Response to "Know It All"

I think that this article on Wikipedia is very interesting. It shows how different this online encyclopedia is from any other source of information in the world. It holds so much information in so many different languages and anyone can access it for free. "The promise of the Internet is free knowledge for everyone," and I agree with that statement. I think that the idea Jimmy Wales had for an encyclopedia that everyone could access and edit was very innovative and something that we all have benefitted from. I have never edited an article on Wikipedia but I have visited the site countless times and have used it as a start to research and just to gain knowledge on a topic. Wikipedia shows how much the internet has changed the world and how different this technology can make our lives. It also has an impact on our education and the things we do in school. For research projects, some may object to the use of this online encyclopedia that anyone can change. There is some conflict over using Wikipedia as a reliable source, especially since anyone can alter the information that is presented on the site.

The fact that anyone can change or edit the information on the site makes it very different from any other place where one would get material. Because of this some things can be hard to trust when found on Wikipedia. It also says something about the creator of the site that he has edited his own article on Wikipedia eighteen times in one year. This shows that even he has a problem with the whole truth being out there. He does not care about having all the facts straight on his biography, but I do not know if this necessarily means that he does not want the truth put out on the rest of the website. He may only care about this because it is about himself and he does not to be associated with pornography. So I kind of think that it's not that big of a deal that he does not want that information posted about himself, but it is the truth.

I also found it funny that one of the top contributors of the website turned out to be a total phony. Essjay, who claimed to be a professor of religion with a Ph.D. in theology and a degree in canon law, ended up being a twenty-four year old with no degrees to speak of. He was living a lie on Wikipedia, claiming to have credentials and gaining praise for his additions to the website. This shows how easily the Internet can be used to give oneself a false identity and to make claims that are no where near the truth. On the Internet, you can be whoever you want to be and you can post whatever information you want to be out there. This is what makes Wikipedia a sometimes unreliable place to go for the information that you would want to be completely accurate.

Response to "Her Point Is" & "As He Himself Puts It"

When writing, "Her Point Is" states that it can be hard to not place your own biases and opinions into information that you are trying to summarize. One can easily summarize information incorrectly and this makes the audience less convinced by the author, especially if the author is trying to persuade. I know that it's important to summarize text accurately, and this will eventually make your own words more reliable. It's useful to include the author's opinion about what is being said about the topic to further your argument, and to include all information that could help with proving your claim. I know now that in a summary, you should focus on what you as a writer are trying to argue against or support. The information that you include in your summary should be directly related to what you are discussing in the essay but it should not have any bias included in it. It should be true but focused. I think that it could be hard to not add your own opinion in a summary sometimes, but it should come after the summary is made as to not confuse the audience and you will be seen as a more reliable writer if you practice this. Something I have never thought about before was that sometimes what you think could be a claim that supports or denies your thesis could actually be only part of someone else's argument and not actually related to what you are talking about. When looking for information to include in a paper, I should always check to make sure that what the author is discussing actually has to do with my topic and is not just being interpreted as related.

I've realized that I am guilty of including "list summarizes" that just use boring words like "and," "also," and "in addition to" so I should probably work on this in my future writing so that I do not bore my audience.

I found the section on summarizing satirically to be entertaining and I enjoy seeing it in others' writings, but I think that I would be too scared to actually use this approach in my own essays. I think that if I were to use this form of argument then I would have to be very confident in my opinion and criticism.

I think that the section on using signal verbs that better describe what the person is saying was useful. I feel that I always use the boring ways of introducing an opinion, and these examples will be helpful when writing my next research paper. It gives a lot more emotion to the essay and it makes it more interesting to read.

I have always found that I like to use quotations in my essays and other writings a lot more than summaries. I think that it is easier to include them in my writing and it shows the opinion of someone else clearly compared to my own opinion. I've found that when reading my peers' essays and if they include too many quotations and not enough analysis or explanation, it is frustrating to read. It's especially annoying when a quotation is at the end of a paragraph with no commentary about it. I think that it is very foolish to assume that a quotation says everything that you mean to say and to just leave it without any response.

I think that sometimes, however, I do include quotations that are not directly connected to my main points of my writing. I think that every writer needs to make sure that when their essay is done, the quotations they have included all tie in with their thesis.

It is also very important to keep in mind that every quotation needs to be introduced properly into the text and then followed by your own opinion. I think that creating a "hybrid text" is something everyone should try to do. The essay should be balanced and include enough evidence and commentary to show the author's point.

I think that I sometimes do include too much commentary, but I was glad to read that too much analysis of a quotation is more appreciated than having too little.

I found the templates that were included about introducing quotations also to be helpful. It is so boring to just say "he says" or "she thinks" and I think that I will use these next time I am writing an essay. Also, the templates on explaining quotations will also be useful next time I am composing a paper. I think that most of these templates provided in this book are very functional for writing essays and make it a lot easier.