The purpose of gathering supporting materials is to ensure that a writer has adequate evidence and information to back up their ideas, strengthen their arguments, and substantiate their claims in their writing. By supporting their statements with credible sources and relevant information, writers can enhance their credibility, establish authority on the subject matter, and make their writing more persuasive and informative.
Key aspects of gathering supporting materials include:
1. Identifying Relevant Sources: Writers need to identify and select sources that are directly related to the topic they are writing about and that provide credible and reliable information. This involves evaluating sources for their relevance, accuracy, and biases.
2. Locating Sources: Writers may locate sources through various means, including library databases, online search engines, academic journals, government documents, and interviews with experts.
3. Taking Notes: While reviewing sources, writers should take detailed notes of important information, quotes, statistics, and key points to help them organize their thoughts and reference the information efficiently later.
4. Evaluating Information: Writers should critically evaluate the information they gather for its accuracy, credibility, and relevance to their topic. They should consider the source's expertise, biases, and the currency of the information.
5. Citing Sources: When using information from external sources, writers need to properly cite and reference their sources to avoid plagiarism and give credit to the original authors.
Gathering supporting materials is an essential step in the writing process that allows writers to construct well-researched and well-supported arguments. It helps ensure that the writer's claims are backed by evidence and presented in a credible and persuasive manner.