Kantz Reading Response

“Helping Students Use Textual Sources Persuasively” by Margaret Kantz

Summary

In Margaret Kantz’s article “Helping Students Use Textual Sources Persuasively,” she attempts to find a theory explaining why students struggle with writing research papers involving multiple sources. Kantz uses the example of Shirley, a novice writer, to exemplify the student who merely quotes her sources and reproduces their ideas but does not move the conversation forward by adding her own new thoughts. According to Kantz, the problem with the way students like Shirley approach research is that they are not reading rhetorically, or as inquiry, and thus fail to develop an actual argument. 

Synthesis

Throughout her article, Kantz claims that the main reason students struggle with writing successful research papers is that they are unable to make an original argument. In Kantz’s example, Shirley researches a conversation about an issue, but she does not read rhetorically or, as Greene suggested in his article “Argument as Conversation,” Shirley reads for information, not for a conflict, gap, or question. In other words, Shirley fails to move the conversation forward because she does not find that niche that John Swales talks about. Like Michael Kleine observed in his article “What It Is We Do When We Write Articles Like This One—and How Can We Get Students to Join Us?,” novice writers tend to merely copy or transcribe what they consider to be facts or data because, like Shirley, they don’t want to reproduce incorrect information. Yet they are merely gathering correct information and still reproducing it. Ultimately, Kantz posits that if students read sources as arguments, like Greene proposes, they will be more likely to inquire than to see facts to be reported, and thus, their papers would fill a niche and include an argument. 

Pre-Reading Exercise

Just today, I had an argument with one of my roommates about what type of documentation was needed in order to travel to Canada. I maintained that she needed to have a passport, but she said she just went to Canada this spring without a passport, and still does not have one. I countered that my parents went to Canada this summer and both of them had to get a passport for the trip. Eventually, she revealed that she just presented them her citizenship certificate (she recently officially became a U.S. citizen). I wasn’t aware that 1.) she only recently became a U.S. citizen and 2.) that you could use another form of documentation to travel to another country. We did eventually come to an understanding once all the facts were revealed.

QD 1. Although Shirley spouts what is probably common thinking about the difference between fact and opinion and what argument really is, Kantz argues that facts and opinions are actually very similar. They both are fundamentally claims that a writer makes. The difference between the two comes from the way they are accepted. Facts are generally taken to be true, while opinions are taken with a grain of salt and audiences generally have a harder time accepting as the truth. Kantz also suggests that students read source texts as arguments, instead of stories or narratives.

QD 2. Kantz claims that students tend to think that the only stance they can take on their sources is to disagree or agree with them; for them, there is no gray area or any room for a niche or gap. Her example of Shirley shows a student who does not read rhetorically i.e. does not evaluate or interpret her sources, who does not read the text as an argument, who is concerned more about being correct than adding something to the ongoing conversation, and who does not know how to (or that she should) find and explore a niche.  They don’t know how to approach a source that they think only offers straight facts nor do they think that a “factual” account can have a bias or slant. Kantz also points out that students read sources as narratives or stories and are very quick to accept them as the Truth; they do not know that there is not much of a difference between facts and opinions in rhetorical argument. All of these observations seem correct. I think when I was the same age as my students, I tended to read sources as factual and I was deeply concerned that I would produce work that was “incorrect.” Reading sources rhetorically, as Kantz suggests, does give me confidence that I am not completely off the mark, even when I am attempting to add something new to the conversation.

AE 2.  Creativity is not something I usually associate with academic writing. However, now that I think about it, there is a certain amount of freedom or room to explore when you do finally identify that niche you will explore. I like Kantz’s idea of developing a “constructive solution.” I often think of writing as a sort of mathematical text in the sense that you are trying to solve a problem or question you pose.

MM: Many of the constructs or conceptions that Kantz addresses have to do with how sources are taken by readers. Kantz criticizes the propensity students have for blindly accepting what scholars say as the Truth with a capital T. She also challenges the idea that research papers need to be correct; this construct goes along with the idea that there is a right or wrong answer, which is also in conflict with Greene’s idea of argument as an ongoing (and interminable/unsolvable) conversation. It’s useful to understand her claims because being a reader who questions, evaluates, and interprets sources is essential for writing strong, successful papers. That is how you find your niche and add something to the conversation.

I enjoyed Kantz’s piece, especially the story of Shirley. I empathized with Shirley because, as a Freshman writing my first college paper on Henry V for both Dr. Giese and Dr. Dutton, I was terrified of reproducing incorrect information and didn’t know how to “weave in” sources or add something new to the conversation. I like that Kantz lays a lot of the blame on instructors for not pointing out that her paper lacked an argument or providing her with helpful suggestions like her roommate Alice did. As an instructor, though, I don’t want to lay too much blame on teachers.