HW for 8/2

1. Find all four of your secondary sources for your 5-7 page Research Essay, evaluate them, and do Annotated Bibliography Assignment.

• Read through the directions and requirements for Annotated Bibliography, as it will tell you how to do all of them! 

• Bring in one of your typed annotations. We can do a quick class critique on the Doc cam to make sure everyone can get a sense of how they are being assessed, etc.

2. Read pages 715-738 of Practical Argument, which is Casebook of studies that we will use as a jumping off point for the final research essay assignment due the final week of class. 

Evaluating a Source: setting up your own use of source

Personal Critical Thinking Questions raised from reading the four articles on the issue:

• Is a college education a right or a privilege? 
• Are any of the authors implicitly discriminating against anyone? 
• What kinds of job can you do without some kind of college education?
• Is a community college a vocational college in the eyes of Charles Murray? 
• Is an IQ test comprehensive? Is the argument that IQ dictates ability and worthwhileness of getting a college education enough? 
• Can we measure everything?
• What would happen if only people with a certain IQ were to go to college and the rest went into labor fields/vocational fields? What's the problem with that?!?
• Do the dropout rates really matter in the argument of whether or not one should get a college education?
• ....

Your imaginary writer scenario:

• Believes college is the new high school, and high school teaches less critical thinking skills necessary for many jobs

• Too many fields want skills beyond high school, especially STEM
• require minimum of bachelors and/or special certification/focus

• IQ is not soundproof in determining abilities and intelligence
• IQ changes with age, and with educational opportunities

• Government, communities, and colleges themselves promote capitalism rather than "elite status" of college. 
• Student-centered teaching has become a national movement

Evaluating One of the Sources:

Purpose (strong verb):

Stance/Postion on Subject:

Main argument:

Main evidence:

Strength of argument: why?

Issues with argument: why?

Synthesis: Summary, Paraphrase, or Quotes

What questions do you have about summarizing and paraphrasing a text? As a writer, what do you have to consider when you have to write a summary of a source? How do you use summary and paraphrasing, along with quoting?


Why do we have summaries--why are they useful to us as writers and readers?

• __________________

Why paraphrase? What does it do?

• __________________

What should you summarize? 

• Main point(s)
• How do they make it?
• Position/stance/purpose

What are some strategies to use to get better at writing summaries?

• Active reading
• Charts and Outlines
• Use present tense verbs in discussing authors

• Three New Critical Thinking and Writing Pointers:

• Use transitional phrases to envelope larger ideas discussed by author
• First ______. Then, ______  (chronology)
• The largest argument made by author x, he/she states ________. A second argument, ______.  (emphasis of ideas)
• In short, use transitional phrases that mirror/mimic the author's structure and own language usage. 

• Focus on key example that clarifies your point about his or her main point
• Choose a memorable example, if the author provides a handful of different examples. Which one was the clearest? Which one do you think will impact your audience's understanding the most?

• Make the specific idea universal through your claims

• Example: Author X argues _universal idea by critiquing quote/paraphrase/summarize a point made in article

HW for 7/28

1. Read the four Casebook essays from pages 669-684 of Practical Argument

• Answer in your Writing Journal the three questions under "At Issue: Should Every American Go to College?" at the bottom of page 682. (Tip: read these questions before reading each essay, as it will help you think about each author's position and points as you read.)

2. Bring in at least one secondary source, along with your primary source, for research essay. We will work on 1) writing annotated bibliography entries, and 2) discuss the essays in Chapter 22: Casebook, Should Every American Go to College?"


3. Review Chapter 9 of Practical Argument, if you have not already looked into its depths on "Summarizing, Paraphrasing, Quoting, and Synthesizing Sources"

Where to start? [P]research Qualities of Language

Chapter 9 of Practical Argument provides more pointers and examples on how to synthesize and summarize a source, as we have and will discuss.

Here is one of the first major actions you should undertake in doing this research assignment, once you've chosen your primary source (or if you need a primary source that is an academic source):

1. Search through MC Library databases (I suggest Academic OneFile, Academic Search Complete, and Sage Premier).

• What type of word do you have? Is it a profane or obscene word/phrase? Is your work a workplace language? For instance, search "profanity" or "slur" or "workplace"!!!! 

• Who uses this term? Is it used politically, cross-culturally? Search "political" or "social structure" or...

• What other nouns or adjectives would you use to describe your word/phrase? 

• misogynist, prejudicial, masculinity, gender, blue-collar, media, mainstream, ...

