My classmate Ivanna recently wrote a blog post that talked about the article we had to read for class, “Helping Students Use Textual Sources Persuasively” by Margaret Kantz. She mentions how this article opened her eyes to the idea of building your own argument instead of simply repeating the information that your sources are saying. This point was also one of the biggest takeaways that I got when reading the article.
Too often have I found myself getting bored when writing research papers, or any paper for that matter, because I always felt as though I was simply rewording the information I got from the sources that I was using. There was always a lack of voice and participation that I felt in the conversation, which made the experience of writing both unsatisfying and extremely boring.
As I write more and more papers in this class however, I can feel myself growing more comfortable with making my own contributions and assumptions, and using the sources to back up or add dimension to what I am saying, instead of relying on them to be the foundation of my main points.
This is a point that I find extremely important looking ahead into the future, especially in the area of writing. It is important to develop your own sense of voice and exercise personal creativity. No one wants to read a paper that is simply a cumulation of other ideas unless it has its own twist to it. As Ivanna points out, although research papers are often regarded as very formal and structured, they in fact encourage writers to be creative when participating in conversations, and to not simply rehash old ideas. The whole reason that these conversations exist in the first place is because of their differences in opinions and backgrounds. Each person’s argument adds dimension to the conversation, which is why it’s always important to put in our own two cents.
Images Sources:
http://elm.umaryland.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Use-Your-Voice-web.png
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