Writing Midterm
Be able to describe chief difference between MLA and APA citation styles and what the difference says about what MLA and APA deem the most important information
APA really cares about timeliness by prioritizing the year. MLA it's less important. APA doesn't capitalize the whole title MLA does. MLA uses the first and last name of the writer while APA uses first initial and last name. MLA focuses on credit more.
Name two of the ways authors summarize incorrectly?
Adding in your own beliefs to the summary. Summarizing without regard to your own agenda which creates "list summaries"
Define the CRAAP test?
C- Currency, is the information timely R- Relevance, if the information important for your needs A- Authority, What is the source of the information A- Accuracy, is the source reliable and truthful P- Purpose, why does the information exist
Nuclear Waste Summary
In Richard Muller's essay, Nuclear Waste, Muller talks about one of the biggest technical issues in our country today, nuclear waste. He discusses the many misconceptions as well as disagreement between politicians and scientists about the topic itself. He talks about the prototype nuclear waste buried in the Yucca mountain, Nevada, and the risk that it could cause. More importantly our priotrizon of absolute security which he says is an unrealistically "extreme goal". We compare it to the risk from it being originally mined as opposed to real issues of uranium in our country, specifically in colorado river. The main focus of this essay is that this is a mysterious topic and we "lose perspective" of the real issue. It is important to do more research and increase public safety to really understand it more even if it does cause public freight
Graff/Birk state: "Yet many writers make a host of mistakes when it comes to quoting" Describe two of those mistakes
The failure to quote enough and writers who overquote
What are the complete rules for paraphrasing a source?
Use your own words, think about what author meant, combine different parts of quotes, change the structure of sentence, and use different phrases
Be able to describe Birk's analogy that academic writing is like entering a conversation at a party. Most importantly be able to describe the whole analogy
You want to know enough about the topic that you can take it and comprehend it and add to the conversation using you own thoughts
If you were to look at an abstract be able to tell the abstracts four parts
give us the main point of the articles, main questions, approach, and why people should care
How does the wildcard symbol work?
include alternative forms of words, plurals, etc.
What is the ALA/ACRL definition for information literacy?
A set of abilities requiring individuals to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaultiare , and use effectively the needed information.
How do Boolean Operators work: AND, OR, NOT limit a search?
Boolean operators search for key terms and limit stuff you don't want in you search by adding things or asking that things aren't included
Discuss how one should evaluate sources to use them in academic essays
First you must pre research your topic so you can have some understanding of what to look for. When you find a source you think looks good, first look at where it came from. Look at its credibility and even research writers and websites. Examine the data and do not just trust that they are reliable. Then put the source through the CRAAP test. Which checks for currency, the importance of the information, the authority, reliability, and the purpose of it. Once you have picked sources make sure they are sources that further your argument.
Be able to identify with reasonable certainty that a source is scholarly by examining its citation, abstract, and first page
If a source has lots of citations, an abstract that gives us the main point of the articles, main questions, approach, and why people should care, and the first page has a technical and specific title, it has the credentials of the scholar, and it is long.
Agonism in the Academy Summary
In Debroah Tannen's essay, Agonism in the Academy: Surviving the Academic Culture, Tannen recalls a time in which she was at a reading group amongst other professors. Many professors antagonized the book even though some had not even read it, but felt they needed to disagree. She relates this to the idea of "agonist" which is an organized controversy. Agonism in the academic world is very normal but it causes some negative outcomes. In arguments sometimes people oversimplify work to win arguments losing the soul of the work. We create an environment where kindness and respect is looked down on. She concludes that we learn more by asking questions and reshaping versus just disagreeing. We should be trying to build theories and ideas and not just disagree with other scholars.
Can you over analyze a quote?
It is possible but it is better to over analyze than under analyze so go for it
What are the reasons authors avoid summarizing texts?
It lacks their own ideas and it must be true to the writer while at the same time being true to the author which can be tricky. It also just takes too much time and they would rather focus on their own ideas
What are the four steps "toward finding problems and developing meaningful projects of your own." Be able to name and define steps
Noticing, Articulating a problem and its details, posing fruitful questions, identifying what's at stake. Noticing is looking at things that are surprising or confusing. Articulating a problem and its details is relating to other things you might know about the subject or relating it to personal experience and finding specific tensions. Posing fruitful questions is asking questions that are relevant and important. They should also be realistic enough for you to answer. What is at stake is asking what you will gain or lose from answering the question.
What is the definition of Scholarly work?
Scholarly work is work curated by scholars for scholars that is also reviewed for scholars.
Describe how to game a scholarly article
To write a scholarly article we must rhetorically reddit, this helps us to understand how the text works and helps us engage in conservation. First when reading, consider the audience. If you aren't the primary audience for the text, maybe do some background research to help understand it more. After looking at the title, this will help understand how to read the rest of the article more effectively. Read the abstract and find the main points and problems as well as the approach the author takes. Then read the introduction which will help understand the whole piece and the main idea as well as the road map. Then read all the section headings to understand the trajectory of the article. After reading the conclusion which will help to make sure that you understand the introduction. Once you have read all the important aspects it is important to figure out the main point, so that when you indepthly read it you can do it efficiently. You can figure out what is more important to focus on and what is not.
Define what Irvin meant when he states that academic writing is an argument and an analysis
You enter the conversation by making an argument where you support your viewpoint. Analysis breaks down a subject apart to study closer, your interpretation of how they fit together is your argument.
How does the wildcard symbol work?
include alternative forms of words, plurals, etc. so you can get more results
