Researched Argument Third Draft
Max1998.
IntegratingSourcesinWriting.pptxIntegrating Outside Sources
Conceptually and Grammatically
Goals
To introduce how sources are use in writing
To analyze how sources are integrated
To consider the rhetorical situation for source usage
To apply what we’ve learned to our own writing
Sources in Conversation
Sources are used in writing to build ethos, to demonstrate that the writer has done his or her research, to show that the writer knows the conversation
Sources can be used to define terms, to provide a context, to support, as a naysayer, to consider implications, to pose questions, and so on.
Integrating Sources
Sources are used for all of the purposes listed in the previous slide. In particular:
Sources are used to provide context
Sources are used to present different interpretations or ideas
Let’s look at “Representations of Disney Princesses in the Media.” to see how the author uses sources
Pay attention to:
What the sources are used for and,
How the sources are integrated at the language level.
Sources to Provide Context
Example 1:
Numerous studies have identified gender bias in the ways media represent women (Fink and Kensicki; Niven and Silber; Shacar; Wood).
Example 2:
Media tend to favor representations of women who are ‘traditionally feminine’ as well as not ‘too able, too powerful, or too confident” (Wood 33) over more complex representations.
Note how the author introduces the outside research with “numerous studies” – and backs it up with at least 4 different studies she references. Why choose summary in the first example? It’s such a broad representation and she is making a claim in the first paragraph that this is an issue to discuss. The summary and integration of multiple sources shows that this issue matters and folks are talking about it.
Second example: What kind of integration here? Why quote? What do you notice about the grammar of the sentence?
Note: this sentence comes after the first example and gets into more specifics about gender bias in media representations. These two sentences together demonstrate synthesis of sources.
The words outside the quotes are the authors. The words inside the quotes are from the outside source. Note that the quotes align with the grammar of the sentence.
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More Context
Example 3:
Many traditional feminist texts have ‘condemned . . . Familiar fairy stories for encoding and therefore encouraging passive female behavior’ and ‘reinforcing . . . Restrictive images of girlhood and womanhood’ (Westland 237).
Note how the author synthesizes two – three different sentences into one sentence with two quotes
Note the use of ellipses to shorten the quotes and target the most powerful language
Why introduce these quotes as representative of “traditional feminist texts”? One answer might be to make a claim about how pervasive this argument is in the conversation.
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Source to Introduce New Ideas
Example 4:
England and colleagues code Disney princes’ and princesses’ actions and traits as traditionally masculine or feminine to find that although the original three princesses (Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty) represent more traditional feminine ideas, the newer princesses display both masculine and feminine characteristics in nearly equal numbers.
Note how this quote uses research to shift the conversation she has been providing context for in the previous three paragraphs.
Why summarize here and not quote? Maybe summarizing does a better job of giving the overall picture of the research. Maybe a quote from them would be too specific to make this move.
Why call out the researchers by name instead of giving them a broad category to belong to (ie: researchers)? It might be because she wants to point to a particular study or a particular set of researchers who might be well known for this work. OR she might want to ground her argument in one particular study.
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Sources Used as Support
Example 5:
For example, one review says, ’For all of Mulan’s courage and independence in rebelling against the matchmakers, this is still enough of a fairy tale to need Mr. Right’ (Maslin, “Warrior”).
Example 6:
Another review includes the passage, ’Flustered and fearful, Elsa dashes away in a fit of self-imposed exile – which significantly weakens Frozen, since she’s the film’s most complicated and compelling figure’ (Lemire).
Note how the author, after each of these quotes, demonstrates how the quotes she uses relate back to her argument.
Note the language that the author uses to signal she is moving into someone else’s ideas. Why do you think she avoids using their names or introducing who they are? One reason might be that she wants to lump them together into the concept of “media”. In this way, it doesn’t matter who the reviewers are; what matters is the cultural messages they are sending through their reviews.
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Sources Used as Implication
Example 7:
As Julia Wood explains, ’Because media pervade our lives, the ways they misrepresent genders may distort how we see ourselves and what we perceive as normal and desirable for men and women’ (32).
Note that the use of this source makes a case for why we need to do this gender and media analysis work
Note also how the source is integrated into the grammar of the sentence and the author’s full name is used.
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Assignment
Reflect on the readings we have done for the course. Which sources could you use to provide context, to shift the conversation, to provide support, to introduce new ideas, or to discuss implications?
Go back to your Synthesis Essay where you integrate outside sources in your writing project. These sources should have some significance to your synthesis. In both places, try using both summary and quotes in similar ways as shown in the examples.
Think about what relationship at least two of your sources have. Try to write out the relationship and incorporate it into your writing project.
