Kantz appears to be a literary genius who has the whole writing thing figured out, so to compare her styles to mine is absurd. However, a few of her points have come up in my research process and I will strive to implement more.

Straight From Thea

In Kantz’ “Helping Students Use Sources Persuasively” she talks about how students must do more in research essays than simply retell the story that the sources tell. They need to avoid believing everything they read is true and state authors’ bias or arguments that serve a purpose rather than just agreeing or disagreeing with evidence. Lately, I’ve been doing a better job of “bringing something to the table” when writing. I’ve tried to read rhetorically, as Kantz states, and step into an ongoing conversation as opposed to picking a side.

I like how Kantz uses the strategy of bridging gaps between the Encoder (person writing), Decoder (audience), and Topic (reality). These gaps contain questions and by answering any one of these questions in research-based writing is a way to voice one’s thoughts that can be relevant in an argument. I feel that I’m getting better in this area but like anything else, writing is a process that requires plenty of practice with new strategies before they become natural.