Week 7 Readings

Everything’s an Argument, Chapter 20

This reading is about plagiarism and academic integrity. When writing a paper it is essential that whatever was being researched is then written and expressed in the author own words that support the claims that are being made. In general, when writing a paper it is good to draw ideas from research that has been conducted, but the writer needs to use their own creative ways to put together the research. For example, I am doing this write now. I am reading a passage and then rewriting/summarizing what was read in my own creative way. This chapter also discusses how when full credit is given to the sources that were researched, ethos in academic arguments are enhanced. I think that this will be a key factor when we write our final paper. This chapter also discusses how to site researched sources throughout the body of papers. Again, it is key to pay credit to others work that you have read and referenced.  From what I gathered, the best way to not plagiarize your work is to read sources, jot down a few notes, and from there create your own statements to make on the subject.

“Annoying Ways that People Use Sources”

This chapter discusses how “annoying” it is when writers do not cite their sources properly. This could be due to an author not knowing what the academic standards of the U.S. are, or they simply don’t care to properly cite their source. By an author choosing no to properly site their source, they are choosing to make their work less credible. When creating the body of a text, it is important to take the readers perspective into account and try to write with a style that allows readers to interoperate your phrases or questions either critically or accepting. Both depend on what the context of the paper is discussing. Another key point from this reading is: tailor to your audience. By tailoring to an audience, the author is creating a purpose, and taking into consideration that the subject might be taken differently depending on who is reading it. It is also important to se the stage for the readers. Adding quotes, describing where that quote came from, and demonstrating how a reader should translate the quote can do this. Another point that this author writes about is perhaps putting the question at the beginning of the paragraphs strongly hooks the reader. This will be something to keep in mind while writing my own paper. When placing a quote in a piece of writing, this author suggests “conceder taking the time to surround each question with guidance to your readers about what you want them to think about the quote”. This is important for an author to shape and guide their reader. This author also talks about “the fix”. There are many different steps to fixing your work; return to each question and decide why its there, read the work out loud, and double-check that the in-text citations are properly cited in your works cited page. The biggest key point that I took away from this chapter is that everyone has different writing styles, and what might bother one reader might be exactly what another reader wants to here. It’s all about creating credibility, citing sources, and catering to your target audience.