I am going to be honest, I do not know many student’s who, when assigned with a research essay, scream for joy. Instead the reaction is more likely this:
Source: giphy
But why do most students despise research essays so much? To help me answer this question, I turn to Margaret Kantz.
Miss Kantz creates in her article “Helping Students Use Textual Sources Persuasively” a fictional college sophomore named Shirley. Shirley has all the skills that would make her a good writer, however when it comes to research papers, Shirley did not do well.
Miss Kantz points out 3 difficulties that students, like Shirley often have:
- Many students like Shirley misunderstand sources because they read them as stories.
- Many students expect their sources to tell the truth; hence, they equate persuasive writing in this context with making things up.
- Many students do not understand that facts are a kind of claim and are often used persuasively in so-called objective writing to create an impression.
I find these problems very realistic and real. When I am writing a research paper, I often summarize what my sources are saying, thinking that I am making my own original claim. However, this is not the case. I am then simply telling a narrative, which is not the point.
Instead, Alice (another fictional character Miss Kantz made up) tells Shirley that in order to make a research paper original, the writer must ask why.
source: http://www.reactiongifs.com/r/jonw.gif
Why are these sources disagreeing or agreeing? Why are different authors saying different things?
These questions can help turn a research paper from a narrative to a unique paper!