Learn How To Cite Web Sources in a Bibliography, Using MLA Format - College Style!

HOW TO CITE INTERNET SOURCES IN A PAPER

Assignment: Go to the links below and create the five citations in MLA format. Read the directions below carefully.

When citing Internet sources in a bibliography, you must be sure to answer the following questions:

1. Who wrote or edited it? (authors/editors/translators)

2. What is it called? (title)

3. What is the name of the Website (usually the name on the 'banner' on top.)

4. What is the name of the organization/company/person who runs the Website (look at the bottom of the page or click on "about us")

5. When was it published? (date)

6. Where did you find it in a book, magazine, website, newspaper, or dvd? (answer: Website.)

7. When did you access the site? (the date that you looked at it on the Internet)

8. The URL address (it must work and take you to the article, not just the home page!)

You must have this information cited in a bibliography in exactly this way:

The Author(s), Title of the Article, Name of web site. Name of organization or company that owns the  site, date published or updated. Where you found it (Book, DVD, Newspaper or Web.) Date of your access (when you looked at it), the URL address.

Here is an example:

John Walke, Extreme Pollution Agenda in Senate Targets Lifesaving Clean Air Standard, Grist: A Beacon in the Smog. Grist Magazine, Nov. 10, 2011. Website. Nov 27, 2011, http://www.grist.org/pollution/2011-11-10-extreme-pollution-agenda-in-senate-targets-lifesaving-clean-air-

It is important that the Internet address link actually work. It should take you or your college professor directly to that article on that website. (Test the one above!)

Create your five citations in the correct format using the web sites below:

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/12/nasa-finds-arsenic-life-form/

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2011/05/the_discovery_of_arsenicbased_twitter.html

http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2010/1202/How-does-an-arsenic-based-life-form-work-exactly

http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/05/27/6730755-arsenic-life-debate-hits-a-new-level

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2010/12/02/mono-lake-bacteria-build-their-dna-using-arsenic-and-no-this-isnt-about-aliens/

NOTE: WHEN MAKING A BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR YOUR PAPER, BE SURE TO:
1. Make a list of these sources on the last page of your essay.
2. Put your citations in alphabetical order according to the author's last name.

Writing Your Essay

Use this graphic organizer to write your Pro - Con essay.  Make sure you have evidence from AT LEAST two articles to support your opinion.  You can also find the organizer under "Handouts" to the right of this post.

Articles Needed

Once you have established your topic, develop KEY WORD SEARCH TERMS, and search Google for your topic.  Remember to use the "Good Internet Research" guidelines provided under "Handouts," or available in the classroom. 

Use a Cornell Notes sheet for each article you find.  You need to find one PRO and one CON article for your topic.  Once you have taken notes on your article, have them checked by me, and then you will begin to construct papers based on your topic. 

Practice Reading for Understanding

Read this article.  Make sure to complete the entire packet.  The purpose of this exercise is to make sure you are carefully reading articles for research.  The completion of this assignment is a required component of this unit on social networking and research.  Then you may go back to researching your topic culled from the "Occupy Wall Street" video and statements. 

Researching Your Topic

1) Find REPUTABLE articles online about your topic.  Use this sheet to know exactly how to search.  Be sure to use key words and vary your search terms.

2) You want to make sure you have two articles, one representing a "pro," and the other a "con" side of the issue. 

3) Use this Cornell Notes Sheet to take notes from each REPUTABLE article that you find.

What Controversial Issues Arise from "Occupy Wall Street"?

Participants in the "Occupy Wall Street" protests made the comments below.   They are topics that you can research online.  Pick a phrase below.  Translate the phrase into your own words. Then RESEARCH the topic. 

2. Identify the KEY WORDS in the phrase that you have chosen. 

3. Do a KEY WORD search in GOOGLE.  Click the links, and look for explanations of the issue or topic.

4. Take notes using the Cornell Notes sheet for each article that you find.  Be sure to list the key points of the article, and state whether you agree or disagree with the author on the topic.

5. Write an essay describing your opinion on the topic, based on your research.

1. Corporations are influencing our politics. End the influence of corporations in politics.

2. End corporate personhood.

3. Corporate greed is wrecking our planet.

4. Protesters practice non-hierarchical consensus-based decision- making.

5. There’s a huge inequality gap between Americans.

6. Politicians are creating bad legislation because they’re influenced by corporations.

7. Corporations in our politics have created the war on drugs and stopped us from nationalizing health care.

8. Fight, fight!  Housing is a human right.  Make Wall Street pay for the Depression that they caused.

9. There should be a 1% tax on all Wall Street Transactions.

10. We need student debt amnesty!

11. Stop all foreclosures.  Stop throwing hard-working Americans on the street because they can’t pay these fraudulent mortgages.

