After reading Margaret Kantz’s article, “Helping Students Use Textual Sources Persuasively,” I felt like I had just read a summary of every struggle I have faced as a writer. She describes a theoretical situation in which an able writer received an average grade on a paper when an above average grade was expected. Through analysis of what went wrong, Kantz describes the difficulties writers face when reporting on a research topic, and offers alternatives in the process of conducting and reporting research from a rhetorical approach.
Kantz claims, “..writing a synthesis can vary in difficultly according to the number and length of the sources, the abstractness or familiarity of the topic, the uses that the writer must make of the material, the degree and quality of original thought required, and the extent to which the sources will supply the structure and purpose of the new paper” (70). For me, this is a concept that I struggle with greatly in my research. Because I have access to so many sources when conducting research, it becomes increasingly difficult to know when to include a source, what to include in regards to relevancy, and how to make one idea flow to the next.
Me with all my research and having no with where to begin organizing it
She writes about how students often cling to narrative structuring devices and expect textbooks and other authoritative sources either to tell them the truth or the express an opinion with which they may agree or disagree. I found this to be extremely applicable to my research methodology. Throughout my schooling career, I have always been told to not include personal opinion in research and just report the facts. As a student, I expect factual texts to tell me the truth, or to express an opinion with which I may agree or disagree, but never to view texts as arguments (a point Kantz makes in her article). Aka, research is black and white. BUT IT’S NOT. There is an in between grey area that must be explored to ensure the writer’s credibility, and not get caught up in writing a historical narrative or boring summary. So how am I supposed to write my research report rhetorically?
Kantz provides an answer to my question, and also clarifies the definition of fact and opinion in rhetorical terms: “In rhetorical argument a fact is a claim that an audience will accept as being true without requiring proof, although they may ask for an explanation. An opinion is a claim that an audience will not accept as true without proof, and which, after the proof is given, the audience may well decide has only a limited truth” (76). So, when this unorthodox idea of including my interpretation and conveying to the audience that I am including my own opinion of a topic in my writing presents itself in my writing, it is pertinent for me as the author to provide proof, which even though it may or may not be accepted, I conveyed my claim properly and maintained my credibility as the author.
To be continued…
-FH