DO “I” BELONG IN THE RESEARCH PAPER?

My Obsessions and Expertise:

Rori Leigh HoatlinGeorgia College and State University

Opening Question

How did you learn to write a research (sourced outside of a primary text) paper? When?

What conventions do you expect to find in a research paper (your own, or your students’ papers)?

Quote

“Writing does not just convey information, it conveys something about the writer.” Ivanic 3

Obsessions Expertise

Things you wish or hope to someday be an expert in.

Things at which you are already knowledgeable, could give advice on, or would feel comfortable participating in spur of the moment.

Overview

Situation

Controversy Uncertainty

Though guns do have their drawbacks, it does not out weigh the reasons to keep gun laws as they are. I think that it is more important to teach people about what guns can do and how to be safe while using one, instead of fearing them.

Super Sad True Love Story compares to the United States in the year of 2008 to this current time in an economical point of view. Both of the economies can be compared in numerous ways. After finishing Super Sad True Love Story, I personally feel that Gary Shteyngart is attempting to predict what a possible outcome for the United State is in years to come.

Student Examples

First Question

When is it appropriate to use “I” in an academic paper?

More Questions

How can I aid college freshmen in the use of “I” in academic writing?

How do I get my college freshmen to use “I” in papers other than the personal narrative? And how do I get them to use it effectively?

Quote

… “in neglecting life experience, it is easy to overlook the material you have already been researching in a sense through your own life” (Huber 71).

Activity

Uncharted Obsessions: Outward Bubbles

Make a list of your obsessions Prompts:

What is your favorite childhood toy(s) What are some of your favorite childhood memories? What subjects do you wish you’d learned in school as a

child? What subjects do you wish you could learn as an adult?

Student Example: Research Paper

Weapons have experienced a type of exponential growth throughout history. In order to better understand the growth of modern weapons today one must look back at history to see where it all began. The earliest evidence suggests it all began in 400,000 B.C. with the simple spear by our most primitive of ancestors. The first notable improvement to the spear was the atlatl which combined throwing the spear while holding a notched wood that would add an extra snap allowing a death shot from up to 40 meters away.

Student Example: Review

To kick off our gaming review of Treyarch’s Call of Duty: Black Ops let’s start where the initial title screen takes us, the campaign. The campaign option of Call of Duty  gives us a chance to face off against computerized badies with adjustable difficulty levels while still following an actual story line in the process. In this way the game is not just senseless violence but actually maintains a point and reason. The COD: Black Ops campaign clocks out at just about 9 hours of play time and maintains twists and turns which keep the player guessing up until the very end…. I give it one thumb up as the other waits to see how the multiplayer experience stacks up with the blockbuster hits of the past.  

New Question

Is it just about the nature of the assignment? Did the Review assignment merely lend itself to a genre of writing where the student felt in control of the material and could therefore put himself into the writing?

How and where might I help students parlay this skill of “writer as guide” into a more academic research paper?

A Bit about the Rhetorical Triangle

Logos: logicEthos: ethics, credibilityPathos: emotionStudents easily understand the dictionary

definitions of these things and can use each individually Ex. Logos when quoting, ethos for social commentary, and pathos for personal narrative, but are faltering in using them simultaneously.

Quote

“Researchers are not agreed about distinctions about terms like ‘self,’ ‘persona,’… ‘ethos’…and the plurals of many of these words. Theorists have different views on the issue of ‘authenticity’” (Ivanic, 14).

Ethos Questions

In what situations are students credible? How do we build credibility in our students? We expect them to be scholars, but recognize

that they are not yet actual scholars, but that they are instead scholars in training.

How and where can we give them license to be credible?

Context

“It is acceptable to write in first person when giving an opinion, or when one has played a crucial role in shaping the data” (Webb 747).

“As a reader”

Personal connection that directly ties to topic

Family business

Personal academic revelation

Student Examples of Acute Credibility

More Questions

How close is ethos to pathos?To logos?

Activity

Areas of Expertise: Activities and Questions

Continuing Research

The “I think” and “I believe” essays are often the weakest—particularly when tied to research essays. I have tried to pin point why this is, but have not come up with an exact answer:

Not enough logos or logic backing the opinion Not enough pathos or personal life experience

backing up the opinion Not enough ethos—too egocentric, or solipsistic an

opinion to include the reader in the journey of the opinion

Closing Remarks

Students should be aware of: Where their expertise lies Where their expertise might lie after rigorous study

Final Thought

“I hope [students] can gain more confidence in using a variety of writing styles and choosing one that is appropriate to a particular context” (Webb, 748).

Bibliography and Further Reading

Haney Peritz, Janice. “Making a Place for the Poetic in Academic Writing.” College Composition and Communication. 1993. 44:3, 380-385. Print

  Huber, Sonya. The “Backwards” Research Guide for Writers: Using your Life for Reflection,

Connection and Inspiration. Equinox, Oakfield: Connecticut. 2011. Print. Ivanic. Roz. “ I is for Interpersonal: Discoursal Construction of Writer Identities and the

Teaching of Writing.” Linguistics and Education. 1994. 6, 3-15. Print.   Lillis, Theresa. “New Voices in Academia? The Regulative Nature of Academic Writing

Conventions.” Language and Education. 1997. 11:3, 182-198. Print.

Tang, Ramona and Suganthi, John. “The ‘I’ Identity: Exploring Writer Identity in Student Academic Writing Through the First Person Pronoun.” English for Specific Purposes. 1999. 18, 23-39. Print.

Webb, Christine. “The Use of the First Person in Academic Writing: Objectivity, Language and Gatekeeping.” Journal of Advanced Nursing. 1992. 17, 747-752. Print.

  Winslow, Elizabeth and Guzzetta, Cathie. “We Need to Use First Person Pronouns in Our

Writing.” Nursing Outlook. 2000. 48:4, 156-157. Print.