Position Essay on Student Source Use

1″ Margin

MLA Format

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In this Project you will consider what scholars have suggested about how student writers use sources, what types of sources most interest them, how and why plagiarism happens, etc., and then ultimately assert a position regarding what your own source use strategies are and how you engage with research and revision. You may bring in one or two primary sources (essays, writings assignments) from another course to support your assertions about yourself as a writer.

You should include specific details (paraphrase, summary, and direct quotation) from your writing and from two or more articles about source use as evidence for your claims. Use in-text citations when you cite these texts, and include a works cited page at the end of your essay. In-text citations and the works cited page should be in MLA format. MAKE SURE YOU CITE ALL SOURCES.

The essay should have a clear thesis stated in a short introductory paragraph (3-4 sentences), body paragraphs that clearly relate to and support that thesis, and a conclusion that does not simply repeat your thesis. Please use a 12-point standard font and 1″ margins.

You must cite two of these in your essay:

Randall McClure’s “Examining the Presence of Advocacy and Commercial Websites in Research Essays of First-Year Composition Students”
Les Perelman’s “Information Illiteracy and Mass Market Writing Instruction”
Howard, Moore, Rodrigue, and Serviss’s “Writing from Sources, Writing from Sentences”
Chris Anson’s “Fraudulent Practices: Academic Misrepresentations of Plagiarism in the Name of Good Pedagogy”

Solution Preview

Using Sources

Academic research requires the use of different sources to obtain different concepts of the topic and establish a detailed evaluation. Every author has a different perspective about the various theories presented about a particular issue, and appropriate research includes as many sources as possible. The way students writers use these sources is, however, a challenge to academic requirements. Most students take the direct language of these sources and hence instead of summarizing, they end up just paraphrasing or directly copying which is a form of plagiarism. As a writer, I consider the proper recognition of sources and using my voice or perspective and avoid any plagiarism cases that might compromise the originality of my research.

(1,226 words)