Chapter 20 Summary

                 

                   In Chapter 20 of the Bedford Research we discuss how to understand the documentation systems. The first key question you should ask is "what is a documentation system and which one should I use?" There are four major styles to choose from, and they all have different documents they go with. MLA is the style from the Modern Language Association and is used primarily in the humanities, English, philosophy, linguistics, world languages, etc. APA is the style from the American Psychological Association and is used mainly for the social sciences, psychology, sociology, anthropology, political science, economics, education, etc. Chicago is the style developed by the University of Chicago Press. This style is used mainly in history, journalism, and the humanities. CSE is the style from the Council of Science Editors and is used mainly for the physical and life sciences such as chemistry, geology, biology, botany, and mathematics. This fields will guide your choice in documentation system. The next question you should ask is "How should I document my sources?" How you answer this question will depend on your  writing situation. Most often you will provide a reference to your source within text, and provide a complete set of citations, or formal acknowledgements, for your sources in a work cited or reference list. The specific format of your in-text citations will depend on the documentation system you use. Key publication information is usually provided in a works cited list, reference list, or bibliography. These list appear at the end of the document and include the following information about each source. Authors and editors, title, publication date, publisher and city of publication, periodical name, volume, issue, and page numbers, URL and access date.    

Ch. 17 Summary

Calvin Gurtler

5/20/14

English 102

                    In chapter 17 of the Bedford Researcher we discussed revising and editing your document. There are several things you should consider when revising your document your writing situation, your argument and ideas, your use and integration of sources, the structure and organization of your document, and your genre and design. You also need to decide what strategy you want to use as you revise. The different strategies are saving multiple drafts, highlighting your main point, reasons, and evidence, challenging your assumptions, and scanning outlining, and mapping, your document. The main things to focus on are accuracy by checking facts and figures, economy by reducing the number of words to express an idea, consistency by treating concepts and numbers consistently, style by using the right words and using active and passive voice appropriately, and spelling, grammar, and punctuation. It helps to mark and search your document using a highlighting pen or highlighter too to mark errors or information that should be double checked. Word processor tools for checking grammar, spelling, and punctuation should be used with caution as they have limitations. They can't identify words that are spelled correctly but are misused. They also cannot recognize technical and scientific terms,  names, and unusual words.    

Ch. 14 summary

Calvin Gurtler

5/19/14

English 102

               In chapter 14 of the Bedford Researcher we discussed the proper way to draft your document. The outline that you have created is important in the drafting process. The outline will act as the skeleton of your draft. You can flesh out your document with effective paragraphs that focus on a central idea. Paragraphs often have a topic sentence that makes assertions, offers an observation, or asks a question. the remaining sentences elaborate on the topic. It is also important to follow an organizing pattern, often paragraphs follow the same organizing pattern as the document as a whole follows. The common styles are chronology: identifying the sequence in which events occur over time, description: presenting the distinguishing features of an idea, a concept, or an event, definition: presenting the distinguishing features of an idea, a concept, or an event, cause/effect: identifying factors that lead to an outcome, process explanation: tracing steps or explaining how something happened, pro/con: presenting reasons and evidence in favor of and against an idea, multiple perspectives: organizing according to a range of views, comparison/contrast: exploring similarities and differences, problem/ solution: defining a problem and presenting a solution. You should also use details to capture your readers' attention. The two types of details are minimal details and extensive, concrete details. It is also important to create transitions within and between paragraphs. Transitions include phrases such as however and on the other hand 

ch. 18 summary

Calvin Gurtler

5/12/14

English 102

                 In chapter 18 of the Bedford Researcher we discussed how to understand design principles. The first step to understanding design principles is to use design effectively. The first principles to understand are balance, emphasis, placement, repetition, and consistency. Balance is the vertical and horizontal alignment of elements on your pages. Emphasis is the placement and formatting of elements, such as headings and subheadings, so they can catch your readers' attention. Placement is the location of elements on your pages. Placing elements next to or near each other suggests that they are related. Repetition is the use of elements, such as headers and footers, navigation menus, and pages numbers, across pages in your document. Consistency is the extent to which you format and place text and illustration in the same way throughout your document. You should design for a purpose and present ideas, information, and arguments in a manner that helps you accomplish your purpose. You should also design for your readers. That means that you should have the following things in mind, that you are helping reader understand the organization of a document. That you are helping readers locate information and ideas. And that you are helping readers recognize the function of parts of a document.   

