ENG101: College Writing (Yokel)

Reference resources are usually encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks, manuals and other books that you would refer to when wanting to know a definition of a word or concept, a general overview of a topic, specific information about a certain period of time or event in history.

Background Sources - Materials that provide an overview of a topic, such as core concepts and facts

• Used for information that is well established in the field
• Sometimes don't need to be cited if considered "common knowledge," which is information in a discipline or subject that is universally accepted by those in the field
  • Example: The existence of natural selection is a given in biology, so Darwin's On the Origin of Species does not need to be cited to prove it

Exhibit Sources - Materials a writer is interpreting or analyzing

• Used to provide an example of or give evidence for a claim
• Depending on your topic and discipline, exhibit materials can be a novel, a data set, an interview, experimental results, a diary, scholarly books or articles, and much more
  • Example: If you are researching depictions of working women on TV, an episode of 30 Rock could be an exhibit. If you are researching changes in employment in the United States, a data set from the Bureau of Labor Statistics might be your exhibit

Argument Sources - Information from other authors you are agreeing with, disagreeing with, or building upon

• Used to make claims related to your thesis statement and the argument you're making
• Citing them puts your research in the context of other scholarship on that topic; it brings you into the conversation
• Constitutes the literature review section in many disciplines
• Note: You use your exhibit sources as examples of why you agree with, disagree with, or want to add more to what was claimed in your argument sources