Why did the student (Shirley) experience difficulty with assignments that required her to write original papers?
According to Kantz, “writing a synthesis can vary in difficulty according to the number and length of the sources, the abstractness or familiarity of the topic, the uses that the writer must make of the material, the degree and quality of original thought required, and the extent to which the sources will supply the structure and purpose of the new paper. “ She is basically saying that people find it easier to write a paper with only one source. When there are multiple sources, it is more difficult to keep your focus on only one thing and people usually get confused because of all the reading that is involved. I honestly think that to be true because when there is less sources, I find that I am more organized with my writing and I can find what I am looking for much easier. It isn’t always this way though; some students might actually find having more sources easier. They have more options from where to get their ideas from and they can actually manage to have all those sources. Overall, I believe Shirley experienced difficulty because of the fact that there were too many sources. She was so used to writing narrative papers and when she is faced with having to write an original paper like that, she could not do it.
I agree. When I first began writing synthesis essays I had trouble using different sources like Shirley did.
ReplyDeleteI think that the majority of students that attend public high schools fall under the same problem that Shirley had. We are taught to gather all our ideas then just write them into 5 paragraphs. I feel that this is a set back and will make entering freshman have trouble since many are not properly trained. I was one and as I have progressed through college my understanding and view has changed significantly.
ReplyDelete