Writer's Blog: Chapter 4

Chapter 4 is all about how to read and understand the sources that you will be using for your paper. The first thing that this chapter does is defines what critically reading means and what it does. Critically reading is "questioning what [a source] says and thinking about what it means". It is making sense of the source or in other words, understanding the source.  Then, the chapter explains how you can use your research question to read critically. Your research question (the question that helped "direct your efforts to collect and evaluate your sources") will help you come up with a position statement. A position statement is just what it sounds like...It is a statement that tells your position on the issue you've chosen for your paper. An example of a research question and a position statement could be the following: Research question is "What should be done about obesity in America" and using this question, the writer might come up with a position statement such as, "In order to help fight obesity in America, foods should be less processed and more wholesome." The next suggestion given in this chapter is to read with a critical attitude. Do this by keeping important things in mind such as your position statement, your readers' beliefs, the type of document you are writing, the design of your document, your requirements and limitations, and your opportunities. Ask questions about all of those factors as you read and evaluate your sources. The next step in your writing process is to start reading actively. Reading actively means you read and consider how exactly it pertains to your issue and position. To read actively, identify key information, write questions down as you read, highlight, and take notes on the information or ideas you find. This chapter suggests that marking up your source, annotating, and taking notes are the best active-reading strategies. As you read sources more actively, pay attention to the type of source you are reading and whether or not it is a primary ("original works or evidence directly by an observer of an event") or secondary ('usually use primary sources as evidence to comment on and interpret"). Also identify the main points in the source, the reasons behind the main point, and the evidence used to back up the main point. Appeals are often used to connect a reason to it's supporting evidence, according to this book. A reason may appeal to authority, emotion, principles and beliefs, character, or logic. Other things you can do as you critically read is identify frameworks (analysis), new information, difficult information to understand, and similarities and differences between sources. The last piece of advice that this chapter gives is how many times to read a source. The first time you read a source, you should skim it (just like it was explained above) and look for key information and content. The second time, you should read the sections that you have noted as important more actively, this time taking notes and highlighting. The third time, only read sources and passages from sources that you have found valuable and that will help you with your topic. There is no sense in keeping sources that are not going to be helpful. Remember to keep your argument and position in mind as you read closely and carefully. This chapter has laid out the steps to make obtaining your information from sources a lot easier. These steps will be key in developing my paper and will certainly help me stay on track when I do not know where to go next.