What Do You Cite?
Obviously you have to give credit for direct quotations. There is no point to including a direct quotation if you don’t credit it. A direct quotation is used for what it says, but also for who said it.
Decide whether each of the following passages about just and unjust laws needs a source citation. Some use words or ideas from paragraph 13 of “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” These are the ones that will need source citations. First read the paragraph by Martin Luther King Jr.
Source: Martin Luther King - march on Washington, National Archives and Records Administration, Wikimedia Commons
Paragraph 13 of “Letter from Birmingham Jail”:
Now, what is the difference between [just and unjust laws]? How does one determine whether a law is just or unjust? A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas: An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law. Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust. All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality. It gives the segregator a false sense of superiority and the segregated a false sense of inferiority.
Now, for each passage below from a student’s essay, decide whether it does or does not require a source citation and choose the corresponding answer. When you’re finished, check your understanding to see more feedback.
Sample Response:
Passage 1 needs no citation because the idea is not taken from King.
Passage 2 needs a citation because it states an idea from King’s paragraph and uses a quote.
Passage 3 needs a citation. It expresses an idea from King’s paragraph, although the idea is stated in different words.
Passage 4 does not need a citation. The statement itself is not an expression of one of King’s ideas.
Passage 5 needs a citation. This statement is an expression in different words of one of King’s ideas.
CloseThe point is that you need to give credit to the people whose ideas you are using. You should not think of this as weakening your writing. You are not losing credit for yourself. You are adding the strength of other people’s ideas to your own thinking. Martin Luther King Jr. gives Aquinas credit because it strengthens his writing.
Using other people’s ideas accurately and appropriately makes your writing better.