To save me from answering the same question more than once, please put post your questions here for the enjoyment of all. If you feel like your question only applies to your paper, you may e-mail me directly (but I might send you to the blog if other authors might share your question).
Happy weekend!
Blake e-mailed me a question about visual rhetoric. Visual rhetoric is certainly welcome. Be careful about papers on the short end of page limit that contain several large images; you might be thin on content. Don't worry if images push you over the 10 page limit.
ReplyDeleteI MOVED THIS FROM THE OTHER POST FOR OTHERS
ReplyDeleteA couple more questions:
How scientific can I take my approach and diction. For example, when writing "that the flesh of a strawberry is simply specialized tissue cells" is it too much to say they are made up of "parenchyma cells which developed from the ovary of the flower"? Who can I count on being my audience besides you? (This is my own knowledge from AP Bio)
Also, my evidence so far are facts, not quoted material. Are you expecting quoted material? Will it hurt my ethos if I don't? For example "bacteria are so small that a line of 1,000 can fit across the eraser top (“Bacterial”)." Do I need to establish that I found this fact on MedlinePlus.com (a .gov website that is a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine), or is the citation enough?
Thank you! I really appreciate your time in answering these!
When you're considering technical language and jargon, you have to weigh what you gain against what you lose. Generally, sophisticated diction improves your ethos while alienating some readers. In the above example, I'm not sure what you gain by throwing around the word "parenchyma."
ReplyDeleteFor your second question, the example you give IS a quotation (with the quotation mark in the wrong place, by the way). The authors of the website article give you more than a number: they give you an image to help you understand their number. There is a difference between the example you offer and citing a simple statistic. For example, you wouldn't need to quote the following: According to my AP Lang teacher, roughly 13% of all teen fatalities are caused by prom-dress related rugby injuries (Kline). The preceding example includes the source of the statistic, the statistic itself, and a parenthetical citation to help the reader find the entry on the Works Cited. You can judge for yourself whether the argument would be strengthened by establishing the credibility of the source.
So I have my essay broken into sections of "stuff to fathom." Such as, size, number, and (if I have room) age and distance. Which would be more effective, summing up each section with a "why does it matter?" or wait until the very end?
ReplyDeleteAnd you said that it would be fine of we go over the page limit?
Each section should have some kind of conclusion, though it doesn't need to be of the "why does it matter?" sort. If the reasons why it matters differ from section to section, sum it up with each section. If they all unite together into one big "why it matters," save it for the end.
ReplyDeleteIF your papers break the 10 page limit, make sure every word is necessary.
Is it alright if I began my intro with a first person tone and say this idea led to this idea? I feel like my personal experience directly relates to my question.
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DeleteThat would work fine. Make sure you don't ignore this engaging intro in the rest of your paper.
DeleteIt sounds like the question you're really asking is the 1st person v. authoritative tone question. You can employ both a 1st person POV and an authoritative tone at the same time. The key is to write like an expert. "I think..." and "I believe..." and "In my opinion..." weaken your authority, but that's a function of tone and diction, not 1st person POV.
Oh and one more question, how do you establish an author from Gale who is not well known?
ReplyDeleteThat's tricky. If you can't convince your reader your source is credible, then he's not credible. If Gale doesn't provide you with anything useful, a quick google search might help.
DeleteBe careful with Gale. OCHS has clearly purchased a "lesser" version of Gale this year. Students have found books of quotations and Jr. Scholastic magazine on Gale. Make sure your sources are, in fact, college level and credible.
I found several sources on the Gale "US History in Context" database, but it's not actually on the Gale main site.
ReplyDeleteDo I need to include the link?
No, but be sure to cite it as a database.
Deleteokay thank you for answering my questions! I think my intro will work but not sure about a couple of my sources.... Gale isn't pulling up things that are relative to my search, I guess I will just keep looking!
ReplyDelete