You are engaged in an Inquiry Project that proceeds through a series of steps designed to bring you to your own idea, a logical idea founded on sound evidence (your sources), and presented convincingly. You have located a number of sources and drafted an annotated list of sources in order to engage with the ideas of others. The next crucial step is to identify and discuss your idea (or exploratory focus) and explain how your sources have led you to understand it. It is important that you primarily use your own words to do this, rather than relying too heavily on quotations from your sources. Your exploratory focus represents your unique perspective on the topic—your own well-informed point of view, based on your reading of multiple sources.
Exploratory Draft Assignment
Today, in class, please sketch out the overall argument of your entire seminar paper. You may use your annotated bibliography, notes, and reading responses in writing this draft, but please do not refer to the sources themselves. During this class period, write a spontaneous draft of the main points that you need to make in order to support your thesis or seminar paper focus (complete sentences and paragraphs, please--not an outline). This task demands that you understand and synthesize your ideas about your source material, formulate an exploratory focus (or thesis) for your paper, and discuss it without lengthy quotations and paraphrases. Please write a one- or two-sentence statement of your focus (or thesis) at the top of your draft.
You will have the entire 60-minute period to write this draft, and you should use all the time allotted for this task. At the end of class, print out two copies—give me one copy and keep one copy for yourself. You may use this draft to plan major sections of the seminar paper to write for the next two class meetings.
Assignment for Wednesday (11/21) and Monday (11/26): Using your exploratory draft as a guide, draft a section of your seminar paper. Bring the current version of your draft to class.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
No Class Meeting Friday, November 16
Reminder: I will not meet with you on Friday, November 16 due to a professional obligation.
By Monday, you should be nearing completion of your research reading and note-taking--although, of course, your inquiry extends throughout the research and writing process. So, keep investigating your topic through primary and secondary research, and revise your inquiry contract and/or annotated bibliography in light of your emerging understanding of your topic.
Next week, please be prepared to move from the research phase to planning and drafting the seminar paper.
See you on Monday!
By Monday, you should be nearing completion of your research reading and note-taking--although, of course, your inquiry extends throughout the research and writing process. So, keep investigating your topic through primary and secondary research, and revise your inquiry contract and/or annotated bibliography in light of your emerging understanding of your topic.
Next week, please be prepared to move from the research phase to planning and drafting the seminar paper.
See you on Monday!
Monday, November 5, 2007
During the next two weeks, you will be responsible for independent reading and research for your final paper. On Wednesday, November 14, you will hand in a draft of your annotated bibliography. A revised version of your annotated bibliography will be included with your final research portfolio, which is worth 50% of your course grade.
Preparing your Annotated Bibliography
Your annotated bibliography is an opportunity to show off your current understanding of your topic and the research you have done so far. In addition, your annotated bibliography allows you to do some of the work of summarizing and synthesizing your sources before you begin writing a more analytical essay. As you prepare your bibliography, then, you will be inventing material and structures that you might use in your seminar paper.
Elements of the Bibliography
Your bibliography should have a title and a 1-2 paragraph introduction, which should give a bit of background on how your topic is usually viewed and studied, as well as an explanation of how the entries have been classified into at least two categories. Your draft should include a minimum of five relevant sources on your topic.
Each category should have its own heading and entries in alphabetical order. Each entry should consist of the source information in MLA format, followed by an annotation of the source. The annotation should comment on the content of the source as well as its significance to the topic and your research. You may want to review Chapter 2 of They Say, I Say on the “art” of writing strategic summaries, rather than the typical list summary. That is, summarize in terms of the specific issue that your argument focuses on.
Sample entry in MLA format
Bright, Sidney. “Ethical Behavior in Group Work in a College Composition Course: The Devil Never Took the Hindmost.” Journal of Collegiate Ethics 14 (1999): 12-27.
Bright found that her students showed advanced ethical development in social behavior in small groups in class. However, when these same students wrote essays, their ethical development did not appear as advanced. This research is significant because it shows how different contexts shape ethical behavior.
**************************************************************************************
Practice writing bibliographic entries and strategic summaries of at least two sources for your inquiry project. Please post your citations and annotations to your blog for review and response.
Wednesday: Workshop on annotated bibliography: MLA format
Preparing your Annotated Bibliography
Your annotated bibliography is an opportunity to show off your current understanding of your topic and the research you have done so far. In addition, your annotated bibliography allows you to do some of the work of summarizing and synthesizing your sources before you begin writing a more analytical essay. As you prepare your bibliography, then, you will be inventing material and structures that you might use in your seminar paper.
Elements of the Bibliography
Your bibliography should have a title and a 1-2 paragraph introduction, which should give a bit of background on how your topic is usually viewed and studied, as well as an explanation of how the entries have been classified into at least two categories. Your draft should include a minimum of five relevant sources on your topic.
Each category should have its own heading and entries in alphabetical order. Each entry should consist of the source information in MLA format, followed by an annotation of the source. The annotation should comment on the content of the source as well as its significance to the topic and your research. You may want to review Chapter 2 of They Say, I Say on the “art” of writing strategic summaries, rather than the typical list summary. That is, summarize in terms of the specific issue that your argument focuses on.
Sample entry in MLA format
Bright, Sidney. “Ethical Behavior in Group Work in a College Composition Course: The Devil Never Took the Hindmost.” Journal of Collegiate Ethics 14 (1999): 12-27.
Bright found that her students showed advanced ethical development in social behavior in small groups in class. However, when these same students wrote essays, their ethical development did not appear as advanced. This research is significant because it shows how different contexts shape ethical behavior.
**************************************************************************************
Practice writing bibliographic entries and strategic summaries of at least two sources for your inquiry project. Please post your citations and annotations to your blog for review and response.
Wednesday: Workshop on annotated bibliography: MLA format
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
