Importance of Annotating and Paraphrasing

¶ … practicing how to paraphrase and annotate properly then the current news story featuring Senator Rand Paul and his obvious recent outright (and unapologetic) plagiarism of Wikipedia in his speeches. In defending himself against the fair and accurate characterization of his having plagiarized Wikipedia, the Senator, instead, launched into various ignorant excuses claiming to have been attacked unfairly over minor discrepancies in how one credits or "footnotes" verbal speeches as opposed to written academic work.

In that regard, Senator Paul illustrates the most fundamental element of proper citation, referencing, and annotation: namely, always giving due credit to the author of any original ideas that do not belong to the writer or in the case of the Senator from Pennsylvania, the speaker.

Results and Interpretation I intend to apply the proper rules of paraphrasing in general and in writing my annotated bibliography in particular by always making very sure to identify and give due credit to any source of any original idea or characterization or analysis or conclusion that is not my original idea.

More specifically, I understand that even if I present an idea in an entirely original form in its expression, as long as the underlying idea that I am presenting is not my original intellectual contribution, I must cite the original source appropriately. I intend to structure my arguments so that my thesis is my original idea; and I intend to support my claims and conclusions by presenting ideas of three type, or levels, of attribution.

Those ideas that are presented in the same form as they were originally presented by the author will be quoted with the page numbers of the sources included. Depending on the citation style used, those ideas that are not mine but that are paraphrased in my original wording will be properly cited with or without the page numbers where those ideas appear in the source text.

Finally, (again, depending on the citation style), those ideas that are not mine but that are only general characterizations based on the general reading of a chapter or section of another author's work will be cited without a specific page number. The primary value of annotating a peer-reviewed journal article is that it provided valuable practice in reformulating the ideas of another author in entirely original wording while reinforcing the obligation to acknowledge credit for the ideas appropriately.

I expect that in my management practice this skill will help me avoid ever putting myself in the situation that Senator Paul now finds himself. It has familiarized me with the natural impulse to plagiarize while allowing me to practice the skills necessary to avoid doing so even accidentally. Conclusion Because of this exercise, I would consider myself to have increased my skills in the.