C.S.I. WRITING
Do it ‘til you prove it!
WHAT DOES IT STAND FOR?
C – Claim
S – Support
I - Interpret
WHAT DOES IT STAND FOR?
C – Claim – Like a topic sentence, but really,
ANY statement where you put forward a point
for the first time. They should ALWAYS occur at
the beginning of the paragraph.
S – Support
I - Interpret
WHAT DOES IT STAND FOR?
C – Claim – Like a topic sentence, but really, ANY statement
where you put forward a point for the first time. They should ALWAYS
occur at the beginning of the paragraph.
S – Support – Here is where you insert a
direct quotation from the text.
I - Interpret
WHAT DOES IT STAND FOR?
C – Claim – Like a topic sentence, but really, ANY statement
where you put forward a point for the first time. They should ALWAYS
occur at the beginning of the paragraph.
S – Support – Here is where you insert a direct quotation from the text.
I – Interpret – This is the explanation of how
your Support reflects your Claim.
WHAT DO WE USE IT FOR?
We SHOULD use CSI writing in ANY paragraph
where we are supporting a point with facts.
HOW
DOES IT
WORK?
CLAIM
HOW
DOES IT
WORK?
CLAIM
transition
HOW
DOES IT
WORK?
CLAIM
transition
“SUPPORT
HOW
DOES IT
WORK?
CLAIM
transition
” (in-text
citation).
“SUPPORT
HOW
DOES IT
WORK?
CLAIM
INTERPRET
” (in-text
citation).
transition
“SUPPORT
E
X
A
M
P
L
E
Claim: In John Green’s The Fault
in Our Stars, Hazel learns from
Augustus that her sickness does
not need to define who she is.
Claim: In John Green’s The Fault
in Our Stars, Hazel learns from
Augustus that her sickness does
not need to define who she is.
E
X
A
M
P
L
E
transition: She begins to
learn this lesson upon
meeting Augustus, and
then going to his house to
watch a movie. While
there, he asks Hazel about
her story. When she
begins to respond with the
story of her cancer
diagnosis, he interrupts,
Claim: In John Green’s The Fault
in Our Stars, Hazel learns from
Augustus that her sickness does
not need to define who she is.
E
X
A
M
P
L
E
transition: She begins to
learn this lesson upon
meeting Augustus, and
then going to his house to
watch a movie. While
there, he asks Hazel about
her story. When she
begins to respond with the
story of her cancer
diagnosis, he interrupts,
Support: “No, not your
cancer story. Your story.
Interests, hobbies,
passions… Don’t tell me
you’re one of those people
who becomes their disease
Claim: In John Green’s The Fault
in Our Stars, Hazel learns from
Augustus that her sickness does
not need to define who she is.
E
X
A
M
P
L
E
transition: She begins to
learn this lesson upon
meeting Augustus, and
then going to his house to
watch a movie. While
there, he asks Hazel about
her story. When she
begins to respond with the
story of her cancer
diagnosis, he interrupts,
” (Green 32).
Support: “No, not your
cancer story. Your story.
Interests, hobbies,
passions… Don’t tell me
you’re one of those people
who becomes their disease
Claim: In John Green’s The Fault
in Our Stars, Hazel learns from
Augustus that her sickness does
not need to define who she is.
E
X
A
M
P
L
E
Interpret: By stopping
Hazel’s story of cancer,
Augustus shows that life is
made up of more than the
hardships people face;
instead, Gus asserts that who
a person is can be defined
by their likes and desires.
” (Green 32).
transition: She begins to
learn this lesson upon
meeting Augustus, and
then going to his house to
watch a movie. While
there, he asks Hazel about
her story. When she
begins to respond with the
story of her cancer
diagnosis, he interrupts,
Support: “No, not your
cancer story. Your story.
