Reading Response #2

Both Amy Garrett-Brown’s essay “Why Do People Tan?” and Jay Holmquist’s essay “An Experience in Acronyms” are considered discovery essays rather than traditional research papers. According to Ballenger, “Academic research is driven by questions, not answers.” Both essays begin because the author is curious about a subject. They are not geniuses in these fields; however, they do have a desire to know more because of a question in their mind. For example, Garrett-Brown states, “This started as a simple question spurred by one of my occasional “people are so stupid” rants” (459). She simply has a desire to learn more about the topic of tanning and why people are so prone to do so. Because of this interest, she writes an essay. Holmquist’s essay is also a question he wants answered. Because he has experienced with drugs in the past and because one of his close friends almost died from them, he wants to answer how dangerous drugs really are for someone. Furthermore, for a discovery essay the question is stated. This is the case in both essays. Holmquist asks, “Is something that the government finds harmful, yet so many people say is harmless, really that bad for you?” (B24). He plainly states the question that he will answer throughout his essay. Also, in discovery essays, source material is used; however, it is used differently than in a research paper. In a research paper, the writer would quote their source and not really give their thoughts on it as well. It is strictly hard evidence. On the other hand, in a discovery essay, the writer incorporates the information that they find in their sources into their own essay. They take the facts and then give their own original thoughts and their own take on the matter. For example, Holmquist comments, “The sense of time also is affected (Pechnick & Ungerleider, 1997)” (B25). He first states a fact from one of his sources and then cites it. He then continues, “For me everything associated with time doesn’t exist, including speed (as in miles per hour)” (B26). While he does state facts he then adds on his own experience and his own thought about the fact. Also as I just demonstrated, sources are formally given credit when they help with a writer’s thinking process. They are both cited within the work and also at the end in a works cited. There is a whole page attached at the end giving credited to all those that helped form the essay. Also as Ballenger stated, these essays usually draw from four sources of information. They draw from “memory or experience, observation, interviews, and reading” (433). While the personal essay that we previously wrote relies almost entirely on memory, a research paper relies mostly on facts and readings. The discovery essay can take information from all of these sources. It is able to state facts clearly as proof while also giving personal experiences in order to draw the reader in and help them relate to the essay. It allows for the reader to desire to know more about the subject of the essay. For example, Holmquist could have just stated facts about different drugs and made it a research paper; however, he chooses to bring the reader into his life. He tells the reader all about his first time using drugs and his journey as he continued to use until when he completely stopped. He tells us about his friend’s near death experience and how it affected him. It caused him to quit using drugs and ultimately even quit going to raves at all. He also tells of the addictions to drugs in the fact that his friend, even after almost dying, still continues to do drugs. This ties his essay together and is almost the greatest fact and statistic that he can give us for proving an addiction to drugs. Earlier in the essay he talked about how many people believe these drugs to be non-addictive, but if that is the case then why would his friend be doing them again? This is the greatest evidence he gives us—his personal testimony about drugs. Garrett-Brown does not use as much personal experience or memory in her paper as Holmquist, but she still talks about a very real and relatable topic that is able to entice her readers. They both follow Ballenger’s form for discovery essays very well and in doing so, stray from a research paper of just facts and in turn make a connection with their readers.