Evaluating Sources and Writing Outlines
Annotated Bibliographies are due TODAY (MONDAY Sept. 16 before 11:59 pm). I am grading on proper MLA formatting, which means whether or not to Italicize is very important. You have examples in your Bedford Book of Genres, especially if you were able to grab an FSU edition. If not, check out this example from FSU libraries. I am also grading on quality of the annotation. In the end, this document will be a reference for you to recall your sources and know how you plan to use them in your paper.
Twitter Assignment: Read The New American Epidemic and create a thread explaining the fallacies and misinformation in the article. Comment on your classmates threads in order to start a conversation about the article.
Now that you have found your 10 Peer-Reviewed sources and begin to conceptualize your paper, you may be confused about where to begin.
You are writing an informative paper, which means you are using your selected work of fiction and your research to teach the reader about what you discovered while you investigated the research question that you posed. Make sure you are not treating the paper like a showcase of research. What do I mean by a showcase of research? Showcasing is when you type a series of facts together with no insight on what any of it means. Basically the writer is just locating and pointing to facts. One source says this; another source says this.
The informative writer's responsibility is to show:
How do these ideas connect?
How are these ideas interpreted?
Do these statements contradict?
You have posed a research question and embarked on a journey to find the answer. You might not find a definitive answer. That's fine. As long as you are teaching the reader about what you were able to discover. **Note: there is a huge difference between not being able to find a definitive answer and lazy research.**
Why so many sources?
Multiple sources provides context for your ideas and offers evidence for your claims. Also, having multiple sources shows how your sources relate to other sources: how your sources agree & how they contradict?
When using sources, you have multiple ways to present the information: paraphrase, summary, and direct quotes. You already know how to do this. Anytime you have relayed a story or an exciting scene from a movie, you have likely paraphrased, summarized, or used direct quotes.
Watch Andy from Parks & Recreation paraphrase, summarize & direct quote his favorite movies
How and Why to use Quotes
Quotes are for situations where you want to use the source author's exact words.
You must give credit to the author, use their exact words, and use quotation marks around those exact words.
It might look like this:
"Krispy Kreme glazed is the culmination of doughnut perfection." (Bradley 3)
Remember: Whenever you use a quote, the voice of the composition changes. When you bring in a scientist, the paper takes the tone of the scientist. Using quotes is like handing the mic over to another person. You don't want to use too many quotes because the writer will no longer be the dominant voice of the paper. You are the writer: remember who is talking here.
When should you quote:
When you need an expert to weigh in - If your paper focuses on soda consumption of preteens and you claim that soda is unhealthy...Who do you need backing you up?
When a paraphrase or summary would alter the author's meaning - Any situation where language or word choice is debatable Especially useful when writing about laws or rules. For example, were you aware of the Draw 4 rule while playing Uno? You are only able to play it when you have no other option and if challenged and caught, you must draw 4 cards. Check the rules if you don't believe me. Because this is a little-known rule in Uno, you would want to quote it directly from the source material to ensure you have gotten it right, but also so no one can dispute you.
When a paraphrase or summary would not capture the essence of the author's clear and memorable words and tone. Think about how we use quote cards and memes.
When the purpose is to analyze the text - this is especially useful for literature. When looking at a passage from a book or a poem, it is useful to dissect the actual words from the text.
What is a Paraphrase?
Paraphrasing is then you take the idea and put it in your own words.
It might look like this:
Bradley affirms the pinnacle product of all doughnut franchises is the Krispy Kreme glazed variety. (3)
A paraphrase should:
Provide big picture message of source
Be in your own words or voice with the same level of formality and vocabulary as the rest of the piece
Change both the words and the order of the ideas presented in the original.
Usually the same length
Give credit to the author
When to paraphrase
When you don't want to quote - Perhaps you want to make sure your voice is in control of the paragraph.
When your audience is very different from your source author's audience - if you are teaching 5-year-olds thermodynamics, you will likely spend more time paraphrasing than direct quoting.
When you want your tone to dominate
How to paraphrase
1. Read, view or listen to source material
2. Put source material away and write passage from memory
3. Restate the passage in your own words.
4. Compare the original to your version, make sure they are not too similar
5. Make sure you haven't altered content
6. DON'T FORGET: CITE, CITE, CITE
Make sure that when you start a paraphrase to use signal words. Often you can tell that a fact has been paraphrased or summarized when you see these triggers:
According to...
In the article...
(Author's name) claims...
Summarizing
Like paraphrasing, but the intent is to condense a long passage. Perhaps you have a page worth of material you need to condense down to a paragraph.
It might look like this:
Brandi Bradley's review of doughnut franchises applauds Krispy Kreme's quality of product, while highlighting Dunkin Donuts as the superior corporation due to its flavorful coffee and customer service.
What's the difference between Summary and Paraphrasing?
A summary:
Captures the main idea
Is considerably shorter than the original
An article becomes a page
A page becomes a paragraph
A paragraph becomes a sentence
How to Summarize
Read, view or listen to source material
Put the source away and write from memory
Look over main ideas and organize them
Don't add opinions
Compare summary to revision
Be sure to cite.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is not only buying or borrowing papers. It is also borrowing ideas and acting as if they are your own. When putting together sources and sifting through so much information, it is important not to accidentally or incidentally plagiarize. To incidentally plagiarize is to write the information as if it was your idea and not your source's idea. Usually this type of plagiarism is also known as "incorrect citation". Always make sure that you give credit to your sources.
