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

1

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 2

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.]

3

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 4

CH. 2 cont.• Purpose:• 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

5

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

6