“Be able to integrate their ideas with those of others using summary, paraphrase, quotation, analysis, and synthesis of relevant sources.”
I believe I’ve done a good job of connecting quotes that might not have been immediately connected otherwise. I find a way to make them fit together and further prove my points. My usual process includes coming up with a general idea for the paragraph first and then finding quotes that might have something to do with it-not necessarily quotes that fit right in with my ideas, because at that time my ideas are not very specific, and I don’t have much in mind to write about. The “idea” I usually start with is only a word or two to describe that general topic. Then, I pick out a couple of quotes that also discuss that topic in some way, tie them together, and by then I have new ideas of my own to add on. I think I did a good job of this in my third essay, especially since I was working with brand new material. For example, I took this quote from Turkle,
Which could be used when talking about how the next generation is going to suffer the same fate as adults do now. Then, I connected it to a quote that seems like it is saying the opposite:
This quote talks about how technology is actually doing the writer a favor instead of being detrimental to her development. I connected the two by comparing and contrasting them, saying that they both had some truth to them, and decided to analyze them based on that idea: they both were correct in a way, and therefore “balance is needed.” I feel like connecting them was the easy part, because they were so easily contrastable. All it took was explaining the first quote, then saying “However…” to introduce the second one. The most difficult part of using quotes for me is introducing/explaining quotes, because both parts work to similar effects. It’s difficult to find two ways to explain something without just restating it like it was in the quote itself. I this essay, I took the Turkle quote, and first focused on the big idea in the introduction:
Then followed with the quote, then explained some of the finer details-this being more of a restatement:
In this way, I was able to explain the quote in two ways that were not exactly what Turkle was saying in her own words. With other quotes, I may have done the opposite, and explained the quote more directly first, then connected the big ideas after.