12. The government has to stop cutting funding for education, which will mean that they will have to cut the defense budget.  It's a tough choice, but they have to do it!

13. Tax the rich!  Make more education programs for the poor, make more programs for cleaning up the environment.

14. Enforce campaign finance limits.

15. Have only individuals be able to contribute to political campaigns.

Welcome to Camilla's College Writing for Cycle 2, Fall 2011

Hi, everyone!  We're starting this cycle off with a unit about Social Networking.  How do we use social media, and how are we affected by it?  Social media has the power to influence our lives socially, academically and politically.  In exploring this topic, we begin with an examination of the Occupy Wall Street protests.  Is social media a force for good or ill when it comes to politics?  Are we a better nation for having Facebook, Twitter and the like?

In preparation for our work on this unit, do the following, if you have missed our activities in class so far:
To find out more about "Occupy Wall Street," watch this video made by NYC public high school teenagers like yourselves.  Here's the link for the video.

To understand some of the effects of social media, do this worksheet.

Assignments Due for Cycle 1

In order to be eligible for a grade for Cycle 1, these assignments must be completed and in your folder: 1. The Road Not Taken Essay

2. “The Three Little Pigs” analysis worksheet

3. Tell Your Own Story Assignment

4. Read “Only Partly Here”

5. Character descriptions worksheet for Only Partly Here

6. Graphic organizer for "Only Partly Here”

7. Essay: “Only Partly Here”

Writing Your "Only Partly Here" Essay

Guiding Considerations For Your “Only Partly Here” Essay

Introduction:

1) What is the moral, meaning or message of this story?  Develop a thesis statement. Make your THESIS STATEMENT the "main idea" of your introductory paragraph.


In your body paragraphs:

2) Show EVIDENCE from the text to substantiate your argument.  

3) Give SPECIFIC EXAMPLES from the story that show the development of the moral, meaning or message throughout the story.

4) Give SPECIFIC EXAMPLES from the story that show the development of the relationship between Bobby and Alicia, and how it changes over the course of the story.


5) Give SPECIFIC EXAMPLES from the story that show how the author, Lucius Sheppard, uses foreshadowing, setting, imagery, characterization and voice to make the story "come alive" for the reader.

Conclusion:

6) Conclude your essay by re-establishing your thesis statement and briefly substantiating it with the evidence you've enumerated in your essay. 

Literary Analysis and "Only Partly Here"

The more articulate you are, the more specific you can be about what you are trying to communicate.  Lucius Sheppard, in "Only Partly Here," uses sophisticated language to examine the complex nature of the relationships between the characters. 

Author Lucius Sheppard evokes the state of mind of the inhabitants of New York in the time directly after 9/11 with a simile.  He illustrates the frantic, purposeless and futile nature of their efforts by comparing them to drugged and over-stimulated rats in a maze.  He is able to bring that time to life for the reader because of his versatility with the language.

Which words that we use can we add to our word wall and vocabulary lists?  Pick 10 words you are not familiar with and look up the definitions.  You will be responsible for knowing these words as the cycle continues. 

As the story progresses we begin to see the nature of the relationships between the three recovery workers: Bobby, Mazurek and Pineo, and we also see the complexities of the interaction between Alicia and Bobby. 

What is happening between Alicia and Bobby?  As the story continues to unfold, examine the changing nature of their interaction.  How do they start out?  How does that change, and what happens in the end to change it even further?

Finally, what is the nature of this story, and what is its message?  A full understanding can only come from a full examination of the text.  We are reading together, but as you learn to study you must get to the point where you can go back and re-read parts of the text that you need to understand more fully. 

Learning to study a text in a deep and meaningful way is a critical skill for college.  In order to really function on the college level, you need to 1) Learn how to understand the text, and that means find the meanings of words you don't know and then understand the words in the context of the story, 2) Be able to uncover the personalities and motivations of the characters, based on the way they're described and the nature of their dialogue, 3) Examine the progression of the action in the story and note developments that occur, 4) Interpret the meaning, moral or message that the story conveys. 

When Reading, How Do You Figure Out Words You Don't Know?

How do we figure out words we don't know?  Here are some suggestions from the class:

1.Write it down and look up the definition

2.Context Clues:

3.Look at the sentences before and after it to see what the word might mean.

4.Look for footnotes

5.Use your knowledge of other languages (esp Latin languages)

6.Look for prefixes that you already know (un, and others)

7.Look for suffixes (ending of words) (like –ology, and others)

Theme and Symbolism in "Only Partly Here"

Essential Question: How do we analyze and interpret characters in story?

We read the beginning of "Only Partly Here" by Lucius Sheppard.  We identified certain repeating themes.  We noticed that certain items were blue.  The shoe Bobby finds is blue, the "silhouette of the dancing lady" is in blue neon, and the bar is called "The Blue Lady."  Our characters are at Ground Zero sifting through the rubble of 9/11.  They are recovery workers.

