Chapter 12 RR

Source

They say that a house is only as good as it's foundation.  It doesn't make sense to build a magnificent house on a poor foundation.

Similarly, a position paper needs strong supporting sources in order to give the paper credibility.  A research paper takes the reader through an analytical journey that starts with a point, examines the counterpoint, and goes through a logical presentation of points that support the thesis statement and derive from credible sources.


Chapter 12 shows us how to take a source and integrate its idea into our paper.  We do not want to plagiarize information, but we do want to quote or paraphrase source data.  This chapter teaches us how to do that by "learning by writing."  For example, on pgs 236-237, it presents an excerpt from a source text and shows how to properly quote it.  They show an example of too much quotation and the proper amount.

I like the way this chapter presents the info because in other textbooks, they tell you how to do something, but don't provide useful examples.  There are plenty of visual examples, so a student writer could improve a lot if they followed their advice.  This class is centered around being able to properly produce a well-researched and documented research paper, so the skills taught in chapter 12 should help throughout a person's career.

Dustan S