Task: Choose Your Source
This is the beginning of your Research-Driven Critique Essay. You will build it in stages over several units.
In Units 6, 7 and 8, you complete Research Essay Process Assignment, which includes an annotated bibliography and an outline of your essay.
In Unit 9, you will write the draft.
In Unit 10, you will revise and edit the draft.
Beginning the Research-Driven Critique
s://app.readspeaker.com/cgi-bin/rsent?customerid=11151&url=https%3A%2F%2Fe.centennialcollege.ca%2Fcontent%2Fenforced%2F836616-COMM171003_2022F%2FTask%2520Choose%2520Your%2520Source.html&lang=en_us&voice=11151&voice=Kate&readid=d2l_read_element_1)
Listen
In Unit 11, you will complete the final draft.
The source you critique your research essay will be either an argument or a narrative. You are already familiar with argument sources, but we will briefly recap the main
points about arguments and add a few new pieces of information before going on to define narrative.
Two Types of Souces
Type 1: Argument
In an argument, a writer responds to an issue (a debatable controversy) with a thesis (the main claim) supported by reasons and evidence.
Examples of Arguments
Read the following argument and identify the issue, thesis, reasons and evidence.
Nancy Colier’s argument in “The Power of Off,” in which she argues that we are overly dependent on and addicted to digital technology and should wean ourselves
off and control our use more:
https://bestselfmedia.com/power-of-off/ (https://bestselfmedia.com/power-of-off/).
Argument Reasons Often Take the Form of Rhetorical Appeals
Most arguments contain some mixture of the following types of strategy, known as rhetorical appeals:
Logical: the writer persuades through facts and reasoning designed to seem rational and reasonable.
Emotional: the writer persuades through imagery, diction, and stories designed to make the reader feel an emotion–joy, horror, sadness, empathy, etc.
Ethical: the writer persuades through markers of credibility (writing that is fair-minded, accurate, and self-aware; but this may also refer to elements not directly in the text, such as the writer’s
background, experience, education, and reputation).
Type 2: Personal Narrative
A personal narrative is an essay about a particular moment, event, problem, or question that occurs in the writer’s life. These essays are usually brief and tightly
focused. They are told using the same narrative techniques as fictional stories–plot, character, setting, figurative language–but they are true and autobiographical.
Writers of personal narrative essays typically do not directly state their main message or overall meaning. They usually evoke a mood, describe a situation, share an
experience, or detail an event, and compel readers to put together the meaning for themselves.
Examples of Personal Narratives
Read the following narratives and identify the moment, event, problem and question.
Malcolm Conner’s story of negotiating transgender identity and romantic love in College:
The physics of Forbidden Love (https://go-gale-com.centennial.idm.oclc.org/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&u=ko_acd_cec&id=GALE|A590217127&v=2.1&it=r)
Problems or Questions
The writer of a personal narrative usually seeks to understand or unravel some specific problem or question in his or her life.
Malcolm Conner wants to better understand the problem he faces of dating a female Indian classmate as a transgender male in the the context of ongoing struggles around acceptance of
LGBTQ and racial identity in North America.
Main Message
Narrative writers typically avoid stating their main meaning directly. Readers must infer the lesson of the narrative, and it’s possible for different readers to arrive at
different–if related–interpretations.
As a reader, questions to ask may include, “What does the writer most want me to understand?”, or “How does the writer want me to think differently from reading
this narrative?”, or “What is the writer’s central insight?”
Elements and Strategies
Where arguments are built out of reasons and evidence (along with background information and context), narratives are built out of narrative strategies and
elements.
Narrative elements include character, event (plot), setting, theme, and symbolic or figurative language. Narrative strategies include creating puzzles for the reader;
and creating suspense, surprise, and emotion.
Character, event, setting, and theme provide important clues to the narrative’s message. So do the various strategies, such as creating emotion and surprise,
because thematically rich moments and moments of heightened emotion or surprise are often where writers come closest to conveying their message directly.
Summary of Source Types
Arguments and narratives are by no means the only types of sources around us. But they are very common and very powerful. Primary means of transmitting ideas,
they shape our beliefs and actions, often in hidden ways. Knowing how to break them down and evaluate them helps us to become more critically aware consumers
of information. We will also become more equipped to push back against the stereotyping, oversimplifications, inaccuracies and prejudice that sometimes
characterize public conversation or discourse including message we see in many forms of the media.
Fundamentally, the structures of narratives and arguments are simple, and can be summarized as follows:
Argument: Issue, thesis (often stated directly), reasons and evidence
Narrative: Problem or Question, main message (usually implied), narrative elements and strategies
What to choose?
