2. Why FATt?
In academic writing, writers are often
required to incorporate outside sources into
their essays.
For example, you may read an article,
story, novel, book, etc and have to use
elements from that text in your own text.
But we can’t just drop in information out of
the blue.
Instead, we have to follow a certain format,
which we’ll call the FATt Statement.
3. What happens if you don’t introduce
the outside source…
“Bomb dropping” new information
into your essay from out of the blue
is awkward and confusing.
Your reader has no idea what or who you are
talking about!
4. For example…
Have you ever judged someone by his or her
name? You may or may not have done so,
but researchers such as Mosher have been
asking this question for a long time.
However, I believe that Mosher’s theories
are invalid.
Imagine you are not in this class, but you
are an outside reader.
Wouldn’t you be asking yourself, “Who
the heck is Mosher?! WHAT DOES THIS
MEAN!?”
5. Check all the boxes!
What elements do we need when
referring to an outside source?
1. The author: first and last name; then last
name only.
2. The title of the work: underline if it’s a
book, “quotations” if it’s an essay or
article
3. The type of work: essay, article, novel,
etc
4. A summary or explanation of the author’s
main focus or “I Say”
7. Samples of FATt
In William Golding’s novel The Lord of the Flies,
the reader watches a group of seemingly civilized,
innocent British schoolboys degenerate into
savages, making the point that the defects of a
flawed society can be traced to their source—the
human heart.
In the essay “How Boys Become Men” by Jon
Katz, he explains that boys growing up must follow
a set of rules, or a ‘code of conduct’ in order to be
considered real men by the time they reach
adulthood. Katz expands on this boy code,
including “don’t snitch,” which means…
8. But wait! There’s more…
Now that you’ve gone to all that trouble to
introduce your outside source, you don’t
want to just forget about that author…
A good essay not only refers to the author
and text in the intro, but continues to call
back to the text/refer to it throughout the
entire essay.
This shows that you are constantly aware
of your conversation, of what inspired you
to write the essay.