What can we tell about the personalities of the main characters of Bobby, Mazurek, and Pineo?  What is the lady at the end of the bar like?  Describe the characteristics of each character in this graphic organizer.  Cite specific examples from the text using page and paragraph number.

Assignment: Interpreting Fiction and Finding Metaphors

Pick your own fairy tale or another story that you like.  It must be a story that conveys an important message about life.  Complete the graphic organizer for the story.  That means you must include
a) A synopsis of the story, written in YOUR OWN WORDS (Plagiarism is not allowed -- and I do check!)
b) A list of at least five symbols (metaphors) in the story, and what they represent
c) A detailed description of the meaning, message and moral of the story.

Symbolism and Metaphor in Story

Choose a story.  It can be a fairy tale or another simple story with a message.  Write a synopsis of the story.  The story must have symbolic elements.  You must have a list of at least five things in the story that have a metaphoric meaning.  Make that list.  Then write a down the message or moral of the story.  Be prepared to share it with the class.

Interpreting Story - Looking for Symbols

We looked at the fairytale of The Three Little Pigs.  Then the class broke into groups and wrote a synopsis of the story, made a list of the symbols and their meaning, and described the overall message or moral of the story.  The story can be found here.  Class members in attendance completed the handout.  If you were not in class you need to make sure you do this in order to get credit. 

Assignment: Initial Writing Assessment: "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost

What is Robert Frost's metaphor for life?  Download this handout.  Look at the picture.  What is this "story" about, and what is Robert Frost trying to communicate about life?

Write an essay of at least a page and a half responding to Robert Frost’s poem, “The Road Not Taken.”  Be sure to look at the footnotes on the page if you do not know what some of the words mean. 

Please write in essay form.  Use the questions to help you with your writing, but do not re-write the questions.  Answer in one long essay.

Framing questions for your writing:

1. What is this poem about? 

2. What is the message it is trying to convey about choices in life? 

3. Which “road” have you chosen/travelled so far in your life?   “The road less taken,” or the road more commonly taken?  Explain why you picked that road, and what your life has been like because of that choice.

4.  Extra credit: Why is the poem called “The Road NOT Taken”?  Isn’t the poem about the road he DID take?  Why does he choose to call the poem “The Road Not Taken”?

 

What Makes Literature Good?

We had a discussion about what qualities make rap songs great.  The class came up with this list.  In order to have a great rap song, it needs to include the following elements:

Great delivery

They keep it interesting

Contains strong metaphors

You have to be able to relate to it

Humor

Strong Vocabulary

Personality

Tells a good story

Tells a message

Conveys a moral

Be true to yourself

Welcome to College Writing for Cycle 1, Fall 2011

Course Description:  

The purpose of this class is to prepare students for entry-level college work, with a focus on writing and research skills.  In the beginning of the course, students will expand their base-knowledge of words and their etymological roots, and begin to develop college-level vocabulary and comprehension through reading fiction. As students write, the class will focus on literary analysis, identification and correction of grammatical errors and editing skills, as well as proper utilization of grammar, punctuation and spelling. For the final part of the course, students will establish and utilize research methodology, critically analyzing and evaluating research sources, while developing note-taking and study skills. The course will conclude with an in-depth research project, culminating in the writing and editing of an entry-level college research paper, with MLA-style citations.

Requirements: 

Students must complete all required essays in order to receive credit. You must complete all in-class work in the classroom.  Students are also required to engage in class discussions, respond to in-class questions, and conduct themselves in a respectful and studious manner as you focus on the educational tasks and goals.

All essays and other coursework designated as in-class work must be completed in the classroom, unless otherwise negotiated with the teacher.  Essays and research papers cannot be done at home.  Students presenting completed essays not written in class will not receive credit.  

Completion of Paper - Due Dates

Your paper should have been turned in by Friday, June 10th.  If you were a late admit, you may finish your paper on the last two days of class.

As I have said numerous times before, I will not accept papers the majority of which were not done in class.  Students cannot expect to pass this class if they have not written the majority of their paper in class during class time.  I must have seen the paper in progress throughout the cycle.

I MUST HAVE SEEN AT LEAST TWO AND A HALF PAGES BY FRIDAY, JUNE 10th in order for you to be allowed to work on it over the weekend.  You may work to complete the paper in class on Monday, June 13th and Tuesday, June 14th, if you have given me sufficient work by Friday, June 10th. 

Students may be eligible for credit recovery depending on Cycle 6 class participation, and sufficient ongoing meetings with me regarding your work on this paper.

