Annotated Research Paper (#4)
PAPER #4 DETAILS
INSTRUCTIONS:
Paper #4 will basically be a work of annotated research.
FIRST, gather at least four out of the six sources you will use in your Final Paper (see the Research Specifications handout with the checklist of required sources).
SECOND, annotate your research in a paper-draft following this order:
INTRO (one to two paragraphs of overview, detailing how your project has progressed and how the research has led you to a revised or more fully developed thesis/argument for the project…)
BODY (at least one paragraph of sum and at least one paragraph of response
for each piece of research – focus your responses on elements of critical argument, or at least on how this research fits into your Final Project thinking...)
CONCLUSION (one to two paragraphs wrapping up how your research has led the development of your project and what you’ll do next to finish…)
Be sure to provide transitions from paragraph to paragraph – don’t just stack your research in unrelated statements. AND DO NOT FORGET IN-TEXT MLA-STYLE CITES.
THIRD, prepare an MLA-style Works Cited page listing your research.
DEADLINE/GRADING:
Paper #4 is due Week Fourteen (Nov. 25) in hardcopy format with all prior drafts attached. Paper #4 will be assessed in terms of the following criteria: basic grammar, composition mechanics (sentences and paragraphs), research (correct number and appropriate types of sources, correctly formatted Works Cited page and in-text cites), effective summaries, critical thinking (demonstrated in your intro, responses, and conclusion).
Final Paper Proposal
Your Final Paper Proposal is due this Monday (Nov. 16) by noon, via hardcopy or e-mail.
Final Paper Argumentative Structure
Download the final paper argumentative structure.
Final Paper Research Specifications
Download specifics and details about the Final Paper Project.
Paper #3 Sample Works Cited Page
This sample Works Cited page for Paper #3 provides a good example of the kinds of sources and style of citation you'll need for this assignment.
Paper #3 Criteria
Grading Criteria
Each section below is worth two (2) points. Unacceptable work earns 0, and exceptional work earns 2. The assignment counts for a total of ten (10) points toward the final grade.
SOURCE USE
Does the writer correctly cite five appropriate sources in the essay and on the Works Cited page?
ESSAY STRUCTURE
Does the writer establish and effectively develop a thesis throughout the paper?
SENTENCE & PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE
Does the writer communicate ideas in well-structured sentences? … paragraphs?
GRAMMAR
Is the English correct?
OVERALL QUALITY OF ASSIGNMENT
Has the writer turned in a clean, solid essay with full and convincing development?
Paper #3 Instructions
For Paper #3, you should think about the relevance of the Silver Surfer and the graphic novel (In Thy Name) to current events and international issues, specifically conflicts.
Consider connections between the comic book and characters to one of the following current topics (or another that you dig up):
ISRAEL VERSUS PALESTINE
CHINA VERSUS TIBET
INDIA VERSUS PAKISTAN
HUTU VERSUS TUTSI (RWANDA)
SHI’ITE VERSUS SUNNI (MULTI-COUNTRY)
PROTESTANT VS. CATHOLIC (IRELAND)
NORTH VERSUS SOUTH KOREA
CHINA VERSUS TAIWAN
NATIVIST VERSUS IMMIGRANT (MULTI-COUNTRY)
RUSSIA VERSUS CHECHNYA
MINORITY VERSUS NATIONALIST (MULTI-COUNTRY)
SPANIARD VERSUS BASQUE
Pick one topic, and start researching in the Truman library databases to find articles relevant to the topic. Given our discussion of the Surfer, can you find articles that connect both to a current topic and your interpretation of the graphic novel? Can you find sources that explain the nature of the conflict?
Pursue research in the following areas, and make sure you look for sources from within the past ten years:
1. a database reference source
2. a database news article
3. a database scholarly-journal article
and
4. any relevant web site (remember that the databases also provide web-site references for more info on topics, for example Opposing Viewpoints and several other databases).
