Dialogue of Sources Assignment

Dialogue of Sources Assignment

You can move from note-taking to formulating your argument through a creative assignment we call the dialogue of sources. Why a dialogue? <P<SIDEIND NUM="6" ID="SD1.05.006"/>Throughout Envision, we emphasize that research is social – it is a relationship with the people whose ideas and writing comes before you. Thus, you as a researcher and writer are now contributing to this conversation, building on the work of others, and adding a new perspective. Indeed, this notion of writing as communal is the reason why we use the author’s name when citing a quotation or an idea; remember that all your sources are authored sources. If you think of texts as written <ITAL>by people such as yourself,</ITAL> you will have an easier time remembering to acknowledge their ideas and integrate their quotations into your essay.

To put this idea into writing, you can compose a “dialogue of sources” – or literal conversation that you might have with your sources if the authors were all sitting around the seminar table with you. In other words, you can think of this writing assignment as a fictional conversation among the primary and secondary sources of your research paper that identifies each one’s central argument and main idea<SIDEIND NUM="4" ID="SD6.05.004"/</, with the idea of promoting a conversation about a relevant social or political topic. Here’s the process:

<SIDEIND NUM="5" ID="SD2.05.005"/<LINK LINKEND="FG2.05.002"<FIGIND NUM="2" ID="FG2.05.002"/</LINK

<BL<ITEM<P<INST</INST>First, identify the key players from your potential of sources. Which ones have the most influential or important arguments?</P</ITEM>
<ITEM<P<INST</INST>Then, create a cast of characters list in which you create a short “bio” for each speaker, including yourself, describing each person’s credentials and rhetorical stance—their ethos and their argument. You may even want to create identifying icons or pictures to give “faces” to the participants.</P</ITEM>
<ITEM<P<INST</INST>Now, draft the script. Begin by writing out key questions; ask your sources crucial questions about your topic. As they articulate their positions, put them in dialogue with one another. Use quotes from your sources where possible and include page numbers.</P</ITEM>
<ITEM<P<INST</INST>Don’t just play the “objective” moderator. Respond to the sources, and, in the process, start to develop your own argument.

Take a look at the “dialogue of sources” samples in the Student Writing section of the Envision Website; as you can tell from Amanda Johnson’s dialogue of sources, this process of literally responding to the main arguments in your texts can produce a very helpful interchange about the research topic and help move you toward the refinement of your own main argument.</P</ITEM</BL<SIDEIND NUM="1" ID="SD3.05.001"/