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Now that you have learned about the different ways you can use evidence in your argument, it’s a good time to see how our student applies this information to her process.
In this video, our student explores some of the sources she has found, discusses her struggles with contradictions in her research, and explains her plans for using sources in her essay.
I’ve been collecting source material since the very beginning of my project when I began researching my audience. I’ve found several excellent sources, though I’ve struggled in some ways finding sources that do not contradict each other. This is definitely a tougher topic than I thought it would be in terms of research.
This source I have here is a bit dated. It’s from 2010, but the numbers and statistics provided here line up with other sources I’ve found. I plan to use the evidence in this article to appeal to logos, as I am making a comparison between alcohol and marijuana, arguing that no drug is completely safe, but that marijuana is actually less harmful than alcohol. And, of course, alcohol is legal.
I’m also planning to use some of the source material I found, like this one, that shows results of recent polls in Texas, indicating that a majority of Texans would support the legalization of marijuana.
Finally, to help support this secondary source about popular opinion in Texas, since we’ve been learning about primary resources as well, my professor suggested that I might interview a few of my classmates, especially one for and one against my position.
Though I’m still finalizing my source material, I think these resources are going to help me build my argument and provide both credibility and source diversity.