Ch. 15 Summary

Calvin Gurtler

5/11/14

English 102

                        In chapter 15 of the bedford researcher we discussed how to use sources effectively. One of the key questions you should ask yourself when writing your document is how can I use sources to accomplish my purpose as a writer? One of the ways is to introduce an idea or argument using a quotation, paraphrase, or summary. when you want indicate that a disagreement exists you can contrast ideas or arguments. You should base your choices on the clarity and conciseness of your sources. It is also important to provide evidence for your argument. Arguments that consist of a series of unsupported assertions don't earn the readers trust. If you support your assertions it is more likely that you will earn your readers trust. You should also align your argument with an authority such as a subject matter expert, a scientist, a politician, or a religious figure. This will give you assertion more credibility. Next it is important to define a concept, illustrate a process, or clarify a statement using your sources. You can choose quotation and illustrations with an eye toward establishing an overall mood for your readers. The emotional impact of images of a celebration or an expression of grief can lead your readers to react in specific ways.     

Chapter 16 summary

Calvin Gurtler

5/5/14

English 102

In chapter 16 of the Bedford Researcher we discuss how to write with style. The fist thing to think about when trying to write with style is to write concisely as people don't want to work any harder than necessary to understand the information in front of them.Writing clearly by keeping your words to a minimum helps you get your point across quickly. One of the easiest ways to cut down on unnecessary words is to cut out unnecessary modifiers. These are words that provide little or no additional information, examples of modifiers are fine, many, somewhat, great, sort of, and very. Remove unnecessary introductory phrases such as there are, there is, these have, these are, here are, it has been reported that, and so on. You should also work to eliminate stock phrases. 

It also helps to use active and passive voice effectively. A sentence written in active voice specifies a person or thing that carries out the action. A sentence written in passive voice indicates that something was done, but does not specify who or what did it. Passive voice can be helpful when active voice would require the inclusion of unnecessary information. 

Next you should adopt a consistent point of view whether it is first person, second person, or third person you should stick with it through out. 

        

Chapter 12 summary

Calvin Gurtler

4/27/14

English 102

                  In chapter 12 of the Bedford Researcher we discussed important ways  to properly develop your argument. When supporting your argument it is important to first support your thesis statement. The first step you should take when trying to support you thesis statement is to choose a reason. The kinds of reasons you choose will change based on the type of document you intend to write. For example, readers of reflective documents, such as blog posts and academic essays, will expect you to focus on a particular subject. While readers of informative documents, such as reports, essays, and articles, expect you to help them understand something about an issue. You should then select evidence to support your reasons. You can draw evidence from your sources in the form of quotations, paraphrases, summaries, numerical data, and visual images. Again, you should be considering the type of document you intend to write. You also need to decide how you want to appeal to your readers, whether you want to appeal to authority, to emotion, to principles, values, and beliefs, to character, or to logic. The final main step in supporting your argument is to assess its integrity. You check your arguments for fallacies. the four major fallacies that arise in a document are fallacies based on distraction, fallacies based on questionable assumptions, fallacies based on misrepresentation, and fallacies based on careless reasoning.           

