March 31, 2010 Archives

There's nothing to prepare for this unit; we'll just talk about oral communication.

Before you start churning out paragraphs, I want us both to be sure that you have chosen a thesis for Paper 3 that you can adequately support with credible academic evidence.

The last few research assignments were designed to get you started on this exercise.  You have already annotated at least some of your sources, either as reflection papers for the Rereading America selections, or marginal notes for the academic article printouts.

I will assess your ability to identify, assess, and cite information from credible sources, to help your progress on Paper 3.  You do not have to commit to using exactly these sources in your paper, and once you submit an acceptable annotated bibliography, you won't need to re-submit it each time your list of sources changes.

Upload both parts in a single word processor document, to the slot on Turnitin.com.


1) Updated Thesis Statement

Include the most recent version of your thesis statement. Name the author(s) whose selection in Rereading America inspire(s) your thesis.

• I'll need your thesis in order to be able to provide you with the most helpful feedback on the quality and usefulness of your sources.
• Remember that I've asked you to make a claim about an issue that arises directly from something you read in Rereading America, so a strong and clear thesis will be about a specific essay (rather than about "people" or "America" or any other general subject).
  

2) Annotated Bibliography

• Include five credible sources (including at least two recent -- since 2005 -- academic articles).
  
• For each source, include
• A full MLA Works Cited entry (see SF Writer for details)
• A short paragraph assessing the value of the source. (Questions you may consider: what are the author's credentials? was the source written by experts in the subject, for other experts? does the source carefully cite outside sources for every statistic or claim, and are those sources credible sources? )
• A short paragraph, including one or more quotations, that summarizes the content you plan to use in your paper. (You don't have to know exactly what quotes you will use, or how you plan to integrate the quotes; just give me an idea of what passages will help you make your own original argument.)