis statement. That is to say, everything you write in that section or paragraph should contribute to the exposition of a main point or central idea. The thesis statement specifies your main point or central idea in one or two sentences. Taking the trouble to rewrite these theses as you develop your arguemnt will help you discover what you really want to argue. The following points may help you refine your thesis statements.:

(1) Placement of the thesis statement

Since most of your readers are busy people, you should always provide a thesis early in every section you write in order to establish your position and give your reader a sense of direction. Avoid burying a thesis statement in the middle or deferring it to the end of a paragraph.

(2) Unity of the thesis statement

Specify a single idea to be developed in each section or paragraph. In the following two examples, the writer has split the energy between two topics:

Queen Victoria set the tone of the British Empire, and she allowed powerful prime ministers to take political control of Britain.

Printing has had a long and complex history during which it has brought about social and cultural reforms.

In both cases, two large statements are loosely connected. More unified theses could be developed through clarifying the relationship between the two statements, as in

Queen Victoria set the tone for the British Empire by ruling through a series of prime ministers.

The development of printing sparked the Protestant Reformation by multiplying the text of religious authorities.

If two statements are not going to have an easy marriage, settle on ONE single focus and proceed with further development. Always make sure that each paragraph covers only one topic or one aspect of a topic.

(3) Specificity of the thesis statement

Each thesis statement should provide a restricted focus. Narrow down your discussion to a specific line of argumentation within a broad topic area. Consider the following:

There are serious objections to the communicative approach to language teaching.

Here, the thesis is broad, sprawling or superficial, but consider the following versions:

The communicative approach to language teaching sets out to emphasize cultivating the student’s fluency, but it actually encourages the student to ignore accuracy.

In this case, the thesis is focused, narrow, crisp, and “accomplishable” in a few paragraphs or pages.

(4) Clarity of the thesis statement

Avoid vague (“some,” “certain,” “a kind of,” etc.) or abstract (“interesting,” “negative,” “exciting,” “unusual,” “difficult,” etc.) words that tell the reader next to nothing.

Avoid technical language. Always avoid jargon.

Check to see if you need to define your terms (“internal/external factor,” “translation culture,” “commercialism”) and then decide on the most appropriate place to do so.

4.2 Evidence for the Thesis

You should support every claim you make with specific evidence. Whether you are studying a literary work or reporting the findings from your qualitative data, make clear references to specific facts. Mere assertions with inadequate or no factual support amount to unacceptable dogmatism, and absolutist statements impose logical burdens beyond the capacity of evidence. Consider the following:

Viola notes that a professional fool must be intelligent (3.1.63).

Viola notes that to be a professional fool “craves a kind of wit” (3.1.63).

The second version is preferred to the first because, in the first, the paraphrase is inaccurate and absolutist and leaves out the subtle meanings in Viola’s remark.

After you supply the evidence, you should also explain how such evidence supports the conclusion you draw from it if that is not self-evident. For instance, instead of:

Olivia proves herself a liar when she falls in love with Cesario.

consider:

Olivia’s instant infatuation with Cesario casts doubt on the sincerity of her reported determination to mourn for seven years.

Construct your sentence so that quotations fit their grammatical structure. The sentence should be grammatically correct with or without the quotation marks. Use brackets “[…]” to signal changes made in material cited for grammatical purposes and “[sic.]” to call attention to errors in the material cited.

Chapter Five Plagiarism and Documentation

5.1 Plagiarism

Plagiarism means to take another person’s WORDS or IDEAS without acknowledging where they are from and use them as if they were your own. It can be either deliberate or accidental. Plagiarism is taken very seriously in higher education. In UK universities, for example, if even a small section of your work is found to have been plagiarized, it is likely that you will be given a mark of “0” for that assignment. In more serious cases, you will be asked to repeat the course completely. In some cases, plagiarism may even lead to your expulsion from university.

To avoid either deliberate or accidental plagiarism, you MUST make it clear when the words or ideas that you are using are your own and when they are taken from another writer. The ideas and people that you refer to need to be made explicit by a system of referencing.

5.2 Documentation

Documentation means to use or refer to somebody or something as a source in the writing. If you use a result, observation, or generalization that is not your own, you must document it, i.e. specify its source. This practice is important in the scientific and academic world for three reasons:

(1) It allows the reader to verify your starting position. Good referencing allows one to check the foundations of your additions to the structure of knowledge in the discipline, or at least to trace them back to a level which one judges to be reliable;

(2) It enables the reader to distinguish your original contributions; and

(3) It protects writers against suspicions of cheating or plagiarism.

