Major Writing Project

Here are some frequently asked questions concerning Major Writing Project 3.  Below are some generic questions with my responses:

 

1) Question:  In the instructions, it states that I need five sources, two of which should be peer-reviewed.  How do I include the non-peer-reviewed sources?  Answer:  While you need five sources total, you might not want to treat all of those sources as your main voices in your argument.  Let’s say you have three main voices that you summarize: two peer-reviewed sources and one non-peer-reviewed (see the next question too).  These three sources are the main voices in the conversation you’re setting up.  The other two sources (or more, if you wish) would just be incorporated as supporting sources for your own argument.  Of course you don’t want to use them in your summary paragraphs, because you want to stay focused on what each author is saying, without confusing their voice with the argument of another.  The only exception is that you might find a source that explicitly explains and supports one author; in that case you could use one of those other sources in the summary section. 

2) Question:  Do my main sources have to be peer-reviewed sources?  Answer:  No.  In fact, you might be researching a topic that has produced a very significant conversation between authors on a blog, or perhaps it’s a conversation that took place between TV show hosts, or perhaps you’re relying on a few unpublished interviews of anonymous people.  In all of those cases, the voices or sources you’re relying on are not peer-reviewed, and that’s fine.  Nevertheless, you still want to make sure that you are in dialogue with scholars who have spoken about the same issue (even if those scholarly voices are not as current).  For that reason, we want to have at least two sources that are peer-reviewed, but those sources might actually have a very minimal importance in the argument.  For instance, you might use the peer-reviewed sources for a particularly significant way of thinking about the debate or question, or because they introduce an interesting naysayer opinion that you want to contest, etc.  But you just want to keep in mind that the opposite might also work: you might focus on the conversation between two academic sources, and use non-peer reviewed sources to help support your “I say” section. It all depends on the conversation you’re responding to. 

3) Question:  Do I have to write basic information about the authors in the introduction?  Answer:  No.  In fact, it might be better to say something about the authors right when you start to summarize them in the body of your paper.  Your introduction would then just introduce the specific topic and a brief overview of the conversation that this topic has produced, but you would wait to get into the details in your summary paragraphs.  Here's a different situation: one of your sources might be an article written by several people, perhaps a whole team.  In that case it doesn’t make a lot of sense to say something about all the people involved in the study.  Instead, in the summary paragraph on that source you’ll simply say something about the context for that particular study (perhaps something about where the team is from, or what other papers they’ve published, or what organization sponsored the study, or something along those lines).  Another scenario: you might be dealing with a source that is anonymous; in that case, you simply can’t say anything about the person being interviewed, but you do want to explain why it is that this interview had to be anonymous. 

4) Question:  Do I have to include all of my sources in the introductory paragraph?  Answer:  No.  You really should only focus on the most significant sources, the ones that constitute the main conversation for you (usually two or three sources).  The rest of your sources will then be folded into the argument when necessary, often within the “I say” section.  Again, you might use a source only as a naysayer; in that case, you really don’t need to mention that source at any other time except when you bring up this naysayer opinion, which you’ll then contest.  Or again, you might use a source simply to reveal a significant perspective that helps your argument in a particular moment.  In that case, you’re just using that source in one particular moment in your argument, and therefore it’s not significant enough to mention in the introduction.

5) Question: My discipline really only deals with facts, not arguments.  Can I just focus on facts in my "they say," rather than arguments?  Answer:  Well, here's where I have to disagree with you.  Although many disciplines truly do emphasize new "facts" about their discipline, there's really no such thing as a fact outside of an argument.  All disciplines work to produce or discover new facts that are embedded within specific arguments.  Sometimes those facts support an argument about the object of study ("Our study suggests that midi-chrlorians tend to become less effective at higher temperatures, thereby refuting studies that insist that these mysterious elements are among the most stable in the universe.  In fact, our study suggests that mid-chlorians are dangerously unstable at high temperatures").  Sometimes those facts support an argument about the discipline itself ("Our study suggests that midi-chrlorians tend to become less effective at higher temperatures, thereby illustrating the way that researchers into midi-chrlorians can productively coordinate with those researching new sources of clean energy").  Your job is then to emphasize the way authors use facts for specific arguments.  Your summary, and your quotes that give evidence for your summary, should clearly bring out those arguments.

Don’t forget to post your draft to the Titanium forum (Exercise 15) by Wednesday night.  It’s ok if it’s not your best work at this point; it’s expected that you’re still working through your argument.  The point is just to get a bit of experience switching gears and taking on the role of “grader.”  When we do that, we start to realize new things about our own work, and it helps us return to our draft with new eyes.  Again: don’t worry if your partner flakes and forgets to post their draft.  In that case, just do the exercise tomorrow (exercise 16) on your own draft.  The experience of being a “grader” produces that same effect of seeing your own work with new eyes.