Discovering Your Voice - Blog #8

Looks like things are moving along smoothly! The research essay is in full swing and the first draft has been written! Now, it's time to take a step back and look at what you've said. I'm going to do a simple exercise and then at the end, I'll reflect on what I've done.

*Two different colored highlighters are needed for this exercise.*

Step 1:
Mark the parts in which you're a less active author. Highly every sentence that reports facts, quotes sources, or otherwise presents information or ideas that belong to someone else.

Step 2:
Now, using the other highlighter, mark the parts in which you're a more active author. Highlight every sentence or paragraph that represents your own ideas, analysis, commentary, interpretation, definition, synthesis, or claims.

Reflection:
I'm pleasantly surprised with how my draft turned out. The point of this exercise was to show how often your voice is displayed in your paper and if your voice and the other voices are evenly displayed. My draft rightfully had more of my voice highlighted, but there was an even pattern between sources. My quotes also rightfully took up between 10-20% of my paper. I am pleasantly surprised, however, I will be making more changes to my essay to take a different approach.