Using Sources Instead of Summarising Them

The task

You get a prompt, six or seven sources (some visual or statistical), 15 minutes of reading time, and about 40 minutes to write. You must use at least three sources and cite them.

The instruction that decides your score is one line: your argument should be central; the sources support it.

The failure mode

The most common weak essay has one body paragraph per source, in the order the sources appear. It reads as a book report. It fails because the sources, not the writer, are running the essay.

What using a source looks like

• Extend — Source C carries Source A's point further than A takes it.
• Qualify — Source E holds only under conditions Source B ignores.
• Challenge — Source D's data undercuts the assumption Source B rests on.
• Combine — two sources together support a claim neither makes alone. This is the highest-value move on the exam.

Reading time strategy

Fifteen minutes for seven sources is about two minutes each. Do not read for content alone. For each source write two words in the margin: what it claims, and who it is useful against. Then decide your position before you start writing — an essay that discovers its thesis in paragraph four never earns the thesis point cleanly.