This week’s reading in Praxis was the second part of last week’s
reading, Researching Rhetorically. A vital part of writing an advocacy project
would be the research, and Praxis outlines a solid plan of attack. First, you
need to become familiar with your topic, which ties into our last week’s
reading about “googlepedia.” It’s ok to use google and Wikipedia for baseline
knowledge about your topic, but not for the meat of your essay. Praxis also
suggests sources such as current events, online polls, company
websites/products, and of course the college library. Next, it is smart to
evaluate your sources for their credibility. Praxis points out that important
things to consider are they dates they were written, who wrote them, the
audience they were written for, the sources the author uses, and if the author
has any bias. Lastly, Praxis points out the importance of avoiding plagiarism.
It is defined as “when a writer deliberately uses someone else’s language,
ideas, or other original (not common-knowledge) material without acknowledging
its source” (Clark 314).
In Stedman’s “Annoying Ways People Use Sources,” it discusses the correct way to include sources into your essay and make them good. Stedman gave us comical names to describe mistakes in using information from another source, such as “Armadillo Roadkill,” “Dating Spider-man,” “I Swear I did Some Research,” and “Uncle Berry and his Encyclopedia of Useless Information.” What most of the advice boiled down to is this: introduce the quote or statistic you are quoting, then give a good, full explanation of why you are using this quote and why it’s important. For example, Stedman explains in one of his examples that when you don’t introduce your quote, the readers become confused, will question what is going on, and could eventually lose interest. Next, he talks about the dangers of not explaining your quote, and how it is important to analyze the information you have just given your audience. He explains that “readers get a sense of pleasure from the safe flow of hearing how to read an upcoming quotation, reading it, and then being told one way to interpret it” (Steadman). If you don’t explain your quote, then readers may become confused and feel that they are skipping around from quote to quote without really learning anything.
I agree with Grace. Using different source engines, such as Wikipedia, are acceptable to use to get familiar with the topic, but not for the basis and entirety of the paper. Praxis gives suggestions of the different types of source one can use such as current events, online polls, company websites, and books or articles found in the library. Important information to look at when finding a credible source is the publication date, the author, the audience addressed, other sources the author used, and if the author had any bias statements. It also important to cite sources correctly and avoid plagiarism.
ReplyDeleteStedman’s “Annoying Ways People Sources” discusses the correct way to include sources in essays. He gives humorous names to describe each of the following mistakes. In class, I reviewed “Uncle Barry and his Encyclopedia of Useless Information.” The explanation of the annoyance is that readers get the feeling that they are bounding from one quotation to the next without every getting to the point of what the author is trying to convey. It is grabbing random topics and quotes in an effort to sound authoritative. To avoid this, one can try paraphrasing, rethinking the placement of the quotation, and surrounding each quotation with some guidance as to what you want the readers to think about.
hey grace i like the comments. I myself am not a strong writer do to the lack of experience. And at the same time I do not enjoy writing either. But I do like the idea of writing for advocacy of something I am interested in. I like how Stedman broke down how to properly cite a source in a paper, with a sense of humor. I think Stedman broke down the importance of cohesive writing and how not to ramble, while sounding smart. But yes when you are doing research and writing a paper it is very important to find multiple sources and tools of information. All of the facts obtained from the sources should be easily found in the content of a different source entirely.
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