Once you have completed your research, start on an argumentative paper that basically answers the following questions: If you possessed “the power cosmic” like the Silver Surfer, whose side would you take in the conflict you have researched? Would you take one side versus another? Would you help both sides but in different ways? Would you leave them to resolve the conflict on their own, and would this decision allow the conflict to worsen or resolve itself? Finally, how would you respond to counter-arguments against the position you take? Follow the suggested Draft Map:
DRAFT MAP
● INTRO:
Introduce your topic, briefly discuss its relevance to the Surfer book and characters, and establish a thesis regarding your position on the conflict. This paper will prove your thesis through current database research. (For the intro, develop 1 to 2 paragraphs that lead toward a clearly established thesis.)
● BODY:
A. Reference Source – one to two paragraphs of sum and analysis, to establish some facts about the topic.
B. News Article – one paragraph of brief sum followed by one paragraph of analysis and interpretation.
C. Journal Article – same as “B” above.
D. Web Site – same as “B” above.
E. Given your research, remark on your position regarding the conflict. Also, identify and respond to counter-arguments regarding your position. (2 to 3 paragraphs)
● CONCLUSION:
One paragraph to conclude the essay with final thesis re-statement, bringing the argument to a close.
Graphic Novels & The Silver Surfer
For our reading of Silver Surfer: In Thy Name, consider the following handouts we discussed in class, available here for download:
ON the origins of literature and its contemporary forms...
ON comic books (a.k.a. graphic novels) gaining literary acclaim...
ON the Silver Surfer...
On Global English and the American Language
This handout is a collection of quotes, notes, and observations relevant to our readings on language.
Encapsulated development of English (just the broad strokes):
Old English (Germanic) --> Latin incorp. from Roman missionaries --> Norman Invasion (1066)/English Frenchified --> Middle English (5 major dialects)/Chaucer --> Early Modern English (Shakespeare) --> Conquest of the New World, incorporation of indigenous languages and Spanish (e.g. vaquero becomes buckaroo, barbacoa becomes barbecue) --> Continuing immigration & diaspora make for MexiStani, Frángles, Blaxicans, Cubonics, the Blackcent, etc.
ANECDOTES: bulshitería (Guatemalan friends), fahita (Alma Pita restaurant), puro party (Texas)
“The first American colonists had perforce to invent Americanisms if only to describe the unfamiliar landscape and weather, flora and fauna confronting them. … But this occasional tolerance for things American was never extended to the American language. Most of the English books of travel mentioned Americanisms only to revile them … The climax came in 1863, when the Very Rev. Henry Alford, D.D. dean of Canterbury, printed his ‘Plea for the Queen’s English.’ He said: ‘Look at the process of deterioration which our Queen’s English has undergone at the hands of the Americans.’” (Mencken 3 and 27)
antibaby: “birth control pill” (Stavans 69)
bananaspli: “banana split” (Stavans 74)
cat: “Dude, hipster, a righteous groover” (Décharné 26)
el cheapo: “…cheap”
hip-hop: “…a subculture esp. of inner-city youths whose amusements include rap music, graffiti, and break dancing…”
hipiteca: “Aztec hippy” (Stavans 143)
loco: “mentally disordered: CRAZY, FRENZIED”
“On and on, Latinos’ marketing popularity is uncritically treated as a sign of their ‘coming of age’ in U.S. society or else, equally uncritically, condemned as a sign of their commodification; but seldom have studies looked at marketing as constitutive of U.S. Latinidad. … In these constructions the Spanish language is built as the paramount basis of U.S. Latinidad.” (Dávila 3-4)
“There is no Americano dream. There is only the American dream created by an Anglo-Protestant society. Mexican Americans will share in that dream and in that society if they dream in English.” (Huntington 45)
Works Cited
Dávila, Arlene. Latinos Inc.: The Marketing and Making of a People. Berkeley: UC Press, 2001.
Décharné, Max. Straight From the Fridge, Dad: A Dictionary of Hipster Slang. NY: Broadway Books, 2000.
“El cheapo.” Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. 10th ed. 1999.
“Hip-hop.” Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. 10th ed. 1999.
Huntington, Samuel. “The Hispanic Challenge.” Foreign Policy March/April 2004: 30-45.
“Loco.” Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. 10th ed. 1999.
Mencken, H.L. The American Language: An Inquiry Into the Development of English in the United States. 4th ed. NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1938.
Stavans, Ilan. Spanglish: The Making of a New American Language. NY: HarperCollins, 2003.
