WRTG391 WEEK 2 activities

Developing Topics and Wikipedia

Actions for Developing Topics and Wikipedia

Many college professors do not allow their students to use Wikipedia as a source from which to cite. Professors are concerned that students will be relying on a source that is not credible. Why? Well, anyonecan post on Wikipedia. In addition, anyone can post erroneous information on Wikipedia. The information posted sometimes changes from day to day. More importantly, professors ask college students to engage with sources that have a bit more complexity than those found in an encyclopedia. College professors are interested in hearing from experts within the particular field that is being studied.

So, using Wikipedia as a source is generally a very bad idea in a college level writing course.

Are there productive ways to use Wikipedia to explore a topic?

Assignment:

Please read the following:

Chapter 13, Wikipedia Is Good for You!?

Identify Purdy's (2010) 3 main ways to use Wikipedia when researching. Using the Wikipedia strategies and your chosen research topic, please write a short description of how you used Wikipedia for “1. ideas, 2. links to other texts, and 3. search terms” (Purdy, 2010). Please note any places where your research went in a different direction because of your use of Wikipedia.

Image by Flickr user umjanedoan / Creative Commons licensed

Purdy, J. (2010). Chapter 13 Wikipedia Is Good for Y fou!?. In L. Charles & P. Zemliansky (Eds.), Writing Spaces:Readings on Writing (Vol. 1, p. 209). Retrieved from https://learn..edu/d2l/le/content/18529/viewContent/555339/View

Q-200 word

One of the foundations of a good essay is a strong and focused thesis statement. Generally, I think of a thesis as a claim that is supported by reasons. Each of the reasons corresponds to the sections of your essay. The claim is the position that you want to take on the issue. It is your brief, one sentence answer to your issue question. It needs to be supported by reasons and evidence. A reason is a subclaim that supports your main evidence. A reason is often linked to a claim with the words because, therefore, so, consequently, and thus. Does that make sense?

In addition, I often like to say that thesis statements should have tension. That is, thesis statements should not be bare recitations of fact but they should expand the readers' expectations. You might phrase a thesis with tension in the following manner:

While many people believe X, Yis true because of 1, 2, and 3.

Of course, there are many ways to effectively frame thesis statements. Here are some links to help you as you develop thesis statements:

http://polaris..edu/~jbooth/ewpjim/thesis_conundrum.htm

http://polaris..edu/~jbooth/ewpjim/thesisdicoguide2.htm

In addition, this general page of video tutorials on basic essay formulas may be helpful as it includes discussion of the thesis statement:

http://polaris..edu/ewc/web/basic_essay_formulas.html

Task:

After watching and taking notes on the videos provided, please view the following tutorial from 's Effective Writing Center.

http://polaris..edu/ewc/web/thesis.html

After viewing the final tutorial, please post your answers to the following questions:

What is the name of the article that you are critiquing? What is your position on that article? What claim are you making about the article? State your answers clearly in a thesis sentence that helps to map your response for the reader.

Cham, Jorge (1997-2013). Caution: Thesis Writing In Process. [Cartoon]. Retrieved from http://http://phdcomics.com/comics.php