Week 12 — Readings & Resources · The Research-Based Argument

Course: English Composition (ENGL 1A) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Lindgren
Objective covered: Objective 5 — Find, evaluate, and integrate credible sources without plagiarizing (this week: synthesize and integrate sources in service of an argument). · SLO A / SLO B

How to use this page

Everything here is a link to an external resource — open it in your browser, the same way you'd open a YouTube link. Nothing needs to be downloaded, and there is nothing to buy.

This week's load is focused: 3 short readings + 1 video, grouped by the week's three moves — integrate, synthesize, and document — plus one optional free reference. Read or watch one item per group and you're ready for the quiz; do all of them and you'll be ready to write the essay. Total time is roughly 30–45 minutes if you do everything, far less if you pick one per group.

Reading order that matches the lecture: ① integrate evidence (signal phrases → the four-part move) → ② synthesize sources (put them in conversation) → ③ document them in MLA (in-text + works cited). Keep one line in front of you all week: a research paper is not a report — it makes a case, and the sources back YOUR claim.

A habit to start now: before any borrowed idea goes into your essay, run the four-part move in your head — Did I introduce the source (signal phrase)? Did I quote or paraphrase it? Did I cite it correctly (MLA)? Did I say why it supports my claim? And before you trust a source an AI handed you: open it and find the exact words. If you can't, it doesn't go in.

① Integrate the Evidence — signal phrases + the four-part move

Maps to Lecture Segments 3 & 5. Real integration is a four-part move — signal phrase + quote/paraphrase + MLA citation + your analysis. A quote dropped in with no lead-in and no analysis is a "quote bomb," not integration.

Reading — "Signal and Lead-in Phrases" (Purdue OWL)
🔗 https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/using_research/quoting_paraphrasing_and_summarizing/signal_and_lead_in_phrases.html
Why it's assigned: the cleanest list anywhere of the lead-ins that introduce a source — argues, claims, finds, suggests, notes — with MLA's present-tense verbs called out. This is the first part of the integration move; master it and your quotes stop landing with a thud. (Notice it uses a generic "Jane Doe" as the sample author — a model worth copying: don't invent a real author's words.)
⏱ ~6 min

Reading — "Source Integration" (Excelsior OWL)
🔗 https://owl.excelsior.edu/argument-and-critical-thinking/using-evidence/using-evidence-source-integration/
Why it's assigned: a short, practical walk through summarizing, paraphrasing, and quoting in service of your own argument — the exact "sources support your claim, they don't replace it" framing we drew in class. Pairs perfectly with the four-part move. (Excelsior OWL is a free, college-run writing lab.)
⏱ ~7 min

② Document the Sources — MLA in-text + works cited

Maps to Lecture Segments 3, 5 & 7. Every borrowed idea — quote or paraphrase — gets an MLA in-text citation, and every in-text citation matches a works-cited entry. The line to carry: quotation marks aren't the trigger for a citation; borrowing is.

Reading — "Works Cited: A Quick Guide" (MLA Style Center)
🔗 https://style.mla.org/works-cited/works-cited-a-quick-guide/
Why it's assigned: the authoritative, plain-language explainer of the MLA core-elements / container model — the order every works-cited entry follows (Author. Title of Source. Title of Container, Other contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, Location.). This is the official MLA site; when a citation generator and this page disagree, this page wins.
⏱ ~8 min

Reference — "MLA In-Text Citations: The Basics" (Purdue OWL)
🔗 https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_in_text_citations_the_basics.html
Why it's here: the rules for the parenthetical — MLA's author–page method, why the author's name can sit in your signal phrase or in the parentheses, and what to do when a web source has no page number. Keep this open while you cite. (Optional companion: the MLA Interactive Practice Template — 🔗 https://style.mla.org/interactive-practice-template/ — lets you build a real works-cited entry field by field.)
⏱ ~7 min

③ Video — quoting, citing, and giving credit

Maps to Lecture Segments 3 & 7. A fast tour of why we quote and cite at all, and how to do it without slipping into plagiarism — the spine of integrating sources into an argument.

Video — "Citations and Quotes | Study Hall Composition #7" (ASU + Crash Course)
🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02XdhmeFgH4
Why it earns the click: a lively, first-year-composition-specific run through acknowledging the ideas and phrases that someone else said first — quoting, citing, and crediting — from the Study Hall Rhetoric & Composition series we've used all term. Watch it before you draft.
⏱ ~10 min

Optional one-stop reference (free online text)

If you'd like one optional reference for the research-and-citation stretch, the OpenStax Writing Guide with Handbook keeps its full text free to read online and includes sections on argument, using evidence, and MLA documentation — a reputable, currently-available college writing reference.
🔗 https://openstax.org/details/books/writing-guide
Why it's here: a free, returnable reference for the whole course — optional this week. (Linked as a free reference; this course makes no open-license or copyright claim about it.)

Pick-one quick path (≈16 min total)

In a hurry? Do exactly these two and you'll be ready for the quiz:
1. Read "Signal and Lead-in Phrases" (group ①) — the front half of the integration move.
2. Read "MLA In-Text Citations: The Basics" (group ②) — so your citations are correct, not just confident.

Heads-up (links rot): these point to outside sites that occasionally move or rename pages. If a link ever fails, tell Prof. Lindgren and use the free OpenStax reference above in the meantime. Nothing here is hosted by our course — these are all external resources, linked, not reproduced. And the week's whole point: a perfectly-formatted citation can still be false. Verify every source you cite against the real thing — especially any an AI gives you.