When I was an uninformed middle schooler, sources were the biggest pain. When we would do our big term papers, I would dread the task of finding and using the sources because I did not understand how much they added to my paper.
Sources add so much additional depth to one’s paper. In college, they are the particular aspect of one's writing that is going to make his or her point seem legitimate. Without sources, as stated by my teacher Iggy O, one's writing is a mere opinion and will not be appreciated among an academic audience.
Personally, I have found this to be true in my writing in college.
When a professor gives you a writing assignment, most people moan and groan because they do not want to do it. In these writings, the professor will ask you to use sources because they want to check to make sure you understand the book, but also practice citations.
When using sources in my writing, I have found that my writing is stronger. I have facts to support what I have to say. Because I have those facts, the professor has to concede with my opinion even if he or she does not agree with it because I have these sources.
I do not even know what my writing would sound like if I did not have sources backing up what I had said. If we did not have to use sources and my or another student's opinion did not agree with the teacher's, there could possibly be some grade changes, even if the teacher said that he or she puts their bias "away" while grading. Instead, when sources are used effectively to support an argument, the writing becomes very strong. Also, the student never has to worry about the teacher's bias because the claims are supported.
Hey!
ReplyDeleteI find your sentence "In college, they are the thing that is going to make your point seem legitimate." confusing. If you use another word for"thing", or explain it more detail, the confusion would be cleared up.
The title of the post "slays me" because so often sources do seem like a "side" with the main entree.
ReplyDeleteBefore I riff off on sources, I'll add that Riley is correct. "Thing" is like "stuff" or "society" in being one of the biggest suitcases that students lug around. Unpack it!
You get at one game-like aspect of academic writing, especially when students write just for the teacher and not as part of undergraduate research or for a publication. A writer does her best job to convince the faculty reader, who may "concede" that you made a good argument even if the prof does not agree with your argument.
Keep in mind that too many writers bolt on sources at the end and won't change a governing claim because a source contradicts their work so far. That's so dangerous! Sources do more than show you've gone to the library. The let you employ ethos (as a credible researcher and the source's origin from an expert).
Some faculty don't check students' sources. I do, and too often I find them "bolted on" for no good reason.