ENG 111 OER Repository

The word annoying in the title of this chapter draws attention to the rhetorical nature of a writer’s choices when citing sources, emphasizing that readers may feel emotions like annoyance (or worse) when authors fail to cite in the ways expected by the audience. This chapter humorously describes poor decisions that academic writers can make when incorporating outside sources into their texts. You can help your students avoid “annoying” rhetorical behaviors with this chapter, a brief primer on citation conventions for the Modern Language Association style. Students will enjoy reading about each “annoyance,” illustrated through positive and negative examples designed to show both the most common ways that writers make these mistakes and practical ways to fix them.

Citing sources for an academic writing project can seem a bit like trying to hit a moving target—the rules keep changing (they’re more like guidelines anyway). Teaching citation can be especially difficult, then, given multiple styles necessary for multiple disciplines and the occasional style changes; however, what doesn’t seem to change is the need to know where information comes from. In this chapter, you and your students can explore citation as a rhetorical practice, one which does not always fit within the boundaries of traditional style guides but that nonetheless follows a logic that students can learn.

Research projects where students are asked to gather first-hand data are a common occurrence in first year writing courses (FYC). However, FYC students may struggle with the ethical and practical issues of collecting, analyzing, and writing about survey results, interviews, and observations. This chapter introduces definitions of research from an interdisciplinary perspective, examines ethical considerations, and compares the research process to the writing process. The chapter concludes with information about writing from primary research, including integrating research and creating visuals. Two student examples--a nutrition observation/survey project and a agricultural and biological engineering interview project--are provided to give students concrete examples.

Teaching students to write well with sources involves much more than teaching them to summarize, paraphrase, quote, and provide documentation. You can use this dialogue, in which a college student seeks writing advice about using sources from an online professor, to help students understand what it means to use sources thoughtfully, appropriately, and rhetorically. Four metaphors help you to articulate how students can work effectively with sources illuminating a different aspect of source-based writing: walking, talking, cooking, and eating. The walking metaphor captures how to find and document sources. The talking metaphor is a reminder that all sources are authored and connected through overlapping knowledge networks. The metaphor of cooking with sources describes how to analyze source-based assignments and integrate source materials. Finally, the eating metaphor explains the effects of using sources on one’s personal identity.

An academic argues in favor of using Wikipedia for both teaching and research. In tone and organization, this article aims more for other academics than for students, but it's useful as a counterpoint to Brian Proffitt's agument that Wikipedia doesn't belong.

Brian Proffitt uses an accessible, informal tone to present his anti-Wikipedia case.