Chapter 10 of this wonderful English textbook is about evaluating resources as possible evidence and integrating resources into an argument. This was an extremely short chapter, which I felt was refreshing and appropriate. This chapter was the epitome of boring; however, I could see how some information could be relatively important to my assigned research paper.
One of the things I found to be of some importance was the point the authors make on page 200: "your audience will want to know that you have critically evaluated your evidence in an appropriate manner." I will put this in student-terms. It is important to not appear like a bullshitter to your audience. It is very important to construct an argument with the least amount of holes possible. Having a solid argument is vital to a paper; therefore, having solid sources is necessary.
This chapter talks about how people typically trust the editorial and peer reviewed process to "weed out" bad or incorrect information. However, education and other important institutions have been proven wrong before, so it may be a good idea to double check the information of articles and the credibility or sources.
Just when I thought this chapter actually might be of use and that the textbook wasn't totally worthless, I came across another suggestion box talking about the importance of cluster maps. I absolutely hate cluster maps and find them to have no place in the world. I can't stand this book just because it puts such a large emphasis on cluster maps.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Inspiration from Thursday's Class
Thursday's class wasn't as bad as usual because were read an interesting story that was reflective and based on the narrator's past experiences. I connected with this piece because most of my favorite moments came from my childhood and my childhood experiences heavily influence my writing today. After free writing a response to the story read in class, I found myself writing about my own childhood and started putting my thoughts into a poem, which is my favorite form of writing. I haven't written a poem in a while because I had been so busy with classes and my social life and it was nice to just write. My poem, which is still a draft and a work-in-progress, is as follows:
The Grassland
In years past
I spent my youth behind my house
In the flawlessly mowed lawn
With the short grass that pierced my fleshy feet.
A fence separated my backyard from the land behind it.
Grassland that stretched on for days, where
Large weeds twisted into wildflowers
And horses wandered.
I was instructed to stay far from that fence,
Its jagged wooden posts and broken wire
Worried my mother more than it troubled me.
On any given day,
You could find me in my backyard,
Teetering on that fence between two worlds.
It would only take a small shift of my weight
To tumble into the forbidden meadow, dotted with
Dandelions and flattened by the wind.
My little body ached to swim in the tall grass.
No matter how much every inch of me yearned
To plunge into the yellowed plain,
I could never take the leap.
Comments are welcomed and embraced.
The Grassland
In years past
I spent my youth behind my house
In the flawlessly mowed lawn
With the short grass that pierced my fleshy feet.
A fence separated my backyard from the land behind it.
Grassland that stretched on for days, where
Large weeds twisted into wildflowers
And horses wandered.
I was instructed to stay far from that fence,
Its jagged wooden posts and broken wire
Worried my mother more than it troubled me.
On any given day,
You could find me in my backyard,
Teetering on that fence between two worlds.
It would only take a small shift of my weight
To tumble into the forbidden meadow, dotted with
Dandelions and flattened by the wind.
My little body ached to swim in the tall grass.
No matter how much every inch of me yearned
To plunge into the yellowed plain,
I could never take the leap.
Comments are welcomed and embraced.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
The Reading Continues with Chapter 9
Chapter nine is all about constructing an argument, which will be useful for the huge research paper due in December. The topics in this chapter include considering counterarguments, responding to the research question, developing a thesis, and constructing an argument through ethos, pathos, and logos. When first looking at the topics of this chapter, I think the part about developing a thesis is the most important. If a paper doesn't have a thesis, then the paper doesn't have anything, including an argument. The most important part of forming an effective thesis is to develop a thesis statement, which is a specific statement of my position on an issue.
On page 162, the chapter discusses how to support an argument. The best way to create an effective argument is to appeal to the reader by using ethos, pathos, and logos. A way to develop ethos (credibility) is to tell the readers about your own personal experience with the topic. To develop an emotional argument, explain why you are personally invested in this topic and what motivates you to keep researching this topic.
Lastly, the most important part of this chapter is recognizing how to develop a counterargument. You do this by identifying possible arguments from opposing opinions. Look for flaws in your research or claims and perceive how others may view your topic or argument. Then, fill those gaps in research and claims with the proper information and form any possible rebuttals in the paper. A tip the chapter gives on page 190 is to have others look over your claims and rebuttals, and see if they can find anything else that you may have missed.
On page 162, the chapter discusses how to support an argument. The best way to create an effective argument is to appeal to the reader by using ethos, pathos, and logos. A way to develop ethos (credibility) is to tell the readers about your own personal experience with the topic. To develop an emotional argument, explain why you are personally invested in this topic and what motivates you to keep researching this topic.
Lastly, the most important part of this chapter is recognizing how to develop a counterargument. You do this by identifying possible arguments from opposing opinions. Look for flaws in your research or claims and perceive how others may view your topic or argument. Then, fill those gaps in research and claims with the proper information and form any possible rebuttals in the paper. A tip the chapter gives on page 190 is to have others look over your claims and rebuttals, and see if they can find anything else that you may have missed.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
More Textbook Reading
For this week, we were assigned to do read chapters six and seven in our textbook. Chapter six is titled, "reading resources rhetorically," and explores the context of a resource, summarizing, paraphrasing, and quoting from resources, and annotating while you read. The part I was most interested in and focused on the most was the part of the reading that had to do with annotating resources. This is because I have never done an annotated bibliography before and I have heard it is an enormous pain in the ass. A major tip the author gave was on page 117 and stated that when annotating for a large research paper, you should spend time looking at the source's claim, reasons, and evidence. The claim is defined as: the overall point that the resource is making/its thesis. Evidence is also very important because it provides a backbone for the resource's claims. If there is no evidence, then there isn't a legitimate claim. Another thing in chapter six i thought was good information was the reminder that when writing a summary, you aren't including all the details, just enough information for easy comparison with other resources.
Chapter seven was about tracking and evaluating data, which includes filling any gaps in research to build a strong argument and keeping track of the resources you've found. The most critical information in this chapter is about filling in the gaps in research and can be found starting on page 135. The biggest tip is to not wait until the end to verify, copy, and respond to your sources. Copying everything as you go ensures that you won't lose the information or its importance to your research paper/project. After getting many sources, pick the two strongest and check the book, website, etc to see if they provide a bibliography or other sources.
Chapter seven was about tracking and evaluating data, which includes filling any gaps in research to build a strong argument and keeping track of the resources you've found. The most critical information in this chapter is about filling in the gaps in research and can be found starting on page 135. The biggest tip is to not wait until the end to verify, copy, and respond to your sources. Copying everything as you go ensures that you won't lose the information or its importance to your research paper/project. After getting many sources, pick the two strongest and check the book, website, etc to see if they provide a bibliography or other sources.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Mysterious Blog Post
I honestly have no idea what this week's blog post is supposed to be about. I have fleeting memories of Stephanie saying something about our blog post, but it was while we were all shuffling our stuff. Thus, I didn't hear what she said and it appears that no one else did either. However, it appears that most people are writing about research again, so I will continue with that topic.
Thankfully this blog allows me to speak freely so I am going to be honest about our research paper assignment: I think it is really ridiculous that are topic has to relate to something with writing. Don't get me wrong, I love writing. I like to write; however, using writing as a topic for a several-page paper sounds simply awful. In the real world, not everything relates back to writing. Isn't it enough that we are incorporating writing into our research papers by WRITING it? I had a unique and interesting topic that could relate to most of the class but because it has little to do with writing, I can't use it.
Our class even read in our textbook that students do better on research papers when they are writing about a topic we enjoy. Writing about writing creates so many topic constriction, that I feel as if my topic has already been chosen for me. I just don't know what direction to take the guideline of writing about writing, and it makes me frustrated and not a happy camper. Can't I write about something that interests me? We will be dealing with these papers for over two months, and I don't know how I will keep my sanity while creating a paper that bores me and most likely won't interest my audience.
Thankfully this blog allows me to speak freely so I am going to be honest about our research paper assignment: I think it is really ridiculous that are topic has to relate to something with writing. Don't get me wrong, I love writing. I like to write; however, using writing as a topic for a several-page paper sounds simply awful. In the real world, not everything relates back to writing. Isn't it enough that we are incorporating writing into our research papers by WRITING it? I had a unique and interesting topic that could relate to most of the class but because it has little to do with writing, I can't use it.
Our class even read in our textbook that students do better on research papers when they are writing about a topic we enjoy. Writing about writing creates so many topic constriction, that I feel as if my topic has already been chosen for me. I just don't know what direction to take the guideline of writing about writing, and it makes me frustrated and not a happy camper. Can't I write about something that interests me? We will be dealing with these papers for over two months, and I don't know how I will keep my sanity while creating a paper that bores me and most likely won't interest my audience.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)