“Using Sources” Summary and Response
The second step after finding a source is to separate the important and unimportant facts in the article. Sometimes it is difficult to determine what is considered important, which Howard Rheingold has coined, “infotention”. You also have to find enough evidence to back your claim and it cannot all be circumstantial evidence, which is “indirect evidence that suggests that something occurred but doesn’t prove it directly”. Then you have to figure out how each of your sources supports your specific claims. Understanding how to use your sources is called synthesis. After you’ve begun writing, you must paraphrase what your sources say. In a paraphrase, you state the significance of the sources in your own words. You must then reiterate the key ideas about the source and how the source relates to your thesis. You can also quote from the source directly if you can’t paraphrase the thought in any other way, when the author has a lot of credibility on the subject, or when the author strongly disagrees with others in the field. Before talking about a source, you must introduce it to transition from thought to thought in your paper. You can do this establishing context of the source. It is essential for you to use transition words so that the sources are do not seem randomly placed in the paragraph, otherwise known as “patchwriting”. Reading this article has really helped me in my research paper. I am trying to decide which sources would support my claims and which are a bunch of trivial details. I also understood the circumstances for when to paraphrase and when to quote a source. I originally had many quotes, but after reading this article, I realized that it is better to paraphrase when I can to include my own analysis and thinking into my paper.
“Intro to Refining Your Writing Style” Summary and Response
Discovering and understanding what kind of writer you are may make writing a lot easier for you. Everyone has a different writing style, but depending on the rhetorical situation, there are certain requirements for the type of writing you provide. Scholars usually write in “academic style”, but people in different professions can interpret “academic style” vaguely. In college, it is important to learn how to write in various academic styles in various discourse communities. Knowing which style to write in based on the purpose and audience of the paper and being able to fit into that style is called cultural capital. I think it is incredibly significant to be able to change your writing style based on who you are writing for and the goals of the paper in order to get your point across most effectively.