English 101: Composition I Prairie State College Prof.

Sarena Lee-Schott

 What

Is Dominant Voice? How Do You Establish It? Sandwiching Voices Reading Response Assignments

 In

a documented paper, the dominant voice is your voice. Especially in an argumentative paper, your voice should communicate your ideas.

 The

obvious place to present your voice is in your introduction by way of your thesis statement. If your paper does not have a clear thesis from the beginning, then it does not provide your audience with a clear idea of your purpose for writing the paper.

 Although

you must have a clear thesis statement to establish your voice, you must also go a step further to maintain the dominant voice throughout your paper. Your paper should always focus on developing your ideas.

 Topic

sentences in your body paragraphs do the work of maintaining your dominant voice throughout your research paper.

Topic sentences should communicate your supporting ideas. Supporting ideas are your reasons that support your thesis statement.

 As

you compose your documented paper, source evidence gives your ideas more credibility. As a college student, you are not considered an expert in the courses in which you are studying, but your ideas are valued.

Source evidence gives your valued ideas credibility from published professionals who are trained experts.

Aristotle Rhetorical Triangle

 Thus,

according to Aristotle:

Your sources help you establish your logical appeal. The high quality of your logical appeal gives you credibility as an academic writer. An argument with too much emotional appeal and not enough logical appeal hinders your credibility and, as a result, your research paper.

 So,

the next question is:

How do you integrate sources in a way that allows your voice to be dominant while the sources effectively support your ideas?

simple way to think about integrating sources effectively is by using source sandwiches.

 Components
1.

of a sources sandwich include:

2.
3. 4.

An argument/assertion sentence, in which you assert a supporting idea that links your source quote to the topic sentence of your paragraph; An introduction of your quote; Your chosen source quotation; Your analysis or explanation, in which you discuss why this quote supports your assertion.

 In

the context of a paragraph, how do these components of a source sandwich work together?

 Heres

a sample source sandwich:

From Where Does Polysorbate 60 Come From, Daddy? by Steve Ettlinger

In Where Does Polysorbate 60 Come From, Daddy? Steve Ettlinger draws my attention to how little I know, as a consumer, about the foods I purchase. After conducting some research, Ettlinger eventually learns the history of the Twinkie, including the dubious food technology for which the result today is a cake known for its secret recipe and long shelf life (18). Essentially, the Twinkie is loaded with a lengthy list of preservatives that most consumers know nothing about.

Component
Paragraph topic sentence

Example
In Where Does Polysorbate 60 Come From, Daddy? Steve Ettlinger draws my attention to how little I know, as a consumer, about the foods I purchase. After conducting some research, Ettlinger eventually learns the history of the Twinkie,

Argument/assertion sentence

Source introduction
Source quotation Analysis or explanation

including the dubious food technology for which

the result today is a cake known for its secret recipe and long shelf life (18). Essentially, the Twinkie is loaded with a lengthy list of preservatives that most consumers know nothing about.

 In

the larger context of a documented paper, it might seem somewhat daunting to think about how source sandwiches fit and function. Your reading response assignments will give you an opportunity to get comfortable with using this technique, so you can eventually use it successfully in your papers.

A full sample of a reading response included in the document titled Reading Response Guidelines, Schedule, and Sample, which is posted in D2L.

 If

you have any questions, feel free to contact me:

(708) 709-3665 slee@prairiestate.edu