Ashleigh DailUWRT 1103Professor Caruso1 August 2015

Discussion Board Post 2-- Annoying Ways People Use Sources Forum

After reading the Stedman article, I had the opportunity to really think about my writing and all the critiques I could make on my style and structure didnt have anything on my problems with citations. As a student we all learned the different ways to cite your sources and the ways not to. But I personally think that students don't cite sources because they don't care, it's because maybe they havent used the citing formats enough to become efficient using them. I know that when I'm writing, I'm so eager to put my ideas out there, to make sure I'm getting my point across effectively that even though those sources helped me form my thoughts, I want to write it down so I don't lose it. I know that you always have to give credit where it's due, but I think that sometimes we as students get caught up in having to write our papers and assignments, we don't actually stop to see if we are writing correctly. I think Stedman's article was critical of the mistakes writers make but helpful when offering ways for improvement. It is difficult trying to come up with original thoughts on published works, it almost feels like you're saying "here is something I read by somebody else, while their opinion is important, here is what I think." How do you have an original thought about somebody else's work? How can you reach a different perspective? These are the things I think about in my writing when I use sources, AND I'm beginning to think that this is something that can either help or hinder my writing. If I am able to find new ideas, new perspectives while writing I should be able to put them out there and communicate effectively, WHILE using citations. That is one thing I do want to improve on in my college career and as an english major, it is necessary and mandatory.