How To Make Readers Think I know What I'm Talking About
I'm in my 4th week of my college writing class (which is almost half way) and to be brutally honest, I'm surprised I doing as well as I am. For those of you who know me, English is not my "thing". This is why I chose my career field of mechanics. I had the illusion that all I would have to do is fix things. Well you don't have to spell it when you fix it' or so I thought. Life has a funny way of letting you know "Your wrong"!
I have found that I need to use my language skills now more than ever. Because of this, I have the desire to improve my writing skills. When I write an email or a text, I don't want to sound ignorant. This is especially true when I write papers for my professor.
When writing a paper, all I am doing is giving the reader my opinion. This is because I am a nobody. So that begs the question, "How will I give my paper value and authority". The answer is rather simple. I don't. You see the value and authority will come from someone who knows what they are talking about and most importantly, others know what they are talking about. So by quoting people "in the know", I will be leveraging their knowledge and experience in my paper.
If I were to write a paper about flying and I used quotes from Chuck Yeager, I think that would give my paper some credibility. On the other hand, if I used quotes from Harrison Ford, he may not carry the same weigh as Chuck Yeager even though he is also a pilot. It would depend on how I were to use the quote and its context.
The important thing to remember is to give them credit for their work. If you don't, that is a form of stealing. Its call it plagiarism. So give credit where credit is due.
Until We Talk Again.
I absolutely love your comparisons in this post, the comparisons allowed the readers to have examples to your words and I am definitely impressed. For English to not be your favorite subject I will say I enjoy your writing and most definitely have more talent than you give yourself credit for. While adding authority to your paper is huge adding value is important as well. With your major I would consider how this career choice is valued to you. When your heart is in writing people can feel it. Good luck your gonna do awesome!
ReplyDeleteI love how you used two different examples to show who would have more credibility! I think that that's very important when it comes to writing papers like we do in our class! I bet you'll write an excellent paper!
ReplyDeleteDon't beat yourself up; you are doing fine with your writing/communication. Your comparisons let me know that you can tell a more credible source of information. And that your research is going better than mine. I'll let you in on a little secret. I've been an A&P mechanic (I'm assuming that is what your goal is) for 3.5 years and you do a lot of writing. Sign off's and maintenance documentation is everyday life as an A&P. It's not an essay a day but get used to writing/typing.
ReplyDeleteI agree I have never been a big fan of English myself. English will be something we actually use in everyday life. I have to catch myself sometimes when I'm writing sometimes bad as I want to write like I text Lol! I have to get better with learning how to place my references in the correct spots when citing words that Im using in my documents.
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