Throughout this term, I have progress at the ways to integrate sources into my work. With my first essay as seen below, I simply quoted the words of the author and followed it with my own analysis.
Widdicombe offers the perspective that “Meals provide punctuation to our lives: we’re constantly recovering from them, anticipating them, riding the emotional ups and downs of a good or a bad sandwich” (14). Although many people may question food’s value if we can barely remember our meals from previous days, I believe that Widdicombe brings an interesting thought to the table. I think about a life on Soylent and how bland and boring it would be, compared to the color food brings to our lives. Whether we are eating food in a celebration or rushing around and grabbing a quick bite, it is food that can keep us on our toes and moving through the day.
With the work of my final essay, my Significant Writing Project, I have progressed at integrating the ideas of others into my work by a variety of ways and have followed these inclusions with my own analysis. A few different methods of integrating sources are evident in a selection from my Showcase Writing Project below.
Wallace reveals the concept of cooking lobsters alive and how our values can be contradicted. Despite lobsters being cooked at different venues, such as a festival, Wallace claims that “the intimacy of the whole thing is maximized at home, which of course is where most lobster gets prepared and eaten” which he further claims that prepared means getting killed (506). Wallace’s claim reflects how emotional attachments to animals can be strengthened at home. Similar to the death of a lobster in an emotional sense, Caitlin Doughty touches upon the emotional impact of cremating bodies. She claims that “You get used to it, in a way. I don’t mean to get callous, but it becomes a reality of your workplace because… you can’t take in the full existential despair…working with the bodies…every time or you just wouldn’t be able to come to work every day” (05:02-05:46). Both of these perspectives I have linked together by relating them to my own personal experiences.
Here I have paraphrased the work of others to give context, such as I had with the ideas of Wallace, as well as included words quoted from him. I have then begun some analysis where I transitioned into the integration of another source. Following the inclusion of this second source, I begin my analysis where I connect these two ideas and explain how they fit together in my own perspective and in the context of my argument.
With another example from my Showcase Writing Project I have included a naysayer or an opposing opinion against my selected source.
Herzog presents the work of Ron Neibor who worked with cats and then had to study their brains. While conducting his study on the cats, Neibor “became attached to the two dozen animals in his lab … [as] they had become pets.” However, when it came time to kill and analyze the cats’ brains, Neibor’s “personality changed. A naturally cheerful and warmhearted person, he became tense, withdrawn, shaky” (5). Personally, I would not be able to interact affectionately with animals that I would have to sacrifice for my job. I would try my best to carry a professional manner throughout and try not to become emotionally attached to the subjects. Others may argue not only the ethics of sacrificing an animal for science, but on top of that, if you are sacrificing an animal for science then why not give them the best quality of life before they have to die.
As seen in this example, I have again both paraphrased and quoted the author to include their perspective in my work. I then begin analysis of my own perspective in response to the author’s words. Midway through my analysis, I include the naysayer when I introduce the idea that “others may argue not only the ethics of…”. Here I consider an opposing view that the readers may anticipate and question. I then follow the inclusion of the naysayer with analysis to show why I considered this other perspective and how it fits in with my perspective and argument as a whole.
Through these examples, I have progressed with the integration of other sources. At first, I began by just simply including the words of others and following with an explanation. However, I have progress to including multiple perspectives cohesively in one paragraph and how they fit together in conversation with my own perspective.