Citing Sources
PLAGIARISM & MLA FORMAT
Avoiding Plagiarism
In the Western tradition of scholarship, writers clearly acknowledge the use of sources as a way to bring integrity, authority, and proof to bear on academic work. As students and scholars, we consider intentional plagiarism to be outright theft, an act that destroys integrity and yields at least a failure for the course (if not expulsion from the learning community). Unintentional plagiarism – using someone else’s words/work without clear acknowledgment – consists essentially of uninformed, sloppy, and/or lazy scholarship. But careful use of sources can avoid plagiarism.
First, always take careful notes and keep complete details on any piece of research. Second, use word-for-word quotes sparingly, only when the wording is especially strong, memorable, or crucial to your argument. Paraphrase pieces from a source when the wording is not particularly strong but details are relevant. And summarize lengthy passages (or an entire work) to get at a main idea you’d like to include in your paper.
MLA In-Text Citation
Whether quoting, paraphrasing, or summarizing, you are using someone else’s work, and so it is always necessary to cite the source. Depending on what kind of source you have and what you’re doing with it, the key is to make the source clear to the reader, so that they will know you are referring to another’s work and so they can find it on your Works Cited Page.
When quoting an author, be sure to use punctuation marks. To direct the reader to the author, you can either name the author within your prose or put the name in a parenthetical cite. Either way, be sure to put the page number in parentheses, like this:
● George Orwell describes his neighborhood “to convey something of the spirit of the Rue du Coq d’Or” (5).
● Some critics have referred to terrorists as “super-empowered angry men” (Friedman 167).
Follow these same guidelines when you summarize, paraphrase, or even just refer to someone else’s ideas, words, research, work, etc. NOTE: If you quote a section that takes up longer than four lines of typewritten text, be sure to use a block quote, e.g.:
In Orwell’s universe, poverty seems to affect the poor in the same way that wealth affects the rich:
The Paris slums are a gathering-place for eccentric people – people who have fallen into solitary, half-mad grooves of life and given up trying to be normal or decent. Poverty frees them from ordinary standards of behavior, just as money frees people from work. (7)
See your handbooks or the Diana Hacker web site for exceptions (author/page unknown, etc.).
The Works Cited Page
Since the Works Cited page is organized per alpha order, with the author’s last name first, you see how crucial it is to make clear in-text citations for your reader to find a source on the WC page.
To build a WC page, first consult an MLA guide to find out how to format any given piece of research. You can then put these cites in alpha-order per the first significant term of the cite – sometimes there will not be an author, and so the first term of a cite might not be a last name but a corporate author or even the title of the work. See the New World Reader or the Diana Hacker web site for exhaustive lists of citation formats.
COMP Paper #2 (Media Journal)
GRADING CRITERIA
Each section below is worth two (2) points — unacceptable work earns 0, and exceptional work earns 2. The assignment counts for ten (10) points of the final grade.
Source Use
Does the writer cite all source-references correctly in the essay and on a Works Cited page?
Summaries
Does the writer summarize effectively?
Responses
Does the writer critically analyze the media in effective responses?
Conclusion
Does the writer conclude with a few paragraphs of critical insight about the entire assignment?
Grammar
Is the English correct?
On Wikipedia
Here are just a few more reasons to go beyond the popular reference site and instead do some database research...
...from beloved "fake" TV pundit Stephen Colbert and The Colbert Report via YouTube...
Media Concepts & Questions
Consider the following Media Concepts and Questions handout while reviewing the news for your Media Journal.
Tips for Final Drafting of Paper #1
Now that you have received feedback on your rough draft, consider these Tips for Final Drafting of Paper #1.
COMP Paper #1 – Criteria
GRADING CRITERIA
Each section below is worth two (2) points; unacceptable work earns 0, and exceptional work earns 2. The assignment counts for ten (10) points of the final grade.
Summary
Is it coherent and complete?
Essay Structure
Does the writer establish a thesis? Does the paper develop this thesis with clear organization?
Sentence & Paragraph Structure
Does the writer communicate ideas in well structured, strong sentences?...paragraphs?
Grammar
Is the English correct?
