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Entering Academic

Conversations
Julie Malsbury, MA
Adapted from Nelson Graff
Director of University Writing Program
Reporting Conversations
Think about a time that you reported to a friend something a different
friend said to another (for instance, you, Julia, Wanda, and Alex are
good friends. You were in a conversation with Julia and Wanda, and
you tell Alex what Julia said to Wanda).

How would you phrase what you would say to Alex (substituting your
friends names, of course).

Now, how you would report that conversation to someone who doesnt
know either of your friends.
Reporting Conversations in
Professional Contexts
Imagine you work at a coffeeshop.
When you begin work today, your manager (Nancy, who is also
your friend) tells you that the store has a new policy--
customers must be over five feet tall in order to be served
caffeine. A stand with the sign, You must be at least this tall
to order caffeinated drinks has been installed next to the
order counter.
Whatever you think of the new policy, for today at least you
must enforce it if you want to keep your job.
Which of the following might you say to a customer youve never seen
before who is under five feet tall and who orders an espresso?
1.Ill be happy to make that a decaf espresso for you. My friend Nancy
told me that its now company policy not to serve caffeine to people
under five feet tall.
2.Ill be happy to make that a decaf espresso for you. According to my
manager, its company policy as of today not to serve caffeine to
people under five feet tall.
3.Ill be happy to make that a decaf espresso for you. According to my
manager, its company policy not to serve caffeine to people under
five feet tall.
4.Ill be happy to make that a decaf espresso for you. I dont serve
caffeine to people under five feet tall.
Which of the following might you say to a regular customer who is under
five feet tall and who orders an espresso?
1.Ill be happy to make that a decaf espresso for you. My friend Nancy
told me that its now company policy not to serve caffeine to people
under five feet tall.
2.Ill be happy to make that a decaf espresso for you. According to my
manager, its company policy as of today not to serve caffeine to
people under five feet tall.
3.Ill be happy to make that a decaf espresso for you. According to my
manager, its company policy not to serve caffeine to people under
five feet tall.
4.Ill be happy to make that a decaf espresso for you. I dont serve
caffeine to people under five feet tall.
Audience and Citation
In academic contexts, your audience is a professional
community. The professional organization for that
community has agreed on conventions of formatting and
citation.
Usciences Writing Programs uses APA
Specific disciplines may use other style manuals, and
individual academic journals may have their own style
manual.
Internal Citations in MLA Style
Parenthetical citations after quotes or paraphrases
Generally authors last name and page number, for
example (Cortright xi)
Note--no date, no comma
If theres no known author, use a shortened version of the
title.
[W]hatever signal word or phrase you provide to your
readers in the text, must be the first thing that appears on
the left-hand margin of the corresponding entry in the
In APA style, which of the following would be better:
(from Graff, Gerald, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russel Durst. They Say/I Say. 3rd ed. New York:
W.W. Norton & Company. Print.
1. Experienced writing instructors have long recognized that writing well means entering
into conversation with others.
2. Experienced writing instructors have long recognized that writing well means entering
into conversation with others (Graff, Birkenstein, and Durst xviii).
3. Graff, Birkenstein, and Durst claim, Experienced writing instructors have long
recognized that writing well means entering into conversation with others (xviii).
4. Graff, Birkenstein, and Durst claim, Experienced writing instructors have long
recognized that writing well means entering into conversation with others (Graff,
Birkenstein, and Durst xviii).
Formatting
1.Graff, Birkenstein, and Durst claim, Experienced writing
Note the comma after the Note that end punctuation
verb.
instructors have long recognized
follows that writing well means
the parenthetical
entering into conversation
citation. with others (xviii).

Note the absence of page or


p.
Reference Page
Starts on a new page
Titled References (Centered, without quotation marks)
Double spaced
No extra spaces between entries
Use a hanging indent (.5 indent on second and later lines of
entry)
No date with retrieval url
Punctuation matters for your ethos as a scholar.
Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Journal Volume.Issue (Year): pages.
Medium of publication.
Which of the following is correct?
1. Greene, S. (2001). The question of authenticity: Teaching writing in a first-
year college history of science class. Research in the Teaching of English, 35
(4), 525569.
2. Greene, Stuart. The Question of Authenticity: Teaching Writing in a First-
Year College History of Science Class. Research in the Teaching of English
35.5 (2001): 525-569. ERIC.
3. Greene, Stuart. The question of authenticity: Teaching writing in a first-year
college history of science class. Research in the Teaching of English 35.5

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