Attribution
Attribution, according to the glossary in the back of your text, is:
- The source of a news story or of a fact within a story. To
attribute is indicate the source of a story or fact and thus give
the information authenticity.
In other words, attribution is that part of a quote, whether direct
or indirect, where we say who is doing the talking.
There are four areas of attribution I want to cover here:
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Where to put attribution
Again, think of this as adding tools to your writing tool kit. There
are only three possible places to place attribution in a sentence.
You can put it at the beginning of a sentence:
- Smith said, "I am in the this race to win."
- Smith said that he is in this race to win.
- You can put the attribution at the end of the sentence.
- "I am in this race to win," Smith said.
- He is in this race to win, Smith said.
- Or, you can find a logical place somewhere in the middle of
the sentence to pause and put the attribution.
- "It's not likely," Smith said, "that I would
do that."
- It's not likely, Smith said, that he would do that.
That's pretty basic --I sometimes can't believe they pay me good
money to teach things as simple as that. But the point is that when
writing your story you have six tools to use when it comes to attribution.
Think of the tools as a brand new set of screwdrivers. You certainly
can do most repair jobs with just one screwdriver, but sometimes
you need a small flat blade screwdriver and sometimes you need a
small Phillips screwdriver. Or maybe you would be better off with
big blade screwdrivers. And just try using one of those on a screw
that requires a hex screwdriver! You might as well use a hammer!
The author of this text and workbook gives those attribution tools
names. He calls the first, where you put the attribution up front,
Type One. He calls the second, where you put the attribution at
the end, Type Two. And the third, where you find a logical spot
in the middle, a Type Three.
Be aware that these are not universal terms. Get your first job
on a newspaper and ask your editor whether you should use a Type
One quote or a Type Three quote and she is going to look at you
funny . . . unless her newswriting class used this same textbook.
What's in a name, though? The point is that you have a variety of
tools available.
And you've got two sizes/flavors of each attribution tool. You've
got the direct quote and the indirect quote.
- Direct quote -- A speaker's
exact words, a verbatim report enclosed in quotation marks. Sometimes
slightly edited to improve syntax or correct grammar.
- Indirect quote -- Not
verbatim, but rather a slightly edited or paraphrased version
of the speaker's words. Indirect quotes are not enclosed in quotation
marks. An indirect quote represents what a reporter tells us someone
said.
A lot of writers, both beginning and experienced, don't pay attention
to the fact that they have all tools and get stuck in a rut, usually
making all or most of the quotes in their story Type One . . . .
or maybe Type Two. Type Three slows you down a bit, so most don't
get into that rut.
Also note that when you have multiple sources in a story you have
to pay attention to which type you use. If you are quoting one person
and change speakers, you need a Type One quote, or a Type Three
quote with the attribution only a few words into the sentence, to
let the reader know you are changing speakers. Here is an example
of what NOT to do.
Across the street, Copies R Us manager Ihab Hanna said that in
the same three days also ending Aug. 20, 1,5000 students purchased
books there.
"We don't like that, we're Cerritos College's bookstore and
we will not accept any substitutes. We will fight them on the
land. We will fight them on the water. We will fight them in the
air. They should fear us," said Michael Greco, Wallaces'
Bookstore manager, when he learned how well the other bookstore
did.
Did you think that Hanna was being quoted in the second paragraph
before you got to the attribution? A Type One or Type Three would
have cleared that up.
The next thing to note is there are some differences between wording
and punctuation of a direct and an indirect quote, other than one
is what the person said and the other is a paraphrase of what the
person said.
Let's look at Type one again, for instance:
- Smith said, "I am in the this race to win."
- Smith said that he is in this race to win.
- The direct quote needs a comma that separates
the attribution (Smith said) from the actual quote. And of course,
the quote needs quote marks. The indirect quote does not need
either the comma or the quote marks.
But there is another significant difference. The direct quote
contains a first person pronoun (I). First person pronouns --I,
me, we, us, he, my, our, etc.-- and second person pronouns --you,
your-- need to be part of a direct quote. Otherwise, the writer
becomes part of the story. Leave off the quote marks and the "I"
in the direct quote must be the writer.
When you make the transition to an indirect quote, you need to
convert the first person or second person pronoun into a third
person pronoun -- he, she, him, her, they, them, their, etc. Make
sure the conversion you are making will be understood by your
reader.
Now let's look at the difference in direct and indirect Type two
quotes.
- "I am in this race to win,"
Smith said.
- He is in this race to win, Smith said.
- Because the attribution becomes like an afterthought, it always
needs a comma separating it from the quote. Otherwise, the same
rules that apply to the Type One quotes apply.
And, finally, let's look at Type Three.
- "It's not likely," Smith said, "that I would
do that."
- It's not likely, Smith said, that he would do that.
- The attribution is dropped into the middle of the sentence at
an appropriate spot and needs a comma on both ends. Note, too, that
the first letter of the quote after the attribution is lower case.
Capitalize it only when it is a proper noun. You could, of course,
put a period after the attribution (turning it into a Type Two quote)
and follow with a new sentence that continues the speaker's thoughts.
But that's not a Type Three.
The real trick with Type Three, as you may surmise, is where to
drop in the attribution. Sometimes it is easy, sometimes it is difficult.
You need to find a logical place to pause. If the sentence has any
commas in it you have clues. A comma represents a pause; you can
usually use that spot for your attribution. But how about the following
example:
- "Pack my box with a dozen roses."
