Monday, March 29, 2010

Sources

There’s a lot that comes into play when looking for sources for an English paper. The first that comes to mind is the kind of paper you’re writing will affect what kinds of sources and how many sources to use. For example a research paper needs reliable and scholarly sources to make an acceptable research paper. Then when it comes to just an opinion paper there isn’t much need for sources but if needed then maybe a magazine or some random book will be sufficient. The next thing is finding sources that are reliable and would help influence the point of the paper. A way you can tell if they’re legit is simply if they have an author. Most sources that don’t point out an author are usually artificial and might be correct but not reliable. Another way would be to see if they were peered reviewed by other authors in the same category or subject. Where to use them depends on the paper and how the citation will flow with what’s being said. For instance if writing an argumentative essay putting the opposing viewpoint quotes and facts with the non-opposing part of the paper. The way I would improve my method of finding reliable sources would be to use the journal search on the library’s website and to use websites that I know or can find out they’re legit. Usually when I work on a paper that involves sources I go the library or the databases on the library’s website but occasionally I will just use the internet and, make sure the sources I use are credible.

Monday, March 1, 2010

End of The Omnivore's Dilemma

The last third of the book was about Pollan planning and getting the items he needed for his perfect meal. He starts out by talking about how to hunt and kill a pig for the meat part of his meal. The second part is the gathering part where he finds mushrooms and other greens. During both of these events he has a help from a friend that gathers and hunts for most of his food. The rest is him making his meal and eating with the people that helped him out along the way.
In my opinion I believe this part of the book is really interesting and could be helpful to someone that wants to try foraging. It was nice that he was in great detail when talking about hunting and the gathering of mushrooms and other plants. I think the main point of this part and book was to show it was possible to do something like this and also to show that it helps if we know where our food was made and what exactly our food is.