Overall Quality of Assignment
Has the writer turned in a good essay?
COMP: Thesis Statements
Constructing a Thesis Statement
For extra practice, review the following examples and formulas for constructing a sound thesis statement.
Lite/Simple:
The moral of George Orwell’s story is that even a slum can have valuable life lessons and experiences, just as I had when I first moved to this country and started working.
Though Orwell says his job was acceptable and his neighborhood colorful, I see only misery in his situation and personally will never live in a slum again.
The main idea in Down and Out is that poverty makes for unusual social situations, and I can agree given my own experience living in an SRO.
Heavy/Advanced:
Though globalization brings a better standard of living to developing countries, international organizations should monitor and foster fair working conditions so that sweatshops can be eliminated.
Hip-hop has spread around the world to become a global phenomenon, but fans should remember its roots as an American art-form that once advocated community instead of materialism.
Although Nike is environmentally sound and provides a useful product, it is not a socially responsible company because it treats workers unjustly.
Types of Assertion:
Opinion, Policy, Evaluation, Cause, Interpretation
Tests:
1. Is the statement too vague?
2. Is the statement too explicit (e.g. “In this research project, I plan to argue _________.”)
3. Is it too subjective?
4. Is it too objective?
5. Is the statement appropriate to the assignment?
Process:
1. Start with a working thesis: “I believe X because Y.”
2. Refine your thesis through research, reading, and note-taking.
3. Refine your thesis through drafting, and then revise it as you go along.
4. Use qualifying terms to focus, narrow, and strengthen your thesis.
A Few Sample Paragraphs
Note the three-sentence structure in the following paragraphs, demonstrating how a paragraph mirrors the structure of an essay: introduction, body, and conclusion. This basic structure is more important to conveying your ideas than any random formula for how many sentences you should have in a paragraph.
Smoking is for lowlifes, at least on film. A survey of 1990s blockbuster movies found that on-screen smokers tended to be poor and villainous. But while the habit may have lost its previous glamour, it retains a “cool” factor that is likely to seduce impressionable adolescents. (“Cigs” 15)
The trouble with human space flight is that perception is everything. Nations that undertake the challenge of sending their citizens into space are engaged in a calculated display of technical prowess. Taxpayers and politicians have been willing to go along with the attendant cost and risk to human life so long as the goal seems worthwhile. (“Editorial” 3)
As he has in the past, Mr. Calderón called on the United States Congress to pass changes to immigration law that would grant legal status to about 12 million Mexicans living and working illegally in the United States. He also reiterated his strong opposition to plans to build more fences and other barriers along much of the southern border. The assembled business executives and dignitaries gave him a standing ovation. (McKinley)
WORKS CITED
“Cigs for villains.” NewScientist 13 Aug. 2005: 15.
“Editorial: Keep on flying.” NewScientist 13 Aug. 2005: 3.
McKinley, Jr., James C. “Mexican President Assails U.S. Measures on Migrants.” The New York Times 3 Sept. 2007. 3 Sept. 2007 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/03/world/americas/03mexico.html.
International News Sites
Feel free to post your favorite links to international English-language news sites, in addition to those listed here.
Al-Ahram Weekly
Al-Jazeera
All Africa
Asia Times
British Broadcasting Service
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
China Daily
Gulf Daily News
Iran Focus News
The Jerusalem Post
The Jordan Times
Kyodo News Service, Japan
Nigerian News
OpenDemocracy
Globalized Slums
Our first 102 reading assignment, by George Orwell, dates back to 1933, but a Harper's article by Mike Davis connects the rise of mega-cities, slums, and global urban poverty directly to the policies and forces of globalization.
Download the slums handout (Word doc) with brief quotes from this article.
For a good source of international journalism, with heaps of articles and on-line debates about this and other topics relating to globalization, see OpenDemocracy.net.
What is plagiarism?
Review this brief article from The Chronicle of Higher Education to understand the basics of recognizing and avoiding plagiarism.
SYLLABUS: COMP 102-PRY
Welcome to English 102-PRY for FALL 2009!
REQUIRED TEXTS:
Click on either picture above to see on-line purchasing options...
Download the syllabus for English 102 Section PRY in PDF format.