English unit III assignment

EH 1020, English Composition II 1

UNIT III STUDY GUIDE

Writing the Annotated Bibliography

Course Learning Outcomes for Unit III Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:

1. Summarize five academic sources for use in an annotated bibliography.

2. Generate an annotated bibliography.

Unit Lesson Introduction to Unit III Now that you have collected sources for your research project, it is important to ensure that these sources are reliable, appropriate, and varied (both primary and secondary sources). This first reading will help you with some of this work. In addition, this unit will ask you to construct an Annotated Bibliography, which will help you to summarize several of the sources that you have collected. Below are some guiding principles for doing just that. Part 1: Are Your Sources the Good Sources? Chapter 20, Sections 20a-20e, of Strategies for Writing Successful Research Papers The inverted pyramid on page 422 of Strategies for Writing Successful Research Papers is helpful for determining the reliability of sources. Notice that a scholarly book, which includes chapter selections, is the most reliable source and the least reliable is the internet chat. Scholarly sources, be they books or articles, are the most reliable sources of information for this course. If you find that one of your sources is not reliable, then you must remove it from your research. Basing your argument on a source that is unreliable undermines your entire argument, and certainly no source is worth that. It is better to find reliable sources that might take longer to obtain than to toss questionable sources into your well-crafted argument. In addition to ensuring that your sources are reliable sources, you will want to vary the kinds of sources you include in your paper. One easy way to do that is to include both primary and secondary source material. Another way is to look at the types of sources that are available to you and to include something that is a bit out of character. For instance, if you have collected five scholarly articles, then you might consider doing a personal interview or conducting a survey. Varying the type of evidence that you present in your paper is a good way to establish that you are a serious researcher who considers a myriad of sources that might support your argument. In addition, introducing source material like this makes your argument more compelling to a reader.

Reading Assignment The Little, Brown Compact Handbook with Exercises Chapter 31: Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement, Sections 31a-31d Chapter 20: Conciseness, Sections 20a-20g Strategies for Writing Successful Research Papers Chapter 20: Reading and Evaluating Sources, Sections 20a-20e Chapter 21: Writing Effective Notes and Creating Outlines, Sections 21a-21g Chapter 20: Reading and Evaluating Sources, Section 20f Chapter 12: Ezekiel J. Emanuel, “The Problem with Single-Payer Plans,” pp. 259-265 Holly Dressel, “Has Canada Got the Cure?” pp. 265-270

EH 1020, English Composition II 2

On pages 434-435 of the Part 1 reading, there are two key sections: “20d: Outlining a Source” and “20e: Summarizing a Source.” These are two sections that you will want to dog-ear and return to in your writing. As you write your Annotated Bibliography, you will want to revisit these sections as they provide excellent examples for how to best outline the main ideas in a source and then use those main ideas to formulate a succinct, condensed summary of a source in one tight paragraph. This is certainly a skill that you will utilize beyond this course and one that you will call upon repeatedly throughout your academic career. The next section provides more on taking effective notes and creating outlines. Part 2: Taking Notes on Sources: Finding the Method that Works for You Chapter 21, Sections 21a-21g, of Strategies for Writing Successful Research Papers Taking notes is a matter of personal preference in many ways. Different people take notes differently. Some prefer shorthand note systems that convey the ideas within a text to them quickly. Others prefer a long-form note system that is accompanied by personal commentary. In this reading, you will read about several note-taking systems and why they might be best used for. As the reading tells you, “keep everything!” Do not throw away anything until the course is over (maybe even beyond). The best way to do this is to create a research “notebook.” This notebook can take several forms, but a three ring binder is a good idea. Collect all of your materials for each source, including the print out of the source and the notes that you have made on the source, in the notebook. Then you can keep drafts and professor comments in your notebook as well. Some people like to use an accordion folder with tab dividers. Whatever your system of organization, you will be glad that you took the time to get organized once you begin the drafting period of your paper. In addition, trying out organizational methods now ensures that you will be better prepared to do the same later on. One method for reading through a source is to take marginal notes that summarize the topic of each paragraph or two that you read. By doing this, you can review the entire source in a fraction of time that it took you to read the original copy. In addition, this kind of marginalia will help you to see the basic blocking of the article, and you will be able to easily outline the ideas presented there. Note – Very Important: As you read through the chapter, remember that the examples contained in the text are presented in MLA style documentation. You are required to use APA style only, so do not let these documentation differences confuse you. The ideas behind them are still applicable to the kind of work that you are doing, but you will want to take notes using APA style instead. Part 3: Writing the Annotated Bibliography Chapter 20, Section 20f, of Strategies for Writing Successful Research Papers The reading assignment for Part 3 is the basis for your assignment for this unit. Read the instructions and the example annotated bibliography carefully, and be prepared to write your own Annotated Bibliography. As you see from the example Annotated Bibliography on pages 436-438, each entry in the Annotated Bibliography begins with a reference-list citation. For guidance on how to construct these citations, see the supplemental reading, which details the construction of a reference list and the citations contained within it.

Supplemental Reading

The CSU Citation Guide Referencing: Reference List, pp. 7-12

Learning Activities (Non-Graded) See information below.

Key Terms 1. Annotation 2. Annotated

bibliography 3. Antecedent 4. Bibliography 5. Jargon 6. Précis notes 7. Scholarly article 8. Summary notes

EH 1020, English Composition II 3

Please see the assignment instructions in the syllabus for details on the Annotated Bibliography assignment. Part 4: Unit Grammar Lesson: Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement and Conciseness Chapters 20, Sections 20a-20g, and 31, Sections 31a-31d, of The Little, Brown Compact Handbook with Exercises

Learning Activities (Non-Graded) The Little, Brown Compact Handbook with Exercises

 Exercise 20.1: Revising: Writing concisely, p. 185

 Exercise 20.2: Revising: Conciseness, p. 185

 Exercise 31.1: Revising: Pronoun-antecedent agreement, p. 256

 Exercise 31.2: Revising: Pronoun-antecedent agreement, p. 257 The Writing Process Click here to access the MyCourseTools tutorial. This online tutorial provides a tool for writers that will keep them on track to successful writing. This information will be helpful as you write your research paper for this course. MyCourseTools: http://media.pearsoncmg.com/pcp/pls/pls_mycoursetools/fufillment/mct_125668 9785_csu/eng_comp_1/lesson_01/default.htm Apply What You Have Learned What interests you? What would you like to know more about, either for personal or professional reasons? Think of a topic that you have always wanted to know more about. It can be any topic, totally unrelated to the research paper in this course. Pick a topic that you really find fascinating. Once you have identified a topic, look online or in a library and find reference sources about it. Apply what you learned in this unit by compiling a bibliography for the sources you found, using APA formatting. When you have completed your list, keep it somewhere so that you can come back and learn more about this fascinating topic when you have the time. This is a non-graded activity, so you do not have to submit it.