Using Sources
When writing a paper, it is important to be sure that you are using good sources to back up your claims. Professor Howard Rheingold coined the term “infotention” in order to describe the action of differentiating between important information and information that can be discarded. By using the infotention process, writers are able to pay attention to the information and sources that they gathered from in an effort to cautiously be aware of which pieces of information to use in a paper. After carefully acquiring your information, the next step is to try and figure out how all these pieces of information can be put together to help form a single claim. At this point, it might be easier if you look for themes, patterns, and commonalities or striking differences between all your sources. After a thorough analysis of all your sources, you will usually have to either paraphrase or summarize the author’s major and minor claims into your own writing. Using quotes may also be helpful in reflecting the claim that you are trying to make to the reader by using examples or phrases from a credible source.
This reading helped me realize the methods in how to differentiate between a credible and non-credible source through the process of infotention. It also helped me realize what to do with the information I gathered, how to connect it all together, and how to include all of it into my own writing.
Introduction to Refining Your Writing Style
Similar to how everyone has their own style of fashion, everyone also has their own style of writing. The way in which someone writes something can determine their audience, purpose of the paper, and how they choose to present themselves to the reader. This is because in different discourse communities, there are different ways in which people speak. For example, in professional or academic discourse communities, one would expect everyone to talk in a more professional or academic manner as opposed to the casual way in which one would address their close friends. This sort of writing applies to many different contexts as well such as in politics, journalism, law, and small talk. This is why it is important for a writer to determine the audience that they have in mind before beginning a paper, so that they can decide on a tone of voice and the type of language that the whole paper will evolve around.
This reading helped be realize the importance of envisioning an audience in your mind before writing a paper. By doing so, it will help you realize the type of discourse that you should use and how professional or casual your writing has to be.