There are two ways in which you can refer to, or cite, another person’s work: by paraphrase or direct quotation.

5.2.1 Paraphrase

This simply means stating another’s ideas in your own words. You can either paraphrase if you want to keep the length the same or summarize if you want to make it shorter. There are two main ways of showing that you have used another writer’s ideas:

(1) Integral

Kuhiwezak (1990) makes an insightful analysis of the misreading of Milan Kundera’s novel The Joke by both the author’s own country and the West.

(2) Non-integral

An insightful analysis (Kuhiwezak 1990) has been made of the misreading of Milan Kundera’s novel The Joke by both the author’s own country and the West.

They differ in whether or not the name of the cited author occurs in the citing sentence or in parenthesis.

If you refer to a particular part of a source, page number(s) as well as date of publication MUST be supplied. For instance,

Peter Newmark (1988:39-40) notes three characteristically expressive text-types: (a) serious imaginative literature (e.g. lyrical poetry); (b) authoritative statements (political speeches and documents, statutes and legal documents, philosophical and academic works by acknowledged authorities); (c) autobiography, essays, personal correspondence (when these are personal effusions).

5.2.2 Quotation

Occasionally you may want to quote another author’s words exactly. For example:

David Crystal (1985:240) defined pragmatics as “the study of language from the point of view of the users, especially of the choices they make, the constraints they encounter in using language in social interaction, and the effects their use of language has on the other participants in an act of communication.”

The citation “(1985: 240)” (APA style) tells readers that the information in the sentence was derived from Page 240 of a work published in 1985 by an author named Crystal. If readers want more information about this source, they can turn to the References list, where under the name Crystal, they would find the following information:

Crystal, D. (1985). The English Language. Harmondsworth: Penguim.

A quotation should not repeat information or contradict your point. Do not use direct quotation

when the information is well-known in your subject area;

when you cannot understand the meaning of the original source; or

when you are not able to paraphrase the original.

You may wish to omit some of a source’s original words that are not relevant to your argument. An ellipsis “...” indicates such an omission. If you omit any of an author’s original words, make sure you do not change the passage’s meaning. For instance,

He stated, “The ‘placebo effect,’ ... disappeared when behaviors were studied in this manner” (Smith, 1982:276), but he did not clarify which behaviors were studied.

If you need to insert material (additions, explanations, alterations) into a quotation, use brackets ([...]). For instance,

Smith (1982:276) found that “the placebo effect, which had been verified in previous studies, disappeared when [his own and others’] behaviors were studied in this manner.”

If the material quoted already contains a quotation, use single quotation marks for the internal quotation (‘...’).

He stated, “The ‘placebo effect,’ ... disappeared when behaviors were studied in this manner” (Smith, 1982:276), but he did not clarify which behaviors were studied.

If you have not actually read the work to which you are referring, you should cite the secondary source in which you encountered it. In the text, you MUST use one of the following ways to indicate this:

According to Jones (as cited in Smith, 1982:276)…

Do love stories, apart from happening, being, have something to say? For all my skepticism, I had clung to a few superstitions — the strange conviction, for example, that everything in life that happens to me has a sense beyond itself, means something, that life in its day-to-day events speaks to us about itself so that it gradually reveals a secret, that it takes the form of a rebus whose message must be deciphered, that the stories we live in comprise the mythology of our lives and in that mythology lies the key to truth and mystery. Is it all an illusion? Possibly, even probably, but I can’t seem to rid myself of the need to decipher my life continually. (Kundera, 1983:140; cited in Kuhiwezak, 1990:127)

A quotation should add something to the point you are making, supporting your idea with evidence, examples, illustrations, or the weight of an authority, but IT SHOULD NEVER DO YOUR WORK FOR YOU: never try to substitute a quotation for your own analysis, argumentation, illustration, etc.

The citation giving the year of publication is of the APA documentation style. In the MLA style, the parenthetical citation does not include the year of publication. Consider the following example:

Ancient writers attributed the invention of the monochord to Pythagoras, who lived in the sixth century BC (Marcuse 197).

