In my educational career, I have done several lengthy research essays, starting from as young as 6th grade. In all honesty, the projects I did in middle school required more consistent and generally better research, and as I grew older, the quality of my research significantly went down. I believe this is because I fell victim to the issues described by Barbara Fister in her article, “Burke's Parlor Tricks: Introducing Research as Conversation.” Since our teachers did not provide guidelines for a proper research method, most of my sources were various articles that supported what I was writing, rather than peer-reviewed journals or academic articles. In high school, the amount and caliber of work increased, resulting in essays where my fellow classmates and I didn’t “summarize sources, [we] harvest quotes, and nearly half the time the quotes [we] use are from the first page of the source” (Fister). In university, many professors assume that students have already learned proper research methods and understand the type of English used in academic articles. This would again lead to essays and sources that students do not fully understand, cherry-picking quotes and getting no value from these assignments. Thus, I do find Fister’s observations relatable as this was my experience in school. Moreover, Fister goes on to discuss Burke's metaphor of how “conversation is a much more accurate and powerful way to think about academic writing.” Personally, using this perception of research would be helpful for me to not be as intimidated when it comes to reading academic journals/articles. Viewing it as a conversation allows students to first learn the basics before chiming in, giving them the confidence to create a strong foundation in their topics before moving on to a more advanced understanding.
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