How to avoid plagiarism:
Exact words: Always in quotations and cite it.
If you paraphrase it : Cite it
If you summarize it : Cite it
Note: Plagiarism also applies to the self. Passing off your own ideas in multiple places with the hope that no one will catch on is called self-plagiarism. Most commonly used when a student takes a paper from a previous class and passes it off as a new paper in front of a new teacher. Studying something for multiple semesters is not uncommon, but the exploration of the ideas need to evolve. If you are working on something long term, FSU policy is you inform your professors to what you are working on and present them with your previous papers on that subject.
Here are a few tips and tricks to keep in mind while keeping up with so much research:
Immediately document the source citation, author and title of article
Put quotes around anything directly copied
DON'T TRUST YOUR MEMORY - Document where you found everything
Paraphrase twice
When in doubt, cite it anyway
Please sign this form, stating that you understand Plagiarism and promise never to do it.
How do you Outline Project #2?
For Project #1 you are compiling data driven by your Research Question. You are expected to present an objective viewpoint. You are not writing an opinion. You are not writing a persuasive piece. You are not taking a side. You are not taking a position on your Research Question. Instead you are expected to present a balanced presentation of the information you researched.
To do this in 2,000 words is tough. You can't just sit down and start typing and stop typing when you hit the 2,000 word mark and click publish. That's not how it works. In order to create an Informative genre, you must consider the shape of the composition you are creating.
If you were going to paint a landscape of a building, you would first sketch it in pencil. An outline is a sketch, a frame, a roadmap to the final paper.
When writing an outline, keep this terminology in mind: Thesis: The overall purpose of the paper. For P1, this would be your Research Question Claim: The subpoint of the thesis that the writer will state in a specific paragraph. You will make several claims based on information you are pulling from your work of fiction. Evidence: Data gathered to support the claim. These are your sources. You will use these in each paragraph in order to back up your claim. Warrant: Explanation of why or how the data supports the claim; the underlying assumption that connects your data to your claim. You are explaining how the claim and the evidence support each other. Backing: Additional logic or reasoning that may be necessary to support the warrant. Counterclaim: A claim that negates or disagrees with the thesis/claim. This is an "on the other hand" claim. You might not have one for each paragraph. Rebuttal: Evidence that negates or disagrees with the counterclaim. Similar to the counterclaim, you may not have one for each paragraph. Conclusion: A restatement of the paragraph’s main argument that provides a definitive ending for the point. At the end of each paragraph you will need a transitional statement which connects one paragraph to the next. At the end of the paper, you will need a concluding paragraph which answers the "so what?" question and reminds the reader what they should understand before leaving without recapping or restating all the points.
The basic structure of paragraphs for most researched essays or projects is:
Make a claim
Provide Evidence for the claim
Warrant the evidence connecting the data to the claim.
Back up the evidence
Concluding statement
When ready to show an alternate side of the question, those paragraphs should be structured:
Present a Counterclaim
Provide Evidence for the counterclaim
Warrant the evidence connecting the data to the counterclaim.
Back up the evidence
Concluding statement
Sometimes the argument needs a rebuttal to the counterclaim, because the evidence shows the counterclaim is faulty. That paragraph structure would be:
Make a rebuttal of that counterclaim
Provide Evidence for the rebuttal
Warrant the evidence connecting the data to the rebuttal.
Back up the evidence
Concluding statement
Review this video from Last Week Tonight with Jon Oliver and note his Claims, Evidence, Warrants, Backing, Counterclaims, Rebuttals and Conclusion.
Oliver's segments follow a similar template as the outline. The jokes are almost always in the Warrants and the Backing where he reacts and explains the data.
A few notes: your Counterclaims and Rebuttal claims will be dependent upon the data you find. I cannot provide a strict guideline for how many counterclaims and rebuttals you need in your paper, because it will be different for everyone.
Download and use this Outline Guide for Project #1 The outline should not be your first draft, but a road map. I need to be able to quickly assess if you are on the right track. If your outline looks like a paper, I will likely reject it.
Outlines are FRIDAY Sept. 20 before 11:59 pm. Be sure to follow the P1 Outline Guide. I do grade outlines and provide feedback on them. I gave you a guide for a reason. Also, THIS IS NOT A FIRST DRAFT. Because I review these and provide feedback, I DO NOT want it to look like a paper. Bullet point what you plan to write about so I can be sure you are on the right track. If your outline looks like a first draft, then it is not an outline and I won't award points.
Don't Forget:
Annotated Bibliographies are due TODAY (MONDAY SEPT. 16) before 11:59 pm.
Twitter Assignment: Read The New American Epidemic and create a thread explaining the fallacies and misinformation in the article. Comment on your classmates threads in order to start a conversation about the article.
Outlines are due FRIDAY SEPT. 20 before 11:59 pm
Project #1 Draft 1 is due FRIDAY SEPT. 27 before 11:59 pm
