Most authors of book, articles, or Web pages have their own way of looking at a subject. You need to understand each author's perspective if you are going to describe it accurately in your paper. Let's suppose that your theme is "The Origins of American Jazz." One author may say that the roots of Jazz are African. Another may say that its roots are Caribbean. While yet another may say that its roots are in the southern region of the United States.

Here are some tips to help you determine an author’s perspective:

• More important than trying to figure out which author is right (most themes are not yes-or-no subjects) is trying to find out why each author has come to a different conclusion.
• To do this you need to read closely the books, articles, and Web pages that you found to see why the authors have different perspectives on the subject. All authors should give good reasons to support their perspective. If an author does not do this, then you should consider giving greater importance in your paper to the ideas of the authors who do.
• Whenever you read a source, ask yourself not only what the author is saying but also why the author is saying it. What way of looking at the issue leads the author to one conclusion rather than another?