Chapter 10: Joining the Conversation: Primary Sources, Secondary Sources, and You
Your Turn!
Select one of the paragraphs from your essay in which you examine some aspect of your primary evidence and employ at least one scholarly source and then ask yourself the following questions. For every no response, revisit what you have written, revisit the sources you have read, and revisit the notes you have taken, and then determine what you need to do to improve that aspect of your paragraph.
Taking Measure
Have you read and reread your primary and secondary sources so that you can write about them with confidence?
Y/N
Have you selected specific aspects of both the primary and secondary sources that will lead to a more elevated and interesting reading of the primary material?
Y/N
Have you selected specific aspects of both the primary and secondary sources that will enable you to produce a meaningful contribution to the ongoing scholarly conversation that is both an extension and a complication of the current discourse?
Y/N
Is this paragraph still very much part of your argument and analysis? Are you using primary and secondary sources to work toward the examination you proposed in your thesis?
Y/N
Do you clearly identify the author of each source as you use it?
Y/N
Does your use of the sources in your paragraph constitute a moving forward? Do you use your primary and secondary sources to produce something new?
Y/N
Do you end your paragraph on your own informed idea rather than a citation that “answers” your question?
Y/N
Is the purpose of your paragraph clear and does your use of primary and secondary sources enable you to achieve that purpose?
Y/N
Do you avoid letting your claim overshadow your primary and secondary sources, and avoid using short snippets without context to “prove” your point?
Y/N
Do you avoid being a passive conversationalist or relying on large citations of both primary and secondary evidence to do your work for you?
Y/N