Yesterday in class, I distributed copies of the recent National Public Radio feature “A Break from Your Smartphone Can Reboot Your Mood. Here’s How Long You Need.” Since your final essay and annotated bibliography will focus on one of the aspects of the course or one of the texts or authors we have studied, “A Break from Your Smartphone . . .” can serve as one of your five sources if you choose to research limiting screen time.
Read the news feature and compose a journal entry on it, if you haven’t done so already. Then look back at the feature and consider where it might lead you to an additional article that could serve as another source for you.
If you do choose to research limiting screen time and use “A Break from Your Smartphone . . .” as a source, you will likely include one or more indirect quotations in your essay and bibliography because the article’s author, journalist Allison Aubrey, quotes researchers. The examples that follow show how to present indirect quotations.
Indirect Quotation, Speaker/Writer Named in the Sentence
Noah Castelo, one of the study’s authors, observes, “‘It’s one of the first experiments that does provide causal evidence that reducing time spent on your phone has all these significant benefits'” (qtd. in Aubrey, par. 14).
Indirect Quotation, Speaker/Writer Not Named in the Sentence
One of the study’s authors observes, “‘It’s one of the first experiments that does provide causal evidence that reducing time spent on your phone has all these significant benefits'” (Castelo qtd. in Aubrey, par. 14).
The quotations in both examples begin and end with triple quotation marks to designate them as quotes within quotes (Castelo’s words quoted in Aubrey’s article).
The parenthetical citation in the first example does not include Noah Castelo’s last name because he is named in the sentence. The parenthetical citation in the second example does include his last name because he is not mentioned by name in the sentence.
Bonus Points Opportunity
Students who post the correct response to the question below will earn five bonus points for their final Check, Please! assignment.
In the second paragraph of this blog post, I instructed you to read “A Break from Your Smartphone . . . ,” compose a journal entry on it, and consider where it might lead to an additional article that could serve as another source for you.
- Go to the online version of the article, and find the embedded link in the fourth paragraph.
- Click on that link and jot down the title of the article in your journal.
- Compose a short blog comment, a minimum of one sentence, that includes the title of the article and identifies it as a possible source for research on limiting screen time.
Directions for Finding and Submitting Your Answer
- To post your comment, click the title of the post, “ENG 1103: Looking Ahead to Your Final Essay and Annotated Bibliography,” then scroll down to the bottom of the post. There you will see the image of an airmail envelope with a white rectangular box for your comment.
- Type your comment in the box and hit return. Voila! You have submitted your answer. I will make the comments visible before class on Monday, March 10.
Post your comment as a reply to this blog post by 9:00 a.m. on Monday, March 10.
Next Up
Wordplay Day! To prepare for class, revisit the Dictionary and World Builder pages on the Scrabble website. Also review the Scrabble blog posts.
Jane Lucas 
1). The title of the article is: “Blocking mobile internet on smartphones improves sustained attention, mental health, and subjective well-being”
The article discusses the impact of blocking internet access on our smartphones, and a month-long research study testing that impact. They found that 91% of participants showed improvement versus a decline in one of the areas stated in the title after the study was conducted.