Why Endnotes and Evidence Should Be Part of Your Lifetime Skills (Not Just Requirements for This Class) |
What’s on This
Webpage:
Why Endnotes—with
Microsoft Word or an Equivalent Tool—Are an Efficient “Evidence Trail”
Why Endnotes Are Essential to Identify Your Own Mistakes
If You Are Trying to Figure Something Out
Example 1: Unit Written
Assignment – Incorrect Citation (on Left) and Correct Citation (on Right)
Using
Microsoft Word’s Endnote Feature to Create Endnotes Automatically
If you use Microsoft Word or an equivalent word-processing tool, you have an efficient way to make an “evidence trail.” Think of endnotes as an equivalent to the old tip of marking your trail in a forest with something you can use to find your way back in case you get lost. For example, you might tie strips of bright red cloth to high branches.
If you are trying to figure something out, you can get as lost as in a forest so you need to create an “evidence trail.”
You insert an endnote in a document every time you would use a strip of red cloth in the forest.
When you change the source, you insert the endnote with a specific page number, not a range of pages (such as 200-201) and not a series (200, 201). Why?
· Because both MLA and Chicago Manual of Style require that action. (Your professors may decide they only want to see citations for quotations and that is their right for their class.)
·
Because if you
had find something quickly, you would
not want to be searching more than 1 page
With evidence as with life, do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
If you have a situation where multiple places prove the same thing, ask me how to cite that. Glad to help.
In real life (IRL) on a job or when making decisions that determine how hard your future is, most people learn that everybody makes mistakes. What people don’t know is when they will make that mistake.
When your job is figuring things out that are not known yet,
you must use an “evidence trail.” Why?
Figuring something out is usually a multi-step process, one filled with mistakes. You are at—for example--step 10 of your process and you suddenly realize that, if what you found out in step 10 is true, then step 4 could be false.
If you do not know exactly what your source was in step 4, you can’t go back efficiently and figure out:
· If 10 is true and 4 is false or vice versa
· If both 10 and 4 are partly true and false and you have to revise your thinking from step 1 through 10
·
If both are false and you are starting over from
scratch
From a long career in industry, I can tell you that all of the above happens IRL so prepare for it by having good habits.
You want to give professors and bosses what they ask for. Why?
· Because they would not ask for something if they did not believe they needed it.
· Because your doing what they ask is proof to them that you are able to follow directions and they can trust your work.
· Because your grade or your paycheck or your keeping your job are dependent on your figuring out what they require and your doing that well and efficiently.
When professors say they don’t want citation (and bosses will not want citation):
· It means they do not want to see citation
·
It does not
guarantee that they will not ask you for
proof for a specific fact. — If they ask you to talk with them two weeks
later, you probably will not remember every piece of proof.
Tip: This section tells
you how to protect yourself in such a situation.
For bosses or for professors who say they don’t want citation, do this:
1.
In your working document, do simple endnotes
like those done in this class (not the formal formats for Chicago Manual of Style), but use Microsoft Word or an equivalent
word-processing tool to create those endnotes.
Tips:
· To make endnotes efficiently, you must use the Endnote feature with Microsoft Word. Click here for where to find the Endnote feature in Microsoft Word.
·
These endnotes are for your brain only.
Example: If your evidence for a statement in a memo to your boss is an email
from Jo, another employee, on April 14, then you might type Email – Jo –
4/14/2016.
2.
When you have finally written your best memo to the boss or paper for the
prof, copy the file to create a separate document for the boss or prof and
remove the endnotes in that file.
Tip: With Word 10,
you can remove all of the endnotes very quickly with a few keystrokes. Ask if
you are interested.
3. Print both files:
· Provide the version without endnotes to the boss or the professor
· Keep easily accessible the version with the endnotes for yourself just in case the boss or prof asks
Tip: If professors say they want MLA and APA, what is sometimes called “inline citation,” then do that.
On the other hand, if the document is one for a boss or for
a professor who does not want to see
citation, then never use inline
citation for your working document for your “evidence trail.” Why? Look at that example on the left
below. Inline citation is somewhat like what the student tried to do. Look at
it and notice the strikethrough. Think about how many words you’d have
to delete and how much you would have to proof to be sure you did not leave in
something that did not flow with the text.
