Dr. Murray and Anna C. Rockowitz Writing Center, Hunter College, City University of New York
THE DOCUMENTED ESSAY
Notetaking
Note-taking is an indispensable part of writing a documented essay or research paper. Your notes
record information from the sources that you will use in writing your paper. Therefore, it is
necessary to critically evaluate the texts or articles you are reading and to make reasonable
choices about what will and will not be useful for your paper. Otherwise, you will overload
yourself with information and spend too much time sifting through notes. If there is an entire
page in a book or article that you really need, it would be better to make a print copy of it.
Many e-books have note-taking functions, and digital notecard programs offer information-
saving and sorting platforms similar to the hard-copy options below. Use the system that works
most efficiently for you.
To take effective notes, you must do the following:
Understand the information: Before you can use information, you must understand it. Taking
notes is a good way to develop your knowledge and comprehension of a subject; it is not just a
mechanical process of recording data. Reading a source, making decisions about what is useful
for your essay, and writing the notes on index cards or in a notebook will encourage you to think
more deeply about what you are reading as well as how it relates to the subject of your research.
Select the information: The information to be used in a paper must be gathered from a variety
of sources, which also, most likely, contain much information not necessarily relevant to your
topic. Therefore, when you take notes, you must sort out the material you need from other
information surrounding it in the text.
Record the information: To efficiently use the information in your sources, you must record it
in such a way that it can be easily sorted, reorganized, and incorporated into your paper. This
means that you should choose a style of recording that best suits you and that lists all necessary
information—title, author, publisher, etc.—which you will need later for your bibliography.
METHODS
Using your own words, take notes that briefly summarize (or paraphrase) the most important
points of each source. Be as clear and concise as possible in your note-taking and try to omit
details that are not relevant to your topic. Stick to main points rather than involved discussion or
digressions. If you record a direct quotation, you can also write a brief explanation of how the
quote will be useful for your topic, which can help you build an annotated bibliography and/or
incorporate the quotation later into your paper. The following methods will enable you to read
your sources with understanding and take good notes:
•! A well-written article or book chapter usually makes a single main point and supports
that point with a discussion of a series of subtopics related to it. Before you start writing
notes, scan the complete piece of writing to determine what the main point is, what
subtopics are discussed, and how each subtopic relates to the main point.
Dr. Murray and Anna C. Rockowitz Writing Center, Hunter College, City University of New York
•! An effective method of scanning is to read the first several paragraphs of a section, and
then read the first (topic) sentence of each remaining paragraph. When you get to the
concluding paragraph, read all of it. If your source is a book, the table of contents may
help guide you to information that fits your topic.
•! After scanning the entire chapter or article, write your understanding of the author’s
thesis (her/his main point), in your own words. In addition, it is a good idea to read the
section in the text that contains the author's first subtopic. The length of this segment will
vary, but in the average book or substantial article, it will usually be discussed for one to
five pages. After reading, scan the section again to make sure you understand the most
significant points in it. Now, write your understanding of the subtopics in that section in
your own words. Paraphrasing rather than just mechanically copying the author’s ideas
will help you to better understand them.
•! When you take notes, be as concise as possible, omitting unnecessary details and
digressions. It is not always necessary to write complete sentences or even complete
words—occasionally abbreviation saves time—as long as what you have written will be
clear to you when you consult your notes later. If you consider that the author's words are
necessary to clarify a point, copy them exactly and put them in quotation marks. (It is a
good idea to make note of the author's last name as well.)
•! Remember to record the page number(s) in the text or article that corresponds to your
notes. In addition, make sure you have all bibliographical information recorded for each
source either on one index card or in your notebook.
•! Always try to review the chapter or article after note-taking to make sure your notes are
accurate and complete.
FORMATS
Record your notes so that you can easily locate all points relating to a particular subject and
readily identify the source from which a piece of information is taken.
You can record notes either on index cards or in a notebook.
