Chapter 6

In my opinion,  I found chapter 6 of the Bedford Book of Genres to be very helpful. When writing a research paper, it is important to make sure you are using credible sources, that will benefit the paper. Sources can be found on google, databases, people, books, etc. There are sources everywhere. For my research topic, since it concerns a lot of medical work on genetics and children, I will use a lot of sources from databases, academic journals, and people. Primary sources may be an option too, if I want to analyze someone who has genetically chosen their child, or was genetically engineered by their parents. The chapter goes into further explanation about knowing if the source is a good source to use. By asking yourself when reviewing a source what the rhetorical situations are, the purpose, and who is the audience are all ways to decide if the source is useful for the paper. Also, when picking a source, it is helpful to have some background of who the author is. For example, it might be better to use a source written by a doctor for a medical research paper, rather than someone who is not associated with the medical field at all. Evaluating whether or not a source is a good choice is done by asking questions like, is the source relevant to my topic? What is the authors credibility? Is the authors purpose to persuade, inform, or to tell a story? Questions like these help students evaluate their potential sources in depth. By using the strategies talked about in chapter 6, students are able to find well known, credible sources that will make their future research papers successful.