This is from a very kind student who is trying to help other
students and who can in the future do much stronger work.
Compare the left side with the right:
·
Left = the student’s submission
·
Right = my version showing how easy it is
to use the simple version of endnotes for exams in this class, even in
Blackboard written exam tool (for a distance learning class) or handwritten on
a piece of notebook paper (for an on-campus class)
On the left side
Green = Color to help you
see pages 176, 193, and 194, with those on 176 and 194 needing to
be in one endnote |
On the right side Red = Factual error as written Burnt orange=Omission of an essential fact in the source Pink =Changes in the language of the
source that made the author of the textbook look as though he made a grammar
error Yellow = Language error in the
student’s own words |
Not
endnotes and not correct citation Major issues in this period that
reveal about slaves “the sharpest irony of the American revolution is that Britain
offered enslaved blacks more opportunities for freedom than did the united
states”. |
Simple
endnotes for class exams Caution: This has unmarked
“half-copy” plagiarism. Major issues in this period that reveal about slaves “the sharpest irony of
the American revolution is that Britain offered enslaved blacks more
opportunities for freedom than did the united states”. this
was a major issue because slaves were finding ways to escape for plantations
and join the British army. Even a slave named harry Washington one of George Washington slaves in 1763
escaped an
“served in the revolutionary war as a corporal” in the British army. General Washington countered this by enlisting free
blacks into the American army but congress put
this to a stop and said that he could not enlist any African American.
(1) Constitutional convention
question the issue of slavery “many of the framers viewed slavery as
an embarrassing contraction to the principles of liberty”(2) another issue with slavery during this period revealed that although George
Washington and James Madison had slaves but hated slavery, they saw no
way to eliminate slavery without civil war.” This caused a issue with the framers who figured that southern would walk out the convention before
acknowledging what they were being confronted with so framer didn’t consider abolishing slavery.(3) ENDNOTES: (1) 176 - (2) 193
- (3) 194 Tip:
Notice there are only 3 endnotes (not 6 as on the left). If you have
several sentences with evidence from 1 page, you only need an endnote after
the last sentence supported by that page. For more on this, click here about using endnotes as an
“evidence trail.” |
Simple
endnotes for the Analysis of Primaries Cautions: ·
This is exactly the same text as on the right side in Example 1,
but this uses Microsoft’s Endnote feature to create the Endnotes
automatically. The Endnote feature not only inserts the superscript number
(like 1) but also automatically places the Endnote separator line
and the places for you to type each citation at the bottom of the page.
Scroll down to see what that looks like. ·
A writing assignment submitted in
Turnitin, such as your Analysis of Primaries, will also have citations from
the primaries. The instructions for the format for primaries and the textbook
are covered with that assignment. ·
The color coding is explained above in
the Student Example with Incorrect
and Correct Citations for a Unit Written Assignment. ·
This has unmarked “half-copy” plagiarism as well as the other color-coded
errors covered with Example 1. Major issues in this period that reveal about slaves “the sharpest irony of
the American revolution is that Britain offered enslaved blacks more
opportunities for freedom than did the united states”. this
was a major issue because slaves were finding ways to escape for plantations
and join the British army. Even a slave named harry Washington one of George Washington slaves in 1763
escaped an
“served in the revolutionary war as a corporal” in the British army. General Washington countered this by enlisting free blacks
into the American army but congress
put this to a stop
and said that he could not enlist any African American.[1] Constitutional convention question the issue
of slavery “many of the framers viewed slavery as an embarrassing contraction to the principles of liberty”[2] another
issue with slavery during this period revealed that although George Washington and James
Madison had slaves but hated slavery, they saw no
way to eliminate slavery without civil war.” This caused a issue with the framers who figured that southern would walk out the convention before
acknowledging what they were being confronted with so framer didn’t consider abolishing slavery.[3] Tip: Scroll down to see how Microsoft Word places these endnotes automatically at the end of the document. |
Copyright C. J. Bibus,
Ed.D. 2003-2016 |
WCJC Department: |
History – Dr. Bibus |
Contact Information: |
281.239.1577 or bibusc@wcjc.edu |
Last Updated: |
2016 |
WCJC Home: |