Now to Our Regularly Scheduled Program…
For this week’s blog, I was given the topic of comparing and contrasting my method of researching to that of author and professor Margaret Kantz. Getting a break from researching is actually the opposite of what I wanted to focus on since I feel as if it’s just gotten good. Yet, let’s indulge ourselves with a bit of reading on how to write on research.
Kantz and Konversation
Kantz begins her article with the idea that, “Although the researched essay as a topic has been much written about, it has been little studied” (Kantz). Obviously, she hasn’t read all the sources about research that I have (but that’s besides the point). Delving into her study, she creates a hypothetical student named Shirley based on the average and standard behaviors of students when it comes to researching. Kantz comes to the three conclusions: “1) Many students like Shirley misunderstand sources because they read them as stories. 2) Many students expect their sources to tell the truth; hence, they equate persuasive writing in this context with making things up. 3) Many students do not understand that facts are a kind of claim and are often used persuasively in so-called object writing to create an impression” (Kantz). Unlike the other articles I’ve read, Kantz has a slightly different observation of what students have been doing incorrectly in researching.
Personally, I did not run into the same issues that Shirley encountered. Looking at different sources online and in the archives, I took the materials to be factual and representations of thoughts and opinions of their time. Yet, I had a difficult time grasping the second and third assumption Kantz make. To me, I saw the persuasion aspect of an article, or even my own writing, as a unique angle adopted by the writer. However, it is important to be able to recognize this and the importance of it.
Kantz’ Fixez
Providing solutions to her observations, Kantz analyzes the actions and difficulties of researching through several methods. For example, she uses a triangular diagram created by Kinneavy. Giving it a new spin, she renames the parts as the following: “the Encoder is the writer of the text, the Decoder is the student reader, and Reality is the subject matter. Readers may consider only one point of the triangle at a time, asking such questions as ‘Who are you?’…Other questions would involve all three points of the triangle, e.g., ‘What are you saying to help me with the porblem you assume I have?'”(Kantz). With these questions, Kantz calls on students to thoroughly examine sources and analyze them with a grain of salt. In addition, these heuristic questions are meant to aid the writing process.
Drawing on my personal experiences, I find that the triangular method is something that I do subconsciously when analyzing materials for research. Yet for those who struggle with understanding sources this process can be very useful. Overall, I did not necessarily agree with or experience many of the phenomenons that Kantz was discussing. Frankly, I’m a little tired of reading about research, but that’s just my opinion.
Thanks for reading!