Reading Response 3

Summary:

     In her article, "Helping Students Use Textual Sources Persuasively," Margaret Kantz discusses how students have difficulty when trying to write an original argument after researching. She uses a hypothetical situation in which a student named Shirley receives a C- on a research paper in which she told a story better than those she used for her sources. Kantz says that it takes analysis and applying "abstract concepts." She talks about how Shirley could have made an original argument. Kantz is basically saying that it is important to argue your own thoughts and ideas in order to make a research paper original, instead of simply paraphrasing and putting research and others' ideas into a paper to present factual information.
     Kantz expresses the idea that if Shirley's teacher had given her better instruction, she could have done a better job on her paper and could have written something more original. She says, however, that Shirley could have still had trouble with her paper even with more instruction from her teacher. Kantz discusses how students should read sources as arguments and not expect that everything they are reading are facts that they need to repeat.


Pre-reading:

     I define the term fact as a statement which has clear reason and evidence to support it. A claim is a statement a person makes that they believe to be a fact. An opinion is how a person feels about something. It does not need to be factual. It is based on an individual's beliefs and values. An argument is a disagreement over opinions, values, beliefs, morals, facts, etc.


Questions for Discussion and Journaling:

1. Kantz seems to be saying that facts, opinions, and arguments are all interconnected. She says that most students look at facts are the "truth," when really they are just claims that people have come to generally believe are true. Sometimes, people can begin to believe something is a fact if it starts out as an opinion, and is coated with evidence to support it. An argument is based on past beliefs and research, and is formed with new ideas which were not necessarily previously expressed or looked into with much detail.

2. Kantz says that students don't know:
    - that they should ask questions
    - to evaluate material
    - how to write an original argument
    - that the sources they read aren't necessarily the "truth"
    - facts are "claims" and sometimes used persuasively
    - to read sources as arguments instead of stories

     I think that Kantz is correct. After reading her article, it made a lot of sense to me. I realize that in my past experiences with research papers, I often gathered information from sources and read them as a kind of story with factual information, and used that research to form my papers into my own type of persuasion with a lot of facts and evidence to support my theses. I never knew to read sources as arguments and formulate my own thoughts and ideas into my papers. I was always taught not to put opinion into research papers. However, Kantz's article has helped me understand that opinion is important, and making an argument on a topic will help you to write a more original paper.


Applying and Exploring Ideas:

2. Before this class and reading these articles--i.e., in high school--I was taught that creativity was barely a factor in research papers. I was taught that sources and gathering factual information and evidence to back up my topics were the most important parts of each paper. Originality was always discussed and avoiding plagiarism was very stressed, but we were never really told how to stay original. We were just kind of expected to write "our own" papers while providing enough facts. Using opinion and arguing our viewpoints was usually frowned upon. After reading Kantz's ideas, I understand where she is coming from and what she means. I realize that I do agree with what she is saying.


Meta Moment:

     Kantz is trying to analyze the construct that writing research papers should be primarily based on finding sources and gathering factual information with little argument or opinion of your own.
     It would be useful for me to understand her findings and claims because I will have to write many research papers during my college career. Also, her claims will help me overall with my writing skills. Her article has given me more insight into the importance of creativity and originality in research papers. I understand that the research is just a part of it, and not the entire focus. Argument is also very important.


My thoughts:

     I thought this article was very informative. I liked how Kantz used a small amount of dialogue to present the example of Shirley's case. Overall, the article was very helpful. I could tell that Kantz really wants to help students with their writing. She focuses a lot on rhetorical writing, and she had me deeply thinking about this concept.
     This article compares with past articles we have read by expressing a general desire to help students and the need to improve their writing skills.