Chapter Fifteen

Chapter fifteen was on using sources effectively.  Your sources help you introduce ideas, contrast the ideas of other authors with your own, provide evidence for your points, define concepts, illustrate processes, clarify statements, set a mood, provide an example, and amplify a point.  There are several ways as to how you can present information.  Information can be presented as a quotation, paraphrase or summary, as numerical information, as illustrations such as images, audio, video and animations.  depending on the point you want to get across, some types of evidence may be more effective than others.  The key is readers will react to the information provided.  As you are drafting your document, consider consider how your sources can lead your readers to agree with your points of view on the matter.  When you want to indicate that disagreement exists on an issue you can use source information to illustrate both the nature and intensity of the disagreements.  Providing evidence to support your assertions gives you a higher outcome of your readers accepting your argument.  A striking quote that catches readers attention, can really arouse a certain mood for your readers.  There are several reasons as to why you should identify sources of information in your document.  For starters, doing so fulfills your obligation to document your sources.  It allows both you and your reader to recognize the boundaries between your ideas and the ideas borrowed from other sources.  Your document can then be strengthened by calling attention to the experiences of the person whose ideas you are incorporating.  Whenever quoting, summarizing, or paraphrasing of any sort, you want to distinguish your ideas and your sources by using attributions which are brief comments.  For example you can go onto say "according to" or "the author pointed out"that way your readers are then able to tell apart from what is your work and what is your sources.  You want to strategize how, where, and what quotes you will carry onto use in your paper.  Reason being is quote(s) can have a powerful impact on your readers perception of your argument.  You should cite your sources as well as provide publication information for each source in order to achieve your purpose.