In English 101, an introductory composition course, we were required to write a five-seven page paper on two different topics and demonstrate their relation through extensive research and critical thinking. After doing an analytical brainstorming activity led by the instructor, I decided to learn and write about modeling careers and body image. To create a well-written academic paper, five trustworthy sources were required, with at least four of them being of scholarly nature. Using the library online search engine, I eventually found reliable, informative sources that were relevant to my topic. To keep all my information organized, I took systematic notes on notecards and cited all my sources immediately. Once all the necessary information was gathered, I began the process of actually writing the paper. Although it was a difficult assignment and took several drafts for me to feel confident, I realized that research can be fun if one is deeply motivated, organized, and truly intrigued in the topic. The link below is my final draft for this essay.
I believe preparing and writing this paper helped me to attain significant growth in Information Literacy, achieving all four levels of this theme. Level 1 is described as “develops ability to access information effectively, efficiently, and critically.” I successfully gathered eight different sources for this paper by using MavScholar on the library website and key words related to my topic of interest. If I found an article that I thought would be useful for my paper, I looked at the sources the author cited to see if any of those articles would also be beneficial. Because of this, I was using the Internet and the resources available to me to find applicable information in an efficient manner. I have learned that sometimes simplicity is best, especially when it comes to finding sources, and it is important to use readily available resources, like the library website and even the librarians, when possible. These tools exist for a reason, and I have appreciated their effectiveness in helping me reach my goals, specifically composing my first undergraduate research paper.
Level 2 of Information Literacy is explained as “demonstrates knowledge of the ethical use of information.” All of the information I found on the Internet that I decided to include in my paper was cited correctly both on the Works Cited page and within the text in MLA format. I made sure to use citations when necessary (i.e. direct quotes or paraphrasing) to avoid plagiarism and using others' ideas in an inappropriate way. Although it can be a lot of work to include all reference information correctly, it is crucial as a researcher to give others' credit where it is due. Not only can it strengthen one’s position when credible sources are used and cited correctly, but it also demonstrates respect for the intellectual property of others and shows diligence in the research process.
Level 3 of this theme is “develops ability to evaluate and incorporate selected information into knowledge base.” When including outside resources in my paper, I was very specific on what information I used and where I used it, for I needed my own voice and argument to also be heard. I could not make this essay all about what I read through various articles, but had to include my own opinion, which meant primarily using the information that would strengthen my viewpoint and further elaborating through my own words. Even though this was tedious because it involved a lot of reading and thinking critically about the information I was consuming, I believe I gained great experience in my ability to use selected information to support my conclusion. Through this process, I learned the most reliable sources are scholarly articles that have been through the peer-review process and have a well-reasoned theory, argument, discussion, etc. based on strong evidence. Some of the important strategies that I have implemented to help me determine whether a source is trustworthy and can be incorporated into my paper include the following: whether the source has an author and if so, if he or she has verifiable credentials (if the author is an organization, is it reputable and does it contain pertinent information like list of staff, board members, relevant credentials, etc. on its webpage); if the content of the article is supported by evidence, has correct citations, and is fairly free of advertisements; and how current the article is or when the webpage was last updated. I think breaking down a source by its author, content/evidence, and date are fairly straightforward ways to determine whether or not a source can be trusted and used in one’s own works.
Finally, Level 4 of Information Literacy states “demonstrates ability to reflect upon how student used information effectively and ethically to accomplish a specific research goal.” My research goal in this paper was to show that body image has been greatly impacted by the increase of media in today's culture, specifically the career of modeling, and has negatively affected the mental health of many individuals. I was able to argue this perspective and reach my goal of raising awareness of this dilemma to my audience by using scholarly articles and other reliable sources cited correctly along with my own experiences and knowledge. In this process, I learned effective and efficient strategies to find outside credible sources, utilized the information I found ethically and reflected on why doing this is important, and discovered and practiced strategies to help me distinguish what constitutes a trustworthy source and how they can help support my research conclusions.
Creating this paper also helped me to meet Level 1 and 2 of Information Synthesis. Level 1 is “develops ability to organize others' ideas.” Because I needed most of my outside resources to support my argument, I had to be very specific in which sources I used and how I used the information in the articles to convey my message. To do this efficiently, I made notecards with the main message of each article, how it could be used to support my opinion, and its correct citation. By doing this, I was able to organize all the information I learned from my sources in one place and examine how I could incorporate them into my paper. This method was suggested by my instructor, and I believe it greatly helped me sort through all the abundant information that exists in an efficient and successful manner.
Level 2 of Information Synthesis states “develops ability to evaluate and synthesize diverse perspectives on a given topic.” Because the topic I was discussing in my paper, the effect of media and modeling careers on body image and mental health, can be controversial and opinionated, I found many articles that differed in the degree to which they believed these outside factors influenced individuals' internal perspectives of themselves. Some articles would argue that body image and mental health disorders are a mixed result from genetics, lifestyle, and environmental factors such as one's family and friends, while others stated that the media and modeling careers are the main culprit of the rise in poor body image and other related disorders. These diverse perspectives were very interesting and important to note, for when composing an argumentative paper, it is essential to include opinions on both sides of the argument. To sort through this information, I made sure to understand the main message of each article and its stance on the topic, and organized my findings by making a list of the articles and their positions. It took a lot of time, effort, and revision to ensure my paper made sense with the information I incorporated, but it was rewarding to see my final product and the skills that resulted from it.