What you look for here is a break between word phrases. In this case,
"with a dozen roses" is a prepositional phrase. (You didn't
know you were getting a grammar refresher today, did you?) Keep it
intact. Put the break there.
- "Pack my box," she ordered, "with a dozen
roses."
In Workbook Exercises 6.2 and 6.3 give you practice changing quotes
around. Part A of 6.2 asks you to simply convert the Type One quotes
to Type Two. Part B asks your to convert Type Three into Type One.
Exercise 6.3 is a bit more tricky. Not only are you converting from
one type to another, but you are also converting between direct
and indirect quotes. Watch those pronouns!
Just a word of caution though, Part B asks you to convert indirect
quotes to direct quotes. While that may be okay for practice, it
is not something you want to get into the habit of doing, unless
you have the original quote to work with. An indirect quote is a
paraphrase or summary of the original direct quote. To blindly convert
it back to a direct quote is to risk changing the meaning.
When to use attribution
Beginning writers make two regular mistakes on deciding when to
use attribution.
The first is that they either use too much or too little. Just as
you do not need to make every quote a direct quote, you do not need
attribution in every paragraph that contains a quote. If you are
primarily quoting one person --hopefully with a mix of direct quotes
and indirect quotes-- you only need attribution as necessarily to
remind the reader who is doing the speaking. If, for example, you
have a direct quote in a paragraph and end it with a Type Two attribution
and the next paragraph is also a direct quote from the same source,
you probably do not need an attribution on the second quote.
If you change speakers, though, be sure to use proper attribution.
The key is to use a minimal amount of attribution, but make it clear
to the reader who is doing the speaking.
Just how much attribution is necessary is a matter of feel. One
thing is clear, though, the most attributions a single paragraph
needs is one. Never put more than one attribution per paragraph.
If you keep your paragraphs to one sentence only, you'll never have
a problem with this.
Here is an example of what not to do. There are two attributions
in this paragraph that actually ran in the Talon Marks.
- Across the street, Copies R Us manager
Ihab Hanna said that in the same three days also ending
Aug. 20, 1,500 students purchased books there. Hanna
said that book sales were better this year than they
were last year.
The second error beginners make is overusing the source's name.
Every attribution has the speaker's name. That is why pronouns were
invented. As a general rule use a pronoun two or three times for
every time you use the source's name. Of course, if you have multiple
sources and you are rotating between or among them, you will need
the source's actual name more often
Proper word order for attribution
Another definition to know is:
- Speech tag
-- Device for attributing a quote or fact to its source, for example,
"police said." Normal word order in a speech tag is
name first, verb second.
Grammar time again. The attribution contains both a noun and a verb
and, technically, expresses a complete thought. It is an independent
clause in a sentence and could stand as a sentence on its own. The
proper order for independent clauses, in most cases, is noun, then
verb. Sloppy writers fall into a habit of transposing the two, as
in this example:
- "The mayor seems to be on top of the situation,"
said the mayor.
There ARE times when it is okay to turn the phrase around and put
the verb first. For example, if the sentence above needed too many
words between "mayor" and "said" you would reverse
them. Note how the second example below is better than the first.
- Example One
- "The mayor seems to be on top of the situation,"
the mayor, who was accused of not being on top of things during
the election, said.
- Example Two
- "The mayor seems to be on top of the situation,"
said the mayor, who was accused of not being on top of things
during the election.
How specific you need to be
with attribution
By now you should know that with attribution you should use the
person's full name on first reference and last name only on second
and subsequent references. But you should name your source . . .
and with a real name.
Is the ever a time to withhold the name of a source? Yes. There
are lots of examples.
- Politicians often float "trial balloons" and insist
on anonymity. You can refuse to accept a story on that basis,
but you won't be given it.
- A whistle blower might be afraid of losing a job, or worse,
and may insist on anonymity as a condition for sharing important
news stories with you.
- You may be writing a story on something sensitive, such as a
person's sexual habits, and you want to protect your sources from
public humiliation.
When you and your editor decide to maintain anonymity, how far should
you go in doing so. You could simply make up a name, but if readers
see you making up names, they might think you are making up facts.
It is simply better to veil the source and give the reader a clue
as to the reliability of the source. Go as far ask you can in giving
the reader a clue.
You could, for example, indicate that your source is "an attorney
on the case." If it is a large case and there are lots of attorneys
involved you turn up the heat for all, but may be protecting your
source.
But you might have to go further in protecting your source. You
may have to say, "according to a knowledgeable source in the
courthouse." Now you could be talking about anyone from a judge
to a janitor. But at least it is better than saying, "according
to a source who asked to remain anonymous." Shoot, that could
be my uncle Ed; there is nothing for the reader to use to judge
the accuracy and credibility of the statement.
The more you protect your source the more you need to be careful
what you attribute to that source, too. If you use a direct quote,
but veil the source you might accidentally use words or phrases
that will unintentionally reveal your source's identity to the wrong
people.
Answer and e-mail the following questions to me.
- Identify which type of attribution the following sentences represent,
Type One, Type Two or Type Three
- "I'm on my way to Dublin Bay," she said.
- "Help," she cried, "and please hurry!"
- The instructor said he wanted the work done at once.
- The country, he said, expects more of Congress.
- How often do you need attribution?
- What is the proper order of words in a speech tag?
- What is the key in veiling a source's identity in your story.
rCameron@cerritos.edu
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