Position and Perspective
IntroducedTwo sources agree, and that is the interesting part
- Sorting sources into "for" and "against" gives you two piles and a paragraph each.
- But two sources on the same side may be arguing from completely different places.
- That difference is where a claim of your own comes from.
Two sources agree the roof leaks; one wants a bucket and the other wants a roofer. Agreement is only the start.
The distinction itself
- A position and a perspective are different.
- Sources may hold the same position on a subject and yet each come from a different perspective.
- Position is which side; perspective is from where.
Two sources can agree and still be doing completely different work in your argument
Position or perspective?
Sort each description by which of the two it names.
Two sources with the same position may still differ in...
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Position is which side; perspective is from where. Agreement can be thinner than it looks.
Synthesis needs the second one
- When synthesising, writers draw on arguments from multiple sources and select the most relevant information.
- Sorting by position produces summary; sorting by perspective produces a claim neither source makes.
- "Both defend it, but for reasons that do not survive together" is a sentence only perspective can generate.
Sorting sources by side is the best preparation for a synthesis essay.
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It produces two piles and a paragraph of summary each; sorting by perspective produces a claim.
Sorting sources into for and against decides a synthesis essay's grade before a word is written. Two piles produce two paragraphs of summary. Sort by perspective — from where is each source arguing? — and a claim of your own becomes available.
A source's credibility is reflected by the degree to which it considers other ____.
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A source that acknowledges nothing against itself is weaker by the CED's own standard.
Judging a source
- A source provides information for an argument, and some sources are more reliable or credible than others.
- The CED gives a usable test: the degree to which a source considers other positions reflects how credible it is.
- A source that acknowledges nothing against itself is, by that standard, weaker — and you may say so.
Select all that the CED says the strongest arguments do.
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Number of sources is never the standard; relevance and acknowledgement are.
Match each sorting method to what it produces.
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The sorting decision is made before the writing, and it decides most of the grade.
Acknowledging other positions
- The strongest arguments recognise and acknowledge the other positions that exist.
- That applies to the sources you are judging and to the essay you are writing.
- The same standard you use on them is the one you will be marked by.
Two sources support a training scheme. One is a manager reporting completion figures; the other a participant describing what the training let her do next. Same position, different perspective — and the essay can now ask which of the two the scheme's own measure was built to capture.
Position is which side a source is on; perspective is where it argues from. Sorting by position produces summary; sorting by perspective produces your own claim. Judge a source by how far it considers other positions — and apply the same standard to your own essay.
Write from a belonging argument
- Two sources both support a school uniform. One argues from cost. One argues from belonging.
- Say which sort produces a claim of your own.
Two sources both support the uniform. One argues from cost and one from belonging. Why does sorting them by perspective produce a better claim than sorting them by position?
Side is position. The reason behind the side is perspective.
What does sorting by perspective reveal here?
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The interesting difference is why they agree.