Holdstein & Aquilinhe, Preface, Chapters 1, 2 Who Says? Holdstein & Aquilinhe, Preface, Chapters 1, 2

Preface Nicholas Carr’s “Is Google Making Us Stupid” article in The Atlantic strikes a chord. [Q: What error did the authors make when they quoted Carr on p. ix? Any other errors?] Authors say Google and Wikipedia often oversimplify information. Do they? When? When is that not true? It is true that there are new challenges in grappling with how and when to rely on source materials Be careful how you Write Read Use sources This book will help you prepare a successful paper

Chapter 1—What is Information? [Can skim this] Information requires information literacy—when do you need info, where can you get it, is the info accurate, authoritative, do you know how to use it? Gertrude Stein example [Q: What did the website get wrong?] [Also note their “voice” here: What person do they write in? What forms of address do they use? How do they handle gendered pronouns?] All research is based on a process [as we discussed] Primary (e.g. science) vs. secondary (your paper) are similar. [Q: What are the steps in scientific research?] On p. 4 they say you, like a scientist, will “prove your argument”; [a better term is “support” your argument] [Each chapter ends with Ideas Into Practice; take a look and see if these help. Here it’s to create a timeline—although I’d argue that the course syllabus has already set that for you.]

Chapter 2—Writer’s authority/voice The Rhetorical Situation, via Aristotle: [think of questions you need answered for each] Writer Audience Purpose Topic Occasion Writer: Authority, ethos, credibility Audience: Who, expectations, knowledge, relationship to writer, mixed or homogeneous

CH. 2 cont. Purpose: Topic: Occasion: Inform, entertain, persuade Topic: Tone, conventions, context Occasion: Setting, context of presentation [more for speeches] Ethos: what words share its Latin root? Ethics, ethical; here it’s more like credibility, character, but that also is enhanced when you write ethically Pathos: what words? Pathetic (emotion) Logos: words? Logic, logical; reasoning, facts, data

Ethos cont. Pitfalls (politician example) Refusal to answer honestly Not having the right information Overuse of pathos; poor use of logos “patchwriting” (quoting too much) Missing citations Poor formatting, wrong conventions of the discipline Voice: your style as a writer; diction, syntax, vocabulary, appropriate tone for this rhetorical situation; think of bloggers Note examples of email to an instructor vs. to a friend Practice: take a stand/thesis on needing a summer vacation or, gun control, animal rights, etc.; consider logos, ethos, pathos, audience