Week 12 — Quiz (auto-graded) · The Research-Based Argument

Course: English Composition (ENGL 1A) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Lindgren
Objective tested: Objective 5 — synthesizing and integrating credible sources in service of an argument (with MLA in-text mechanics from Objective 6).
Points: 10 (1 each) · Assignment group: Quizzes (10% of grade) · Due: end of Module 12. AI is not permitted on quizzes.

This is the human-readable quiz with its vetted answer key and feedback. The import-ready Classic QTI is in F-quiz-week-12-qti.xml (generated by a validated script — parses with 10 items, every single-answer item exactly one correct). The Canvas placement block is at the bottom of this file. No free-response items — all auto-gradable (MC / multiple-answer / matching / true-false).

Blueprint

No trick questions; distractors target the Week 12 misconceptions named in the lecture outline. Every example passage uses a clearly-labeled instructor sample source ("A. Mara"); no real author is quoted and no real source is invented. The MLA in-text format in Q7 is verified correct against the linked Purdue OWL / MLA Style Center pages.

Questions, key, and feedback

Q1 (MC). What makes a research-based argument different from a report?
- A. A report is always longer than an argument
- B. A report collects and relays what sources say; a research-based argument makes a case for the writer's own arguable claim, using sources as evidence ✅
- C. An argument is not allowed to use any sources
- D. There is no real difference between them
Feedback: A report aims at coverage; a research-based argument takes a side (an arguable claim that is yours) and uses credible sources to support it. Test: if you removed your claim and the paper still stood, you wrote a report.

Q2 (MC). Which of these is synthesis rather than summary?
- A. Devoting one paragraph to each source, one after another
- B. Showing how two sources relate — e.g., one establishes the demand and the other shows whom it affects most — and pointing both at your claim ✅
- C. Quoting a single source at length with no comment
- D. Listing every source you found in a works-cited list
Feedback: Synthesis puts sources in conversation (they agree, extend, or disagree) and connects them to your point. Summarizing each source in its own sealed box (A) is a list, not synthesis.

Q3 (MC). Integrating a piece of evidence into an argument requires —
- A. only a direct quotation in quotation marks
- B. only a correct citation at the end of the sentence
- C. a signal phrase, the quotation or paraphrase, a correct citation, AND your analysis explaining why it supports your claim ✅
- D. as many quotations as possible, packed together
Feedback: Real integration is the four-part move: signal phrase → quote/paraphrase → MLA citation → your analysis. A quote or a citation alone isn't integration — the analysis (why it matters to your claim) is what makes the evidence argue.

Q4 (MC). A "quote bomb" (a "dropped" quote) is —
- A. a quotation that is too emotional for academic writing
- B. a quotation dropped into a paragraph with no signal phrase introducing it and no analysis explaining why it matters ✅
- C. any quotation longer than one sentence
- D. a quotation that is correctly cited in MLA
Feedback: A quote bomb is evidence with no lead-in and no follow-through — the reader is left to guess who the source is and why it counts. The cure is the four-part move, especially the analysis that ties it to your claim.

Q5 (MC). Read these options about a sample source. Which sentence integrates the source well?
- A. "Study space matters." "Late-night space boosts performance" (Mara 14).
- B. As education researcher A. Mara argues, late-night study space tracks with stronger exam results (Mara 14) — a finding that matters most during finals week, when quiet space is scarcest for the students who need it. ✅
- C. (Mara 14).
- D. A. Mara once wrote a study about studying.
Feedback: Option B has the full move: a signal phrase ("As education researcher A. Mara argues"), the borrowed idea, a correct MLA in-text citation ("(Mara 14)"), and analysis tying it to the claim. A is a quote bomb; C is a bare citation; D names a source but gives no evidence or analysis.

Q6 (Matching). Match each step of the integration move to its job.
| Step | Correct job |
|---|---|
| Signal phrase | Introduces the source and tells the reader you're about to borrow |
| Quotation or paraphrase | Supplies the borrowed evidence (exact words, or the idea in your words) |
| MLA in-text citation | Credits the source and points to the works-cited entry (author–page) |
| Your analysis | Explains why this evidence supports your claim |
Feedback: The four parts each have a distinct job — introduce, supply, credit, explain. Drop any one and the integration breaks; drop the analysis and you've left a quote bomb.