Interests, hobbies,
passions… Don’t tell me
you’re one of those people
who becomes their disease
IN PARAGRAPH FORM:
In John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars, Hazel learns from Augustus
that her sickness does not need to define who she is. She begins to learn
this lesson upon meeting Augustus, and then going to his house to watch a
movie. While there, he asks Hazel about her story. When she begins to
respond with the story of her cancer diagnosis, he interrupts, “No, not your
cancer story. Your story. Interests, hobbies, passions… Don’t tell me you’re
one of those people who becomes their disease” (Green 32). By stopping
Hazel’s story of cancer, Augustus shows that life is made up of more than
the hardships people face; instead, Gus asserts that who a person is can
be defined by their likes and desires.
IN PARAGRAPH FORM:
In John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars, Hazel learns from Augustus
that her sickness does not need to define who she is. She begins to learn
this lesson upon meeting Augustus, and then going to his house to watch a
movie. While there, he asks Hazel about her story. When she begins to
respond with the story of her cancer diagnosis, he interrupts, “No, not your
cancer story. Your story. Interests, hobbies, passions… Don’t tell me you’re
one of those people who becomes their disease” (Green 32). By stopping
Hazel’s story of cancer, Augustus shows that life is made up of more than
the hardships people face; instead, Gus asserts that who a person is can
be defined by their likes and desires.
WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU NEED TO USE MORE
THAN ONE QUOTATION:
If you need to use more than one quotation, but you’re still sticking with the same
skipping
Claim (or point), then just follow the cycle,
Claim the second, third,
fourth, times, and moving right from your Interpret step to the transition to the next
quote.
WHAT TO DO WHEN YOUCLAIM
NEED TO USE MORE
THAN ONE QUOTATION:
INTERPRET
” (in-text
citation).
transition
“SUPPORT
WHAT TO DO WHEN YOUCLAIM
NEED TO USE MORE
THAN ONE QUOTATION:
INTERPRET
For
” (in-text
citation).
2nd,
3rd,
4th
quotes
transition
“SUPPORT
WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU HAVE MORE THAN ONE POINT
IN THE SAME PARAGRAPH:
CONTINUE AROUND THE CYCLE
In this case, your 1st Claim sentence should be like a mini thesis statement. It should list or
mention all of the specific points you are going to make in your paragraph. To alter our
example a bit, if we wanted to make the point that Hazel learns multiple things from
Augustus, we might write:
In John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars, Hazel learns many things from Augustus that help Hazel
look at life in a new way. One of the things Hazel learns is that her sickness does not need to
define who she is.
Since we set up the entire paragraph in our first Claim sentence, following claim sentences
would need to follow the same pattern. For example, after finishing our Interpretation step for
this point, we might begin the next claim sentence (in the same paragraph) with Another thing
that Hazel learns from Augustus…
HOW DO I KNOW WHAT TO PUT IN MY
IN-TEXT CITATION?
Typically, your in-text will be the author’s last name and page number. (You know that one,
right?!)
However, if there is NO AUTHOR LISTED, you should ALWAYS look
at the MLA citation itself. Whatever comes FIRST in the citation is
what you will use in the parentheses in your paper.
Essentially, you want your reader (ME! ) to be able to flip quickly
from your in-text citations to your Works Cited page, and QUICKLY
identify (by the first few words listed) which source you’re citing…
Example….
WORKS CITED
Green, John. The Fault in Our Stars. New York: Dutton, 2012. Print.
"Youth and society: significant Choice reviews." CHOICE: Current Reviews for
Academic Libraries June 2009: 1853+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 23
May 2014.
WORKS CITED
Green, John. The Fault in Our Stars. New York: Dutton, 2012. Print.
"Youth and society: significant Choice reviews." CHOICE: Current Reviews for
Academic Libraries June 2009: 1853+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 23
May 2014.
WORKS CITED
Green, John. The Fault in Our Stars. New York: Dutton, 2012. Print.
"Youth and society: significant Choice reviews." CHOICE: Current Reviews for
Academic Libraries June 2009: 1853+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 23
May 2014.
For this in-text, you would use (“Youth and Society”) because it is the FIRST listed in the
Works Cited citation.