ESSAY 2: Position Essay On Students Student Source
Use, Using Class Readings
Purpose
Before we turn to the research portion of the class, we'll read, write, and reflect on college-level
research practices. This assignment will, ideally, help you approach your own research with a
greater understanding of academic research and source use. It also helps you to learn how to
read academic articles (the kinds you will locate in your own research). Be sure to use the
reading guides as you read the articles for this assignment; these reading guides teach you how
to break down an academic article into sections to read, skim, and skip. Finally, this essay asks
you to reference sources in your essay that your instructor and fellow classmates know well,
which means that they can help you master citation and paraphrase skills during the drafting and
revision process.
Assignment:
We’ve read Chris Anson “Fraudulent Practices: Academic Misrepresentations of Plagiarism In the
Name of Good Pedagogy,” James M Lang “It’s not You,” Randall McClure “Examining the
Presence of Advocacy and Commercial Websites in Research Essays of First-Year Composition
Students,” Les Perelman “Information Illiteracy and Mass Market Writing Instruction,” and
Howard, Rebecca Moore, Tanya K. Rodrigue, and Tricia C. Serviss “Writing from Sources, Writing
from Sentences,” and we’ve reflected on our own source use and research in college.
This assignment asks you to argue a position on student source use in the academy using at
least two of the above readings (not counting Lang) and your own experience as a college writer.
This "position" doesn't need to offer a solution or take a definitive stance; it may, for example,
argue for the two main challenges to students finding and using quality sources or for the central
dilemma in student plagiarism.
Requirements:
The essay needs to be 4-5 pages double-spaced, Times New Roman 12 inch Font. It will need to
correctly cite and/or paraphrase passages from the texts in correct MLA form. You must refer to
least two of the following four writers: Chris Anson, Randall McClure, Les Perelman or Howard et
al. This essay can and should include personal experience and/or field research in addition to the
scholarly sources read in class.
Process:
Look over your answers to the provided reading and discussion questions for the articles. Read
over your reflections on the readings and your experiences as a writer and researcher. Think of a
theme or thesis that argues a position about student source use in the academy. Submit a draft
to the instructor and participate in whole-class workshop as a writer getting revision advice
and/or as reader giving revision advice (advice that will help you return to your own draft with
fresh ideas for revision). Revise your essay using my feedback, the feedback of your peers, and
your own ideas. Submit a final version with two copies of your final essay as well as the draft
with my comments.
Weight: 15 % or 15 points of the final grade
Reading Guide For Writing From Sources
Reading guide for "Writing From Sources"
Use guide as you read. Answer the questions.
The introduction does what many introductions of academic articles do – talk about the
importance of the issue and argue that it hasn’t been studied enough (thus the need for the
article!). This particular introduction also includes a short “literature review,” which quickly
summarizes other studies on the topic. Literature reviews are usually skipable. In this case, read
the first three paragraphs in the section and the last paragraph in the section (skipping the lit
review).
What issue does the introduction introduce as important and why is it important
according to the authors? The introduction ends with a list of questions the authors are
asking (also a common strategy in academic essays). Which question is most
interesting to you?
The “Our Inquiry” section describes the study the authors conducted.
Define summary, paraphrasing, patchwriting, and copying.
The findings section looks at what they found. The paragraph on beginning of page186 brings up
an issue we will discuss at length
Look at each of the 7 findings on page 182. Would your last 101 essay (or any other
writing from sources college paper) have been in the yes category for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,
and 7? Which of these findings surprise you? What are the problems with the students’
use of sources as illustrated on pages 184 and 185? Do you read/understand the
sources you use in your college essays, or do you primarily mine them for quotes?
In the discussion section, the writers interpret these findings, highlighting their consequences.
What are the dangers for students writing from sentences rather than sources? What
might be the cause of why students patchwrite, according to the authors? Why don’t
the authors believe that patchwriting should be considered plagiarism?
The conclusion basically calls for more study particularly into the reasons that might explain
these findings. This is a common move in academic writing.
In the first paragraph of the conclusion, the authors speculate on my students work
exclusively from sentences. Which of the two possibilities offered do you find most
likely?
Guide For Project II Source Readings
Study guide for Project II sources. In pairs, write one-three sentence summaries of the articles
below. Be ready to share with the class, and, as a class, we'll write a final 3-5 sentence summary
of each article. Key ideas/terms from the articles are in parentheses.
Anson “Fraudulent Practices: Academic Misrepresentations of Plagiarism In the Name of Good
Pedagogy” (citation practices in business and military and even in faculty teaching materials
don’t match what we teach students)
James M Lang “It’s not You” (personal essay).
Les Perelman “Information Illiteracy and Mass Market Writing Instruction” (data smog,
information illiteracy, standardized tests making the problem worse)
Randall McClure “Examining the Presence of Advocacy and Commercial Websites in Research
Essays of First-Year Composition Students” ” (effect of web on reading, why students include
quotes and information from advocacy and commercial sites as evidence in their papers )
Howard, Rebecca Moore, Tanya K. Rodrigue, and Tricia C. Serviss “Writing from Sources, Writing
from Sentences,” (patchwriting; lack of summary, misunderstanding
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