Q7 (MC). In an essay using a source by an author named Mara (with the quotation on page 14), which MLA in-text citation is formatted correctly?
- A. (Mara 14) ✅
- B. (Mara, 14)
- C. (Mara, p. 14)
- D. (Mara, 2024, p. 14)
Feedback: MLA uses the author–page method with no comma and no "p." between the author's last name and the page number: (Mara 14). (B adds an incorrect comma; C uses the "p." that belongs to APA; D is full APA author-date style. Verified against Purdue OWL "MLA In-Text Citations: The Basics" and the MLA Style Center.)

Q8 (True / False). "In a research-based argument, credible sources can take the place of your own argument — if your sources are strong, you don't really need a claim of your own."
- True
- False ✅
Feedback: False. Sources support your claim; they don't replace it. The argument — the claim and the reasoning that connects evidence to it — must be yours. A pile of citations with no thesis convinces no one.

Q9 (MC). You restate a source's idea entirely in your own words (a paraphrase, with no quotation marks). Do you need an MLA citation?
- A. No — citations are only required for word-for-word quotations
- B. Yes — every borrowed idea needs a citation, whether you quote it or paraphrase it ✅
- C. Only if the source is a book
- D. Only if you used three or more words from the original
Feedback: Yes. Quotation marks are not the trigger for a citation — borrowing is. A paraphrase still uses someone else's idea, so it still needs credit. Uncited paraphrase is plagiarism even when the words are your own.

Q10 (Multiple answer — select all that apply). A fully-integrated piece of evidence in a research-based argument includes which of the following?
- A. A signal phrase that introduces the source ✅
- B. The quotation or paraphrase (the borrowed evidence) ✅
- C. A correct MLA in-text citation ✅
- D. Your own analysis explaining why the evidence supports your claim ✅
- E. A guarantee that more sources will raise your grade
Feedback: Full integration is the four-part move — A, B, C, and D. Source-dumping (E) is the opposite of good integration: a few well-integrated, well-analyzed sources beat a pile of name-dropped ones, and your own voice should be the majority of the paper.

Answer key (quick reference)

Quality gate (self-checked): each single-answer item (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4, Q5, Q7, Q9, and the T/F Q8) has exactly one correct option; the matching item (Q6) pairs the four integration steps to four distinct, correct jobs one-to-one; the multiple-answer item (Q10) keys A, B, C, D (and requires E left unselected). Source-integrity check: every example passage uses a clearly-labeled instructor sample source ("A. Mara") — no real author is quoted, no real source or quotation is invented, and nothing is misattributed. The MLA in-text format tested in Q7 — (Mara 14), author–page with no comma and no "p." — is verified correct against the linked Purdue OWL "MLA In-Text Citations: The Basics" and the MLA Style Center; the three distractors are the standard real-world errors (stray comma, APA "p.", full APA author-date). The integration definitions (four-part move, quote bomb, synthesis, cite-the-paraphrase) match the Week-12 lecture and the linked Purdue OWL / Excelsior OWL pages. No computation in this quiz. No free-response items. Citation-integrity + correct-conventions gate: PASS.

Item-bank entries (for variants + the midterm/final)

All ten items are tagged course=ENGL1A · week=12 · objective=5 · topic=research-based-argument-integration-synthesis-mla and deposited in Item Bank: Week 12 — The Research-Based Argument. The final (Week 16) and the per-term variant updates draw fresh items from this bank. (Tags: q1 argument-vs-report, q2 synthesis-vs-summary, q3 integration-requires, q4 quote-bomb, q5 which-integrates-well, q6 integration-steps-match, q7 mla-intext-correct, q8 sources-replace-argument-tf, q9 cite-paraphrase, q10 fully-integrated-parts.)

Canvas placement block

canvas_object   = Quizzes::Quiz
title           = "Week 12 Quiz — The Research-Based Argument"
assignment_group = "Quizzes"
points_possible = 10
grading_type    = points
due_offset_days = 6        # 6 days after module start
published       = true
shuffle_answers = true
ai_permitted    = false    # AI is not permitted on quizzes
provenance      = "~ Prof. Lindgren's edition · Fall 2026 · built with thecoursemaker.com"