Chapter 11 Summary

Calvin Gurtler

4/19/14

English 102

In Chapter 11 of the Bedford Researcher we discussed developing a thesis statement.  When developing your thesis statement it is important to review your position statement, review your notes, consider your purpose and role, and reflect on your readers. As your review your notes you should identify important information, consider whether the information will allow you to pursue your interests, review and elaborate on ideas that you’ve come up with as you think about the subject, and consider how your own ideas might allow you to pursue your interests. As you consider your purpose and role you should be asking yourself the following questions. Have your purposes changed since you started? Has your role as a writer changed since you started your research writing project? When drafting your thesis statement identify important information, ideas, and arguments associated with your position. One way to do this is to identify key words and phrases in your research question. Another way to establish a thesis statement is to draft several alternatives. You should create a statement that asks readers to learn something new, changes their attitudes or beliefs, or asks them to take action. By experimenting with different approaches you can efficiently determine which one works best for you. You should also be considering the type of document you plan to write as you create your thesis statement. The type of document you write can have an effect on how you present your thesis statement. 

Chapter 10 Summary

Calvin Gurtler

4/19/14

English 102

In chapter 10 of the Bedford researcher we discussed searching for information with field research methods. Field research is sometimes the best way to learn about an issue or collect information to support a position. You should consider using field research if published sources address your issue from a perspective you don’t find useful, if you are interested in an issue that most people think of as settled, if you find yourself considering an aspect of an issue that hasn’t been addressed yet, or if you just find that your line of argument can be strengthened by correspondence. One of the forms of field research is the interview. In order to decide whether a interview is necessary you have to think carefully about the role it might play in your research project.  Once you decide, it is important to plan your interview. You should decide who to interview based on what kind of information you want for your research project. Your interview questions should also focus on the issue you want to address. You should be thinking about the role you are adopting and the information you want to collect. Your questions should be in depth and require more than a yes or no answer. You should also prepare follow up answers. After the interview it is important to analyze you results. Look for new ideas, information, and arguments. Look for statements that confirm or contradict information from your other sources. Look for inconsistencies within the interview. Ask whether the information was relevant and credible. Ask whether you consider the person as qualified as you’d expected. Look for statements that might be useful in providing context. The other big form of field research is observations.    

Chapter 7 Summary

Calvin Gurtler

4/18/14

English 102

                 In Chapter 7 of the Bedford Researcher we discussed plagiarism and how to avoid it. Plagiarism is a form of intellectual dishonesty. It involves, whether intentionally or not, using someone else's work without properly acknowledging where the ideas or information came from. There are three types of plagiarism, unintentional plagiarism, intentional plagiarism, and plagiarism in group projects. Unintentional Plagiarism is the most common form of Plagiarism. Unintentional plagiarism often comes from mistakes such as quoting a passage in a note but neglecting to include quotation marks and then later inserting the quotation without remembering that it is a direct quotation. Intentional plagiarism includes actions such as "patchwork writing," which involves piecing together passages from two or more sources without acknowledging the sources and without properly quoting or paraphrasing. Plagiarism in group projects might happen when another writer suggests changes to your document and you subsequently incorporate them into your document. With group projects what is and isn't plagiarism often varies based on the situation. 

             We also discussed the ethics in research that keep the notion that writing is an honest exchange of information, ideas, and arguments among writers and readers who share an interest. To follow the research ethics you must always acknowledge the sources of information, ideas, and arguments used in your document. Accurately and fairly represent the information ideas and arguments in order to ensure that you do not misrepresent that work to your readers. Provide citation information for your sources.            

Chapter 6 Summary

Calvin Gurtler
English 102


              In chapter 6 we discussed how to save and organize information in relevance to the research question we have developed. It is suggested the you create a filing system in order to keep track of all the print documents that you collect throughout your research. However, this filing system must have a organizational scheme that you stick with throughout all of your research. Next, you have to decide how to organize all of your digital information. There are multiple ways to do this, one suggested tactic is to copy and paste all your digital info into a saved and labeled file. This can help keep your records straight. You can also download web pages and pictures you find for later viewing. Emailing yourself notes and links is a good way to keep track of sources you find in case you are working from multiple computers. Bookmarking websites is also important because it keeps a record of the sources you have found. You can also record information using your smartphone using a variety of apps to take notes, bookmark webpages, and even record interviews.

            When you are taking notes it is important to be consistent. In some cases you must remember to quote directly in order to avoid plagiarism.

