Response to WAW #2

WHAT RHETORIC MEANS TO ME

I think rhetoric means a person trying to convince another person into believing something. Rhetorical means a writing that is persuading the reader into believing something.  What rhetoric has to with academic writing is that almost all scholarly articles have to do with some kind of persuasive argument, and people use these to cite for research papers. 

SUMMARY 

The reading was basically explaining how people can use rhetoric to their advantage when writing, especially when doing research. Kantz talked about how to properly write a research paper and showed how sometimes rhetorically stating what the research consisted of does not make for a genuine research paper. 

QD

1. Kantz contends that facts are not always based in a textbook. According to Kantz these so called facts and are more like claims. If a person really took the time to search they could find multiple sources with probably a multitude of different claims about a certain event. When it come to writing an argument its up to the reader to decide what claim to agree with. In order for the reader to support their opinion they should incorporate both sides of the argument to help illuminate why they are correct in their reasoning. 

2. Some of the mistakes Kantz thinks students of make include: Many students misunderstand sources because they read them as stories, many students expect their sources to tell the truth; hence they equate persuasive writing in this context with making things up, and many students do not understand that facts are a kind of claim and are often used persuasively in so-called objective writing to create an impression. I think Kantz is absolutely correct because up until I took a writing and research class in high school I made the exact same mistakes when it came to writing research papers. I feel like I have a pretty good grasp on all of her concepts since I have taken that class. 

3. One of the main things I think I've gained from reading this article is on how to pick the pieces for my research. Because even though I have my own opinion I will need to write about both sides of the argument so I will be able to support my argument and persuade people into thinking the same way. 

6. I think Kantz' ideas will change on how I do research, because there were times where I only obtained research from sources that only supported what I thought was true. 

MM

The construct or concept that Kantz is trying to analyze is to not just take stock in what textbooks considered to the facts because other sources could pose a more persuasive argument.