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SOURCE
LIST
A
source list is where all the information is kept about each source.
When the source list is due, turn in a typed sheet formatted just like a
WORKS CITED page for a research paper. Include
at least 2 books, 2 periodicals, and 1 quotation book on your list.
Do not tell me that you
will find the required sources later.
You may not be able to locate what you need, and we need to know that
information immediately.
A
sheet that explains how to format your sources is enclosed in this packet,
“MLA Documentation.” Follow the
instructions on this sheet to write your source page.
Order
of Information
1.
Author information: write the last name, then a comma, then the first
name, then a period.
2.
Title information: underline the titles of books and magazines. Place
a period after the title.
3.
Publication information: write the place
of publication, colon, the publishing company, comma, date of
publication, period.
Note
the margins, form, order, punctuation, and location of source.
These parts are all necessary for your source page and will be graded
strictly. Do not leave out any
part.
THESIS
STATEMENT
After
gathering sources and previewing some of the information, you should have a
better idea about the focus of your topic.
Now it is time to develop that controlling idea into a sentence referred
to as the THESIS. State your
controlling idea, which must include a subject and an opinion, in a single
sentence. The thesis statement has
two important tasks:
1.
It states the main point of the paper.
2.
It suggests the path that your paper will follow by indicating what your
3-5 main points will be
REMINDERS:
**
One sentence
**No first or second person
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No run-on sentences
**No “In this paper, it will be shown…” (weak!)
PREPARING
A TOPIC OUTLINE
A
topic outline is a preliminary outline that will guide you in your reading and
note-taking. Once you have an overview of your topic, you are ready to
decide what aspects of the topic you want to cover in your paper and how you
want to organize them. Preparing a
topic outline helps guide your note-taking.
As you take notes and highlight your sources, you will revise your topic
outline by adding subheadings, changing your major headings, or even dropping
some headings entirely. Keep in
mind that this is NOT the formal sentence outline you will turn in right before
the rough draft. This is simply a
listing of the topics and sub-topics for your paper that will help guide your
note taking.
CLOSELY
READING YOUR SOURCES
Gather
more sources than you think you will need for the paper.
When you first read a source, do not try to absorb all the information
presented. Instead, skim the pages
in search of material that is relevant to the headings on your working outline.
For full-length books, study the tables of contents and indexes to find
the sections that apply to your outline.
Photocopy
the pages of sources you find helpful. Also
Xerox the title and copyright pages
of any books you use. It helps in
writing the source list later.
When
you find information that you think will be useful, highlight that information.
Then, take notes on your sources, either on note cards or on notebook
paper. Paraphrase, summarize, or
use direct quotes.
1.
paraphrasing:
restating the author’s ideas in your own words
2.
summarizing:
restating
only the main points and important supporting details
3.
direct quotation:
presents the exact words from a source
Use
direct quotes SPARINGLY in a paper and only when quoting a primary
source (a
famous person’s actual words, an eye witness, words from a novel).
Do not quote an author who is explaining someone else’s work (example:
an encyclopedia). These are called secondary
sources.
Note
Cards
Note
cards came into existence because long ago researchers could not always check
out their sources from libraries or purchase the books they needed for research.
Note-taking on cards was a way to research a topic and gather information
before leaving the library. Since
the invention and wide-spread availability of photocopiers, researcher now Xerox
their source material and highlight relevant information.
The development of the World Wide Web in 1995 has made research easier to
accomplish at home, but source material must still be evaluated for credibility
and printed out for easy note-taking. Note
cards are not required for this
project; however, if you wish to use them, here is a sample:
SAMPLE
NOTE CARD
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EPCOT
Center
Smith 103
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EPCOT
Center is shaped something like a giant hourglass.
Future world fills
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up
the northern bulb, while world showcase occupies the southern half.
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Joey Smoey
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Take
notes on paper or on note cards. Take
notes and THEN write your sentence outline.
Create sub points on information you have found—not information that
you hope to find.
PREPARING
YOUR RESEARCH SPEECH
After
you take notes on your topic, you will be ready to give a 2-3 minute speech to
the class on your research. See
attached “speech outline notes” page for help in shaping your speech.
Do not read your speech.
Organize your ideas on paper, and tell us about your research findings.
PREPARING
A SENTENCE OUTLINE
Before
you took notes, you wrote down ideas and subtopics for your subject.
This rough listing of ideas is referred to as a topic outline. As you took notes, you referred back to this working outline
for guidance in the kinds of information to gather.
Since
taking notes, you know more about your topic.
Now you can write a sentence outline. Your rough draft will grow out of
your sentence outline. Now you can
determine which subtopics may be disregarded and which may be kept and further
developed.
Excerpt
from a Sentence Outline
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IV.
The working conditions for a teacher are tough, and the rewards do
not come from a teacher’s paycheck.
A.
The hours are long—teachers may spend 50 hours a week
working,
grading papers, and preparing for class.
B.
The job is stressful.
C.
The salaries are low for a profession:
1.
Starting salaries are around $24,000.
2.
Average salaries are around $42,000.
3.
Even after years of experience, salaries are low.
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Here
is that same information after it has been turned into a paragraph for a rough
draft:
Someone who prepares for a teaching career must be prepared for the
working conditions, and the fact that these conditions are not balanced with
high salaries. Although the public thinks that teachers’ jobs are over at
3:20, most teachers work around fifty hours a week on grading papers and
preparing for classes (Brown 421). Furthermore,
teaching is a highly stressful job: dealing with teenagers can be very
difficult (Mayer 26). These
conditions seem to warrant high salaries, yet teachers’ salaries are low,
starting at only $24,000 (Smith 54). The
average salary is $42,000 (Smith 55). Even
teachers with years of experience and master’s degrees do not earn as much
as one might expect (Moss 69). Clearly,
the working conditions for teachers are less than desirable, and the salary
does not make up for these problems.
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Notice that the
topic sentence of the paragraph matches the sentence after the Roman numeral
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Notice that I added a concluding sentence that was NOT IN THE
SENTENCE OUTLINE
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Notice that each
of the other sentences matches a letter of the outline or a number under a
letter.
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Also, notice the material in parentheses.
What does that come from? It
comes from your highlighted sources.
ROUGH
DRAFT REMINDERS
For discussion, Post on the Forum!
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