Chapter 3 Summary

Calvin Gurtler
English 102

             
               In Chapter 3 of the Bedford Researcher we discussed how to develop a research question. Most research questions start with the question what? Why? When? Where? Who? How? You can generate good research questions based on information, history, assumptions, goals, outcomes, and policies you find in your research. Questions can lead to the following kinds of thinking processes, definitions, evaluations. comparison/contrast, cause and effect analysis, problem and solution analysis or advocacy, sequential analysis, inquiry, and reporting. Using the questions and your research you can refine your research question so that it is specific to your topic. Once you have a refined research question you can start a research proposal.

               A research proposal should identify your topic, issue, and research question. Your research proposal should include a title page, an introduction, a review of literature, an explanation of how you will collect information, a project timeline, and a working bibliography. Your research proposal should also identify relevant types of sources and identify appropriate search tools and research methods. You should also compile a Working or Annotated Bibliography that conforms to your documentation system. You also must clarify and elaborate on your core proposal. There are multiple ways to do this you can write an abstract or executive summery, an overview of key challenges, or a funding request and rationale.
           
           

Chapter 4 summary

Calvin Gurtler
4/9/14
English 102


            Chapter 4 discusses reading critically and how it can help you work with your sources. Reading critically differs from evaluating because when you read critically you question what your source is saying and thinking about what it means, focusing on making sense of the source. You don't take anything for face value. While evaluation focuses more on determining how reliable the source is at presenting its information and whether or not it meets your needs for a research writer of your topic. You can use your research question to think critically by forming position on your issue to answer you research question. Reading critically s reading with attitude, regardless of where you are in you research writing process you should always adopt a critical attitude. Ask questions, look for similarities and differences among sources, and examine the implications of what your are reading as it relates to your research topic. The most important part of reading critically is being open to ideas and arguments.

           When critically reading sources you should keep in mind your reader's needs, interests, values, and beliefs. You should also keep in mind the design of your document and the context in which it will be read as you critically read your sources. If your document is going to be read on a cramped smartphone you should find information that is easy to read and fits that context.    

Chapter 2 summary

Calvin Gurtler
4/9/13
English 102


        In chapter 2 they discuss steps to take in order to properly explore your topic. One of the major ways you can explore your topic is to discuss it with others who have been affected by it, whether through formal interviews or phone calls and emails. Conducting preliminary observations is another good way to explore your topic. The biggest way to explore your topic is through sources whether they are online articles in scholarly journals or books from your local library. There are a few different resources when it comes to searching for sources, news-stands and bookstores, databases, web directories, blogs, forums, web discussions, and wikis. Some of these are can be risky and contain sources of disinformation. In order to stay organized it is suggested that you record your searches made using these resources. It is also suggested that you skim your sources so that you can get a general idea of it and see whether or not it is relevant to your topic. By checking the table of contents, index, glossary, works cited list, and pull quotes you can quickly explore your topic.


       It is important in you research paper to focus on a issue. You can do this by identifying conversations about issues in your topic with repeated concepts, broad themes, and disagreements among sources. You than have to assess you interest in the issues and choose one.

 

Chapter 1 Summary and Discussion

Calvin Gurtler
4/7/14
English 102

           In Chapter 1 of The Bedford Researcher they discussed good ways to get started on your research paper. They stress the importance of having the ability to research and write with confidence. Their major points for researching and writing with confidence were taking ownership of your project, understanding the research writing process, learning how to work with sources, learning how to develop a position, understanding genre and design, understanding the importance of readers and context, being aware of new technological opportunities and challenges, and managing your time. 

           They also suggest creating a project timeline that lays out an outline of steps to complete your research paper. Next they give you a series of steps to follow in order to choose an appropriate topic. They give you a variety of things to consider such as who you readers are and what will influence them. You also have to consider what type of document you are writing, this stresses the differences between different genres of work. They give you a variety of exercises to generate ideas about appropriate topics. Exercises such as brainstorming, free-writing, looping, and clustering. For the final step to finding the appropriate research topic you must consider you writing situation.