When you
receive an assignment, often, a word count requirement will be
listed as part of the assignment directions.
For example: In
Module/Week 5, you must write a 1,000–1,200-word ethical argument essay from the thesis/outline that
you submitted in Module/Week 4. Please note the word count does not include
citations.
As a
general rule, a word count will include items that you have written that lead to the completion of
the assignment's overall purpose.
Incorporating Sources for an
Essay:
When you are writing, you will need source
material to prove your point. This proof needs to come in the form of academic sources. Often, an
instructor will tell you exactly how
many sources you must use within an assignment. The assignment may also
specify the number of quotes, summaries, and paraphrases
required to be incorporated in your writing.
No matter
whether you integrate source material as a quote, paraphrase,
or summary,
all usage requires
proper citation.
Incorporating
Sources for Word Count:
When you are writing an essay for academic
purposes, you need to remember that the 'word count' for your essay is only counted
from the newly written concepts on the topic. This means that if you directly quote
from a source, you cannot count those words as part of your word count
since those aren't your words. They belong to someone else.
However, if you take source material and write it in your own words—in the form
of a paraphrase
or summary—you
have written unique content that belongs to you. These sourced concepts,
written in your own words, do count towards your overall word count
content, but the still require
proper citations to show that while you have rewritten them, they were not
your original concepts. Therefore, it is best to limit quotes
and work towards creating proper paraphrases
and summaries
of external source materials if you are trying to meet a specific word count
requirement for an assignment.
General Overview of Word-Count:
"Quoted"
material belongs to someone else—another author—since it is some else’s direct
words. It is not your writing. Word count only includes original
content derived by you—the author. Word-count totals are for counting content
when the content is your words.
When
you transform another author's words by paraphrasing
or summarizing,
you are creating original writing, in your paper, in your own words, even if it
was derived from an outside source. Therefore, you still need an in-text
citation for sourced work: quoted, paraphrased,
or summarized.
Yet for the words to count towards your overall word count, external source
ideas need to be paraphrased
or summarized
in your own words.
Therefore,
if you use sources, the only way for them to count toward your word count is
for you to re-write them as a summary or paraphrase
and include the required citation
at the end of the sentence, prior to the end-punctuation
mark.
Source Integration
·
Quoting
·
Summary
Double Check These Items
·
Audience
·
Clichés
·
Focus
·
Abstract
·
Ethos
·
Pathos
·
Logos
·
REASON
·
EVIDENCE
© 2018 by
Jeanette L. H. Dick
Understanding Writing Assignments
But what is an assignment's overall purpose?
If you
are assigned an ethical argument paper, 2,000-words, and documented and
prepared in APA format, then you need to consider what the instructor is trying
to pull
from you.
What is
the instructor trying to make sure you know how to do?
· You need
to write an ethical paper.
o
OK; so the assignment
is actually the content of
the ethical argument.
· However,
the tidbits that explain layout
and length are APA format and
2,000-words.
o
LAYOUT:
APA format
§ You will
need to set the writing up in APA format, and therefore, you will have a
· Title page,
· Abstract page,
· the essay pages,
· followed by a References page.
§ While the
title page, abstract, in-text citations, and references page are all necessary
to show your understanding of APA
formatting, they are simply 'part' of the essay requirement.
o
LENGTH:
2,000-word ethical argument
§ You will
receive points (or lose them) based on the word count for your ethical argument.
§ Notice
the word “your”.
§ This
means that only the essay part
of the paper—your content, analysis, evaluation, suggestion, and development—will
count toward that 2,000 words.
§ Citations
will not count toward this word count total.
§ The word
count requirement points only to your ideas
that assert your ethical argument.
§ This
means that the title page, abstract, in-text citations, and References page DO NOT
COUNT toward that word count requirement.
§ The actual essay—minus areas
where source citations are used—is what
counts toward meeting your word count requirement.
Therefore,
it is very important to understand the Source
Sandwich as well as the Hamburger
Method. These two strategies for writing your body-paragraphs of the
essay will make it so that you are present in the paragraph, and any source
materials are simply there to add credibility and strength to what you are
trying to prove in your argument.
Be sure
to see the Source
Sandwich and the Hamburger
Method. They will greatly help you establish your own voice as a
writer, properly integrate sources, and keep your countable words to a maximum.
For extra
assistance with the development of your Introduction, Body-paragraphs, and
Conclusion, see the helper links below.
© 2018 by
Jeanette L. H. Dick
What Counts Toward an Assignment's Word Count?
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