Index-Card Style
In this method, you record each piece of information from a source on a separate card. After you
are finished reviewing and recording all your sources, you can organize all your cards according
to topic. This will also be helpful in organizing your paper.
For each source, copy the complete bibliographical information (author, title, publisher's name,
date and place of publication, and medium) on one card, which becomes your bibliography
card. This is not only necessary for accuracy and organization but also, technically, you are
compiling the bibliography for your paper.
For multiple notes from the same source, in the upper right hand corner of each card, record a short
form of the title and the author's last name. In the lower right hand corner, record the page number(s)
from which your summaries, ideas, paraphrases, or direct quotes have been taken.
Write subject or topic headings on the cards in pencil to facilitate organizing and reorganizing
information.
Examples of Index-Card Style
Topic of paper: New Ways of Learning Writing Skills in College
Card A shows a bibliography card. Card B shows a summary of the author's main focus in a
chapter. Card C shows a paraphrase of a passage. Card D shows a direct quotation.
Card A
Card B
Card C Card D
Notebook Style
In this method, you record all information on a single page or a series of pages in a notebook.
•! Write the author, title, place of publication, publisher, year of publication, and medium at
the top of the page for each source.
•! Make notes in the middle of the page, leaving wide margins.
•! In the right-hand margin, record the page numbers from the source that correspond to
your notes.
•! In the left-hand margin, note the specific topic to which each piece of information relates.
•! Begin a new page for each source you consult, or if you have abundant information for
each chapter from a text, list your notes per chapter. Another possibility is listing your
notes according to topic—but this is more difficult since your notes will no longer follow
the same sequence as the ideas in the article or book. Remember that if you do list your
notes according to topic, it is very important to list page numbers from the source for
each note since it can get very confusing to find the information you need otherwise.
•! Basically, use the same methods as suggested for index style: bibliography card,
Murray, Donald. Expecting the Unexpected. Portsmouth, NH:
Boynton/Cook, 1989.
Murray, Expecting
Sub-topic: Learning through mistakes
In Chapter 10 / Murray's main point: "bad" writing can
ultimately produce writing that excites, rather than beginning
with good but status quo writing that says very little and moves
no one.
pp. 101-103
Murray, Expecting
Sub-topic: Unlearning
In Chapter 10 / It is the responsibility of college teachers to de-
program their students from safe but unstimulated writing that
has been over-learned throughout their educations. This is no
easy task for students or teachers, requiring far more patience
and daring than a proscriptive traditional approach.
p.103
Murray, Expecting
Sub-topic: The system of rules
In Chapter 18 / "Old rules become comforting to us all. Skills--
and the attitudes behind them--become beliefs raised to the
power of Truth. I am used to unlearning, but most of my students
have come to learn new truths, not to have old ones stripped
away; they have come to construct a system of higher skills on
the foundation of old ones, not have the cathedral of their
learning razed so that the wondrous and essential mists of
unknowing can take their place."
Note: Use this quote for part of paper on social conditioning and
how it affects our ways of learning.
p.174
Dr. Murray and Anna C. Rockowitz Writing Center, Hunter College, City University of New York
summary, paraphrase, and direct quotation.
COMMON ERRORS TO AVOID
•! The most common and most serious error students make in taking notes is to copy the
wording of the source directly, either word-for-word or with minor changes. This not
only prevents students from processing the information fully in their own minds, but also
encourages plagiarism since the notes can find their way into the paper. The best way to
avoid this is not to look at your source as you write your notes. That way you will be
sure to use your own words.
•! Including too much detail in notes slows you down. If you are doing this, you are not
distinguishing between significant and insignificant information. Notes are meant to be
concise!
•! Direct quotations should be used only when you have a special purpose. If you use a
direct quotation, copy it accurately and double check it.
•! Remember to include page numbers in your notes. Otherwise, you will have to spend
valuable time returning to the sources to find page numbers, and you will leave yourself
open to error.
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