Writing With Sources

When reading a paper have you ever heard any mysterious voices? It may surprise you that you don't have to believe in ghosts to hear or use these voices in writing. "Mysterious voices" are Hjortshoj's terminology for quotes that have no introduction to whom the quote belongs. These quotes are used to support the claims of the author. After reading about "mysterious voices" I realize I wrote all of my English papers in high school without properly giving credit to the author's quote I used. I had no idea that this was the wrong way to do things. I always thought that interrupting my work with an introduction to a quote made the writing seem disconnected. I always wanted the piece to flow well, but now I've seen in examples of introducing authors, the pieces flow very well with introductions included. It even makes the text sound more intellectual and organized.

At Richmond I know I'm going to have to change my ways and get rid of these "mysterious voices". I see now the importance of introducing who says each quote so that the words of the quote and my own personal voice stay separate. Without introducing the author of a quote it becomes difficult to distinguishing which ideas belong to the different authors. Also, not having "mysterious voices" insures that the reader realizes the fact or quote you are giving them originates from some reliable source. Knowing this information benefits the reader since most people don't take the time while reading to look at the works cited page and acknowledge where the information comes from.

I have only had to write one paper so far with quotes this semester at Richmond. I did end up introducing the quotes because they were from different characters in Plato's Symposium. If I had used another outside source I most likely would have used my bad habit of "whispering voices". I'm glad that I know about these voices now so I can avoid them when I'm writing future papers that include outside sources because I really am afraid of ghosts.