The citation “(Marcuse 197)” indicates that the information was derived from page 197 of a work by an author named Marcuse and that more information about this source is available in the Works Cited list, where readers can find:

Marcuse, Sibyl. A Survey of Musical Instruments. New York: Harper, 1975.

5.2.3 Footnotes

Use footnotes in the following situations:

1. Content notes offering the reader comment, explanation, or information that the primary text cannot accommodate. In the footnote, avoid lengthy discussions that divert the reader’s attention from the primary text. For example, you may use a note to give full publication facts for an original source for which you cite an indirect source and to explain why you worked from secondary material. If you write

The commentary of the sixteenth-century literary scholars Bernardo Segni and Lionardo Salviati shows them to be less-than-faithful followers of Aristotle [1].

you add a footnote

Note

[1] Examples are conveniently available in Weinberg. See Segni, Rettorica et poetica d'Aristotile (Firenze, 1549) 281, qtd. in Weinberg 1:405, and Salviati, Poetica d'Aristotle parafrasata e comnetata, 1586, ms. 2.2.11, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, Firenze, 140v, qtd. in Weinberg 1:616-17.

Then, on your “Works Cited” list, you add

Works Cited

Weinberg, Bernard. A History of Literary Ciriticism in the Italian Renaissance. 2 vols. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1961.

2. Bibliographic notes containing either several sources or evaluative comments on sources. Use notes for evaluative comments on sources and for references containing numerous citations.

Technological advancements have brought advantages as well as unexpected problems [2].

The footnote indicate these sources:

Note

[2] For a sampling of materials that reflect the range of experiences related to recent technological changes, see Moulthrop, pars. 39-53; Armstrong, Yang, and Cuneo 80-82; Craner 308-11.

In “Moulthrop, pars. 39-53,” “pars” means “paragraphs.” All these sources should be documented in detail in the “Works Cited” list, as in

Works Cited

Armstrong, Larry, Dori Jones yang, and Alice Cuneo. “The Learning Revolution: Technology Is Reshaping Education ― at Home and at School.” Business Week 28 Feb. 1994: 80-88.

Craner, Paul M. “New Tool for an Ancient Art: The Computer and Music.” Computers and the Humanities 25 (1991): 303-13.

Moulthrop, Stuart. “You Say You Want a Revolution? Hypertext and the Laws of Media.” Postmodern Culture 1.3 (1991): 53 pars. 12 July 1998 <http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/pmc/text-only/issue.591/moulthro.591>

Chapter Six Editing

Thesis writing is a repeated process of revision. After you finish a draft, you should carefully go over it and reconsider the substance and style of every section, paragraph and sentence. The following are a few things student writers should bear in mind:

(1) Replace forms of “to be” (“is,” “was,” “were,” etc.) with strong active verbs.

First, try to use active voice rather than passive voice. In most cases,

L2 learners notice the “gaps” and “holes” during the enhanced output exercises.

is more direct, more lively and less wordy than

The “gaps” and “holes” are noticed by L2 learners during the enhanced output exercises.

In other situations, we may change nouns ending with “-tion” into verbs. For example, we can transform “frustration” into “frustrate” and “allocation” into “allocate.”

(2) Eliminate strings of prepositions (often a symptom of passive voice).

Compare the following:

Shakespeare’s Hamlet is dominated by a sense of the main character’s brooding over the nature of man in society.

Shakespeare’s Hamlet constantly broods over man’s place in society.

The first version is not nearly so effective as the second because, with a strong of prepositions, it is passive, indirect and vague in meaning.

(3) Be concise.

Beware And beware of pairs of words that sacrifice plain sense to contrived rhythm: “With careless nonchalance, she threw her bag over her shoulder.” Clearly, either “carelessly” or “nonchalantly” will serve your purpose; our purposes, but you we don’t need both.

Also, expletives (“there are”, “it is”) often launch weak sentences: “There are many people who find modernity intimidating.” Try either of the following:

Modernity intimidates many people.

Many people fear modernity.

(4) Use transitional words and phrases to show relationships between clauses.

Notice how, without any transitional words, we cannot be sure what the relationship is between “I stopped exercising” and “I gained 50 pounds.” Did the speaker stop exercising because he had gained fifty pounds? Or did he gain fifty pounds because he stopped exercising? Did exercise or the lack thereof have anything to do with the speaker’s weight gain? A revision should clarify this relationship:

After I stopped exercising, I gained 50 pounds.