Choosing an argument if…
you enjoy thinking logically and debating issues;
you want to engage with contemporary controversies, opinions, or current affairs; or
you want to continue directly building on the skills of argument analysis.
Choosing a narrative if…
you enjoy absorbing stories and reflecting on language;
you want to engage with contemporary issues that may be more subtle than a controversy or debate; or
you want to stretch yourself by trying a different type of source.
Task: Choose Your Source
Download the Research Essay Process Assignment Template (Research%20Essay%20Process%20Assignment%20Template1.docx?
_&d2lSessionVal=c8tKcromD0bjlXFBNmAJ5DEFd&ou=836616) You will complete this assignment from Unit 6 to Unit 8. Check the Research Essay Process
Assignment Rubric (/d2l/common/dialogs/quickLink/quickLink.d2l?ou=836616&type=content&rcode=CENCOL-3323119) and be familiar with the Assessment criteria.
IMPORTANT: You will submit it at the end of Unit 8. There is NO submission this week.
Step 1: Choose one of the following sources as the basis of your Research-Driven Critique Essay.
Argument Sources
Source 1: What’s the right age to get a smartphone? (https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220914-whats-the-right-age-to-get-a-smartphone)
Source 2: Climate change is a public health emergency (https://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/opinion-climate-change-public-health-emergency-1.6600620)
Narrative Sources
Source 3: My son’s death revealed the connection between mental illness and addiction
(https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/son-mental-illness-addiction-first-person-1.6605973)
Source 4: I met my dad for the first time when I was 4, and he was behind bars (https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/13/opinions/burmese-democracy-human-rights-wai-hnin/index.html)
Step 2: Once you have chosen your source, deconstruct it.
Write a one-paragraph summary.
Step 3: Answer the following questions:
If you’re using an Argument:
Strengths: In what ways is the argument logical, fair, and reasonable? Even if you happen to think it’s weak, why might some reasonable people agree with the
author?
Centennial College. (n.d.). Unit 6: Task: Choose your source and complete initial steps. In COMM170. Winter 2020 [Online
course]. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kKw50aszD5ccuHBD11Kaukd9LNiBmQplQ8rkFKlNjbU/edit (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kKw50aszD5ccuHBD11Kaukd9LNiBmQplQ8rkFKlNjbU/edit)
COMM-171
College Communication 2
Flaws: What are the problems, flaws, or gaps in the argument? Even if you think it’s basically strong, why might some
reasonable people disagree with the author? What objections can you raise about the argument? Try hard to be rigorous,
but if you really can’t find “flaws,” what new questions and areas for development does the argument raise?
If you’re using a Narrative:
Strengths: What makes the narrative seem truthful, important, and relevant? Why should the narrative matter to other
people today?
Flaws: What voice or perspective does the narrative allow us to hear that is perhaps often hidden? Moreover, what do
you think are some other possible perspectives on the same issue/problem raised in the narrative? In other words, how
would the same experience/issue/problem look from a different perspective?
Research Essay Process Assignment Template
Title of the source for the Research-Driven Critique Essay
Deconstruct the Source
Summary
Write a one-paragraph summary.
Write a paragraph that answers the following questions
In what ways is the argument logical, fair, and reasonable? What are the problems, flaws, or gaps in the argument?
Academic Integrity
For each of the three scenarios below, identify whether the action is acceptable or unacceptable, and give the reason why.
Scenario 1
You copy a paragraph or an image from an Internet source and paste it into your COMM 171 essay.
Is this action acceptable or unacceptable? Why?
Scenario 2
You and your friend complete an essay that your instructor said must be done independently, and each of you submits it as your own work in different sections of COMM 171. Is this action acceptable or unacceptable? Why?
Scenario 3
You conduct research on a topic and paraphrase it in your COMM 171 essay by using your own words and a unique sentence structure. You use synonyms where possible. You include an in-text citation and a reference list entry. Is this action acceptable or unacceptable? Why?
Keep a record of your research
List 2 sources of each type.
Newspaper and Magazine Sources
– Source 1:
– Relevance:
– Source 2:
– Relevance:
Videos/Images
– Source 1:
– Relevance:
– Source 2:
– Relevance:
Library and/or Database Sources
– Source 1:
– Relevance:
– Source 2:
– Relevance:
Annotated Bibliography
Source 1
APA entry:
Annotation:
Source 2
APA entry:
Annotation:
Source 3
APA entry:
Annotation:
