Article 1 (scholarly)
Article 2 (popular)
1. What type of publication was this article published in? What
are the credentials of the author?
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Scholarly Journals
PhD, professors, scholars, academics
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Discussion: Type of publication and the author’s credentials are
often used to judge the authority of an article. What are some
of the pro’s and con’s of this system? What voices might be
excluded from the conversation because of it?
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Easy to figure out what’s scholarly or not, clear venues for scholarly work
Cons, good work in non-scholarly sources may be ignored
Native, indigenous voices excluded
Eg. Residents of Cordoba or Muslim voices, etc.
2. Who is the intended audience? How does the intended
audience effect the use of design, layout, and images that are
employed?
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Other scholars are the intended audience
Design is intended to convey seriousness
Layout is matter-of-fact, has abstract,
citations.
Images are mostly used to analyze not for
aesthetics
Has abstract
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Discussion: Visual cues can instantly alert you to the type of
article you are reading. This skill can be useful, but how can it
also be misleading? Can you question the publication’s attempt
to convince you of its authority? How can you develop the
ability to judge a source based on other criteria?
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3. How does the intended audience affect the language and
writing style of the articles? What does the article assume the
reader knows already?
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Discussion: How is the author of the scholarly article
demonstrating that they are part of a scholarly conversation?
What is the purpose of their engagement with previous, even
sometimes conflicting scholarship?
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Popular magazine/newspaper
Journalist/Critic
General public is the intended audience
Design is intended to entice readers and to
entertain
Layout is more visual
Images may be used simply for aesthetics
Ads, comments, other distractions
Meant to bring you to other articles through
links
Pulled out quotes and section headings to
help you read
Useful information can come from non-traditional sources
Professional layout can lead you to trust a source or argument that may have flaws, isn’t intrinsically
linked to quality
On the web, scholarly sources may not have the best design.
Need to be able to analyze and evaluate the argument and construction of the article, look for the
quality of the writing and argumentation.
Assumes you know the background info
Uses the language of the discipline (jargon,
dense and complicated writing), confers
authority & demonstrates understanding of
the field or a theory. Can be more precise and
encapsulate complicated ideas in a word.
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Writing is meant to be understandable and
interesting to a larger audience
They will cover the basic facts, use more
general/engaging language.
Through citation and mention of other articles, through use of their theories, etc.
Demonstrate they are an expert, and part of the academic community
Prove the novelty of their argument, they have original ideas that haven’t been said before
Counter opposing arguments that they assume their audience has read.
Tie into the work that has come before, present an evolution of previous thinking or even a complete
change.
Scholarly Article
Popular Article
4. What is the difference in length of the articles? How do the
authors support their argument? What evidence do they use to
support their claims?
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With citations
Visual Analysis
Archives and primary sources
Theory based arguments
Articles are longer to allow arguments
to be made and supported
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Discussion: What is each article trying to achieve? What is its
purpose or point? How does this affect the attempts to
“construct authority” and how does it help them achieve their
purpose?
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Both articles are trying to convince of you of something, scholarly article is making an academic
argument, popular is convincing you to go to Cordoba
Convince you the author is the authority who can make the argument “right person”
Having authority lends weight and credence to their argument. You are more likely to believe an
academic article that does all the things in 1-3. More likely to trust a reporter in who does 1-3
5. For what questions or in what contexts could you use each of
these types of sources? What kind of information could you get
from each?
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For academic papers
Want to know other theories on a
subject
How have scholars analyzed this in the
past, evolution of argument
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Discussion: Beyond just verifying or proving facts, what are
several other purposes for citing sources in an academic paper?
Articles are shorter for easier consumption
Interviews
Using scholarly articles
On-the-ground reporting
Opinions and editorials, emotional arguments
For travel information. Should I go to Cordoba?
When you want to know public reactions and opinions
at the time
To get the facts: who what where when
To get a more approachable coverage of topics that
appear in scholarly journals
When you have a very recent/contemporary issue
Scholarly
• Follow and engage with scholarly discourse on this theme
• How have scholars analyzed similar ideas or topics, and apply to your case
• Critique their ideas and present alternatives (countering the efforts to convince you of their authority)
• Combine with the ideas of others to create a new argument
Popular
• As a primary source to gage: public reactions and opinions at the time
• Verify events, yes that thing happened
• May be only thing written on recent/contemporary issues
• Reviews & interviews, the artists opinion
Selections from Legacy of Muslim Spain
1. What type of publications were these articles published in?
What are the credentials of the authors?
Discussion: Type of publication and the author’s credentials are
often used to judge the authority of an article. What are some of
the pro’s and con’s of this system? What voices might be
excluded from the conversation because of it?
2. Who is the intended audience? How does the intended
audience effect the use of design, layout, and images that are
employed?
Discussion: Visual cues can instantly alert you to the type of
article you are reading. This skill can be useful, but how can it
also be misleading? Can you question the publication’s attempt
to convince you of its authority? How can you develop the ability
to judge a source based on other criteria?
3. How does the intended audience affect the language and
writing style of the articles? What do the articles assume the
reader knows already?
Discussion: How is the author of the scholarly article
demonstrating that they are part of a scholarly conversation?
What is the purpose of their engagement with previous, even
sometimes conflicting scholarship?
4. What is the difference in length of the articles? How do the
authors support their argument? What evidence do they use to
support their claims?
Discussion: What is each article trying to achieve? What is its
purpose or point? How does this affect the attempts to
“construct authority” and how does it help them achieve their
purpose?
5. For what questions or in what contexts could you use each of
these types of sources? What kind of information could you get
from each?
Discussion: Beyond just verifying or proving facts, what are
several other purposes for citing sources in an academic paper?
Cordoba: The City that Changed the World