21.2: Introducing and Integrating Sources

Idea to Essay: Collected Strategies and Readings for the College Writer 4e · LibreTexts

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    Introducing Sources

    Why introduce sources? When putting source information into your paper, introduce your sources the first time you reference them to add context and make the source clear. Taking the time to introduce your sources in your paper before you drop in information from a source will help you to make your source boundaries clear and avoid plagiarism, so this tactic will help you integrate your sources and use them ethically.

    When introducing a source in an MLA paper, generally provide the following information:

    • The author's full name
    • The title
    • A description of the source (article, essay, story, book, etc.)
    • The source's main point
    • A verb describing the source's tone or purpose

    Examples of source introductions

    In her essay "Everything Has a Name", author Helen Keller describes her experience of learning language as a person with disabilities.

     

    Langston Hughes details his process of gaining an education in the essay "Learning to Read and Write."

     

    In the chapter "The Juggler's Brain", author Nicholas Carr explains the neurological effects of using the internet, especially the detrimental effects on memory and reading comprehension.

    See this page on why and how to introduce sources for more help from UC Denver.

    Exercise 21.2: Practicing Source Introductions

    1. Go through the example introductions above and highlight the four parts of each introduction: the author, the title, the description of the source, the verb, and the source's main point.
    2. Now, write your own single sentence introduction for two essays you have read in your English 101 class and discuss with a group.

    This page titled 21.2: Introducing and Integrating Sources was last modified on Tue, 30 Jun 2026 15:54:31 GMT and is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by The Butler Community College English Department.