1. Choosing Secondary Sources

2. Purpose of Secondary Sources
Directly back up your own analysis
Enlighten reader about subject, author or novel
Adds ETHOS (credibility) to your paper

3. #1: LEGIT SOURCES Use BCI database in virtual library
Use Google Scholar
Visit the Laurier or University of Waterloo library (se Ms Rampelt the librarian at BCI for info)
Avoid ANY wikis, personal websites, pseudo-professional organization websites

4. Types of Legit Secondary Sources
Argument Type
Echo
Set Table
Data type

5. #2. Argument or Data?
Types: Secondary Sources can help define/classify/clarify an issue with stats and facts (DATA) OR give professional opinions on an issue (ARGUMENT)
Purpose: Secondary Sources can directly support your argument (ECHO argument) OR indirectly set-up or support your argument (SET THE TABLE or CONTEXT)

6. Secondary Source: Argument Type
Presents an argument/opinion of a critic
This person’s opinion is credible since he/she has been peer reviewed and the writer is an expert in the field of study
The opinion can be used to either ECHO your argument/opinion (yay!!) OR it can SET THE TABLE (create context for your paper)

7. Argument: Echo Example
You believe your novel develops the point that the main character, Mr. Cheesy, represents the decline of Spain’s aristocracy
You find a secondary source – a paper – in the virtual library, written by Dr. Selma Stevens, where she writes, “Mr, Cheesy can be understood as the symbol of Spanish aristocracy’s collapse”.

8. Argument Echo Example cont
You have found an ECHO of your point – congratulations!
WARNING:
Be sure that you did not steal that critic’s point and claim it as your own!! Be sure to cite it properly
Echoes can be hard to locate, so do not wear yourself out looking for them

9. Argument: Set the Table Example
You believe your novel develops the point that the main character, Mr. Cheesy, represents the decline of Spain’s aristocracy
You find a secondary source – a paper – in the virtual library, written by Dr. Kai Lumong, where he writes, “Mr. Cheesy seems to be unaware of his own decline – he is a Spanish aristocrat losing his power.”

10. Argument: Set the Table Cont.
You have found quote that does NOT echo what you argue BUT
The critic’s argument/opinion does help SET THE TABLE as (in this case) it sets the context: Mr. Cheesy is a Spanish aristocrat in decline, and seemingly unaware of it.
You can then connect the dots that he represents the decline of all of Spain’s aristocracy

11. Argument: Set the Table Cont.
A critic’s argument can be used to set the table in many ways:
Enlighten the reader about the author
Enlighten the reader about the plot
Enlighten the reader about the setting
Enlighten the reader about characters
Enlighten the reader about your SUBJECT (love, hate, purpose, etc)

12. Secondary Source: Data Type
Presents facts/stats from secondary sources
This data is credible since it appears in a peer-reviewed source and the writer is an expert in the field of study
The data can NOT be used to ECHO your argument/opinion
It can only SET THE TABLE (create context for your paper)

13. DATA: Echo example (bad)
You believe your author of Mr. Cheesy of Spain was born in Spain
You find a secondary source – a paper – in the virtual library, written by Dr. Kai Lumong, where he writes, “The author of Mr. Cheesy of Spain was born in Spain.”
So ??? You cannot argue whether the author was born in Spain – it is not an arguable point for your paper!!!

14. Data: Set the Table Example
You believe your novel develops the point that the main character, Mr. Cheesy, represents the decline of Spain’s aristocracy
You find a secondary source – a paper – in the virtual library, written by Dr. Kai Lumong, where he writes, “The author himself was born in Spain, raised in an aristocratic extended family, all of whom ended up in jail or penniless, much like most of the Spanish aristocracy of the time.”

15. Data: Set the Table Cont.
You can Set the Table in your paper by noting the author’s experience in Spain’s aristocracy through his extended family AND how history has recorded the actual decline of the Spanish aristocracy
You can now further argue, using your primary source, your belief that Mr. Cheesy likely represents the historical decline of Spanish aristocracy

16. Secondary Source: Argument or Data? (article on the play King Lear)
When he hears Cordelia's answer (), Lear seems surprised, but not dumbfounded (). He then advises her to () "mend [her] speech a little." (1.1.95). He had expected her to praise him the most; but compared to her sisters', her remarks seem almost insulting.() In Elizabethan England, insults of the monarchy could put one in jail.()

17. Argument or Data – there are BOTH
When he hears Cordelia's answer (DATA), Lear seems surprised, but not dumbfounded (ARGUMENT). He then advises her to (DATA) "mend [her] speech a little." (1.1.95). He had expected her to praise him the most; but compared to her sisters', her remarks seem almost insulting.(ARGUMENT) In Elizabethan England, insults of the monarchy could put one in jail.(DATA)

18. Review:
Secondary Source
Argument Type
Echo
Set Table
Data type