In class Monday, group 2 talked about imagining alternatives to your argument from our book. When a writer recognizes weak spots in their paper, they show their readers that they are honest and dealing with them. Sometimes a source takes a different approach than yours. When this happens you want to focus on the different aspects of the problem. You want to emphasis on the part where you and your source disagree. As a writer you don’t want to dismiss evidence because it might be irrelevant or unreliable. A reader might consider it significant so you want to acknowledge it but explain to your reader why you didn’t use it. By doing this you can see alternatives and use them in your paper.
In my paper 2 I did not think that what kind of keyboard my music group uses was important. Even though I didn’t think it was important, I still put it in to. It gives my readers a better understanding of the group.
Cassandra Gazzo
I agree, I feel it is important to be as straight-foward as possible when writing to your audience. If you don't aknowledge something that readers may want you to discuss, it can put holes in your writing. This will give readers possible reasons to view you as a less credible writer, or they may even pick your writing apart with their own arguments.
ReplyDeleteEmilee Cooper says
ReplyDeleteBefore reading this in our group I had no idea that you should keep evidence even if you don't plan on using it in your paper. It makes sense to keep it though because your readers might find the evidence you show, the better your argument will look.
It is never a good idea to intentionally dodge important information in a research paper simply because it goes against your claim. If you pinpoint the readers concerns about opposing research, you are more likely to gain their belief in what you write. Don’t think about opposing research as something that will ruin your own research, but actually supports it and makes it more credible. It assures the reader that you are taking into consideration research that has been previously done.
ReplyDeleteLike Emilee, before we read this in class I didn't think to add information that I found unreliable and irrelevant to my paper. It makes sense to add this information so the paper is more credible and cannot be undermined by the readers. The audience is more likely to respond to a straight forward style of paper, rather than one that omits information.
ReplyDeleteWhile it may be important to mention alternate views, I don't think its mandatory. Sometimes opposing views from yours veer the reader in a different direction, creating a different thesis than one may have intended.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a great idea to add information that might spark some debate with your reader. It will help make sure your reader is interested in finishing the paper. But as with most other things in writing, you don't want to over-do it so much that you tick the reader off or distract from the actual argument. This is something writers don't normally think of but a great point!
ReplyDeleteI do think it would be a good idea to put alternative views in your paper. An audience may think about these views and may want to know why you never wrote about them. It would help them understand your paper better and help to keep their interest in your work.
ReplyDeleteI think allowing space in you paper for alternitive arguements validates a researchers paper. Although, a researcher opinion may be subjective the information leading up to their research outcome should be subjective.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really important thing to emphasize. As high school students we are taught to only include source that completely agree with our stance. I think that taking a more scholarly approach souces that possibly disagree should be included because we can show where our paper is strong and where it isnt as strong.
ReplyDeleteAlternative arguements in a paper can get a reader thinking of new ideas that you may not have found or knew about. this gives way for more research and a better understanding altogether.
ReplyDeleteI think adding alternative views in your paper is a good idea. Its very beneficial because it keeps your reader interested and helps them to better understand your paper.
ReplyDeleteI also think that adding irrelevant information, although it can show the reader that you know the other arguments and make you appear more credible, could confuse the reader from your actual point. I think that the author should be cautious when adding alternative views to their paper, so as not to contradict themselves and appear less credible.
ReplyDeleteIncorporating alternatives in an arguement is something that I had not done prior to this course. But, once I understood the idea behind alternatives, I found it beneficial. It makes the paper well-rounded and thought out.
ReplyDeleteI think having alternative views in your paper only make your paper that much stronger. Which a stronger paper means that it is keeping your reader on the edge.
ReplyDeleteat first i really did not see the point in putting facts in the paper that didnt quite illustrate the importance of your argument. However, i see now that it is important to allow your audience members to gather information and knowledge about the subject in order to believe your argument about it.
ReplyDeleteWhen you write a paper you make an argument that you stick to throughout your whole paper, you may make several arguments. You need sources and reasoning to back up your argument otherwise your reader will be skeptical.
ReplyDeleteit is important not to dismiss evidence. A way of making your paper stronger is to include a counter argument. By doing this, you are showing the reader that you understand the other side of the argument, but then show how you disagree with it.
ReplyDeleteIf you add an argument to your paper you could write about soo much and probably cant stop writing. Readers could understand your argument.
ReplyDeleteADAM CLEMENTS
I like your blog entry. It gives a lot of insight into different ways to write research papers and I agree. It's good to include bits about different arguments to give readers a lot of sides to the subject. Just be careful about making sure that that does not become the bulk of your paper and your argument is forgotten.
ReplyDeleteI think that it is important alternative view because it gives your readers a better understanding. It also paints pictures that were least expect about an artist if your doing music. Sometimes people want to know little things about people or things that they didn't previously know that's why alternatives are a good idea.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the original post. Giving sources that disagree with the writer allow the reader to weigh the pros and cons of both sides and see similarities and differences between the two.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree, its amazing to find out all the pieces tht form the puzzle.
ReplyDelete