Chapter Six of the Bedford Book of Genre starts off with talking about how artists need to give a quote or explain their inspiration for the pieces they create. That caught my attention, and as I kept reading the chapter, it eventually went on to talk about when other people refer to these artist’s work that they need to make sure to source/give credit to them. There are examples of this all throughout the this book, or any textbook for that matter. Personally, when I first started writing essays in elementary and middle school, I wasn’t taught how to source authors at all. I believe that the first time I was actually asked to source a text was for my 8th grade National History Day project on WWII. Eventually once you reach high school, it’s pretty much required that you source everything, or else you’ll be expelled and you “won’t have any chance of going to college.” I don’t think that system is right (not the high school’s policy, but the fact that I wasn’t even aware of sourcing until late middle school). After reading this especially, I see the importance of giving credit to someone for their work. I wouldn’t want somebody to take credit for something I worked hard to create. One other thing the chapter mentioned was that just because you have a source, doesn’t mean it’s the right one for you. You still have to make sure it’s something you can really elaborate on, or that you’re passionate about. That advice has definitely had a huge impact on my essay for ENC 2135.
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