Planning a Research Project

Guiding Research Question à inspired by essay prompt’s question(s) and statements, but more specific and allows you to analyze a specific aspect of subject

o   From American culture (what is “culture”?), what do you want to focus on that is one aspect that makes up culture? Some examples:

§  Views of mental health & family; mental illness; disability

§  Class & economics

§  Racism

§  Appropriation of Language

§  Educationà educational opportunity; education & class; education & gender

§  Christianity

§  Social Networks

§  Pop Culture/Media and impact on society

§  Privilege

o   Break down the prompt’s language to help clarify purpose: What is a societal prejudice that uncovered/seen in a word’s usage?

§  How do I—the writer—define prejudice?

·       Pre-Writing Strategies: Brainstorming Terms for a “Research Word Bank”

o   What are some of the words that come to mind in thinking about the subject matter?

o   What are some other words come to mind when you think of “culture” or “society” or more? 

Finding Sources

·       Start library search for texts with the key words from Word Bank: linguistic databases, sociology databases; ethnic/gender studies databases; documentary films

o   Record vital information of sources found on databases

o   Eating a text à skimming a text for cues of relevance to your research project

o   Actively Read your sources: annotate, pose questions, write down main ideas, other authors cited

o   What types of sources to go for in academic research? (Guide to research sources)

o   COLLECT NEW TERMS from indexes, Table of Contents, and from the texts themselves…

Analytical Insight

·       Use found articles to further research questions and answers. Look for the many types of claims – about specific aspects of culture/social settings, about language (linguistics), about your primary author's work!

o   Example: “Among the Dockhands” by Chad Gregory

§  “working-class experience"; "physical posturing"; "sexual kidding"; "profanity"; "labor class"; masculinty

HW for 7/27

1. Essay 2, revised, edited, typed, ready to hand in at 12pm noon.

2. Have a primary source for your 5 to 7 page Research Essay chosen, printed, and brought in. Do the following within your own notes:

• Evaluate:
• audience:
• purpose:
• authority:
• objectivity:
• credibility:
• comprehensiveness:
• Confirmation bias: 

Brainstorm Possible Subject:

Brainstorm Possible Words/Phrases

What are topics that normally interest you? What are identity markers in yourself or in others that drive you to shape who you are? List as many words from as many identity markers that you can….



***You will evaluate your chosen article more thoroughly, as part of your homework. For now, it is about 1) finding a subject matter you want to explore and then 2) finding a source in which the article fits that subject matter.

A Word Used In Harm

Here are two obviously biased pieces. These become the inspiration for your research essay.

"Why Liberals Support Muslims Who Hate Everything They Stand For" by John Hawkins


"Let's just say it: The Republicans are the problem" by Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein


Evaluation

1. How do you determine the bias?

2. What kinds of language do you find in here that is problematic--and in what way?

3. What kind of stereotypes are portrayed and used to define the subject term?

4. Who is the intended audience, and what is the purpose of the piece?

5 to 7 page Research Essay prompt

5-7 page Research Essay: Arguing Impact of a Word   |

ENGL102

Worth: 200 points (20% of course grade)

Course Objectives Focus (see syllabus):          

·       Effective Writing (b, c, d, e)

·       Informational Literacy skills (all)

·       Critical Analysis and Reasoning (all)

Important Dates:

·       Wed., 8/3: Annotated Bibliography due during conferences

·       Thur., 8/4: Research Essay Due (1200-1500 words); work cited page due

Requirements:

·       1200 – 1500 effective words, which approximates to 5 to 7 pages.

·       MLA Format: double-spaced paragraphs; 12-point Times New Roman or Cambria font

·       Include MLA in-text citation and a Work Cited page (not included in minimum page count)

·       Five sources,  (one primary; four secondary), including one source that must fulfill the counterargument to your main argument

·       Single space header on left side:

Student name

ENG 102

5-7 Page Research

Title (Centered)

Essay Topic/Purpose:

Choose a word or a phrase that you find has arguable connotations—one that you as a critical thinker implies some kind of societal prejudice. Some societal prejudice topics include racism, sexism, religious persecution, ageism, social class snobbery (I’m being light-hearted, here), slights against disabled people, or some other word group that “people” slur against.

Also, find a main source—this will be your primary source—in which you argue both the problems with the author’s specific use of that word/phrase and how use of that word is generally problem-atic in society or in such societal discussions of the topic, such as in this article. You will also in your argument, as part of your analysis of the problem, define the connotations of the word/phrase (see Practical Argument for help with making Definition and Ethical Arguments).

You will need at least four secondary sources to support your argument; one of those four sources must provide a counterargument to your position.

Critical Thinking/Pre-writing on Topic:

1.   What are words we should never really say in polite company? What are words that are used to easily in polite company—or in media?

2. Where does this word exist in constant usage? What types of texts (from videos to news to speeches to…) include this word/phrase’s usage?