Where You Should be By Today, June 7th, 2011

You should have at least three pages completed of your paper.  Without having a majority of your paper completed, you will not be able to finish it in a timely fashion, meeting the criteria of the assignment.  See me if there are extenuating circumstances, and you need some extra help.  The paper is due by week's end, and corrections will be finalized next week. 

If I do not see the paper in progress, and/or if you have not written the bulk of the paper in class, you will not pass this class.  I will not accept a paper the majority of which has not been written in my class and with my supervision.  Also, in order to get credit you must have ALL the articles you are citing in your paper printed out and in your folder. 

Thank you for the hard work you are doing to complete this assignment.

Where You Should be By Today, May 31st, 2011

By now, you should have completed the following, as we proceed with our research paper:

1) You must have your introductory paragraph.  The main part of your introduction must be your Thesis Statement.  In order to do this, you must have turned your Research Question into a Thesis Statement.  This Thesis Statement is based on the research that you have conducted and the articles you have read, and must answer your research question.

2) You should already have written three to five paragraphs giving examples from your research articles that support your thesis statement.  [NOTE: All together, by Friday, you will need to have four to five points from each of your three articles in your paper]. 

3) You must correctly cite all sources, based on my handout (also available as a post on this blog).

NOTE: Your first draft is due Friday of this week.  I DO NOT expect you to have completed the "works cited"/bibliography this week.  We will work on that next week.

How to Create an MLA Citation for Your Paper

1) When you cite your source within the text of the paper, make sure you include the author, title of the article and the publication.  When you site the same source again, only use the author's last name.

Example:
In her New York Times article, “Harsh Lights on Two Men, But Glare Falls on Women,” Kate Zernike explains how women are often targeted by the media when they are involved with high-profile men. “…[T]here is less hesitation to try to reveal every detail of the lives of the women involved, as if those details could somehow explain the headlines about the powerful figures.” Zernike also explains that these women do not seek the spotlight.

[Note: If there's no author, cite the name of the agency or organization that produced the article.  If the agency or organization is an acronym (initials, like "FBI," or "CDC,") you must state the full name of the agency or organization in the first citation, and then follow it with the acronym.]

Example: The Center for Disease Control (CDC), in a paper entitled, "How to Combat Diabetes," describes three ways to deal with the potentially life-threatening disease.  The CDC also explains ways to prevent diabetes from developing.

At the end of your paper, you will cite the full information about the article in your Works Cited list, It will be a sixth piece of paper, and will be on a separate and final sheet.

2) For your Works Cited list at the end of your paper, here are some examples of correct citations in MLA format:

If it is from a government source and there is no author:
"Basic Information about HIV and AIDS | Topics | CDC HIV/AIDS." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Web. 18 May 2011. 19 May 2011 < http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/basic/index.htm >

If it is from an online newspaper:
Zernike, Kate. "Harsh Light on Two Men, but Glare Falls on Women." New York Times. 18 May 2011. Web. 19 May 2011.
< http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/19/us/19schwarzenegger.html?hp >

How to Cite Your Sources:

You must have the following, following the exact format indicated below. That means when there’s a period, you must have a period. When something is italicized, you must have it in italics. Please follow the format exactly.

Type of Information How It’s Done:
1.  Author of article:
LastName, Firstname.
2.  Title of the article: 
“Title.”
3.  Who published it: 
Name of Publication.
4.  Type of publication: 
Web.
5.  Date when it was published:
Day Month Year.
6.  Date when you accessed it:
Day Month Year.
7.  Exact, full web address:
< http://exactwebaddress >.

Organizing Your Paper

Now it's time to organize your thoughts in planning your paper.

1) You need to outline at least five points from each article you've chosen. That means you need to find the main idea and supporting evidence for the important points of each article that you will be using.

2) You need to develop the structure of your paper. The paper will, of course, need to have a beginning, middle and end. We commonly refer to these as the introduction, body paragraphs and conclusion. Your paper will be five double-spaced pages, in Times New Roman or Arial, with no bigger than a v12 point font. Likewise, don't begin your paper a third of a way down the page. The paper starts at the top of the page. You will have a title page for the title. The paper will include in addition, a bibliography or "works cited" list at the end. You will learn how to cite works in the bibliography AND within the paper using the MLA format. This is a format that most colleges and universities want students to use, as they begin writing their college-level papers.

3) You need to change your research question into a thesis statement. See the form here and on the side under handouts to make a record of that change. Your thesis statement will form the basis for your essay, and will be the key sentence in your introduction.

Outline Organizer for your Research Paper

Here is the link to your Outline Organizer.

Each of you should have three, vetted, reputable articles with Cornell Notes sheets attached.

The next step is to take each one of your three articles and outline the main points and supportive evidence in each one.

For each article there should be at least five main points and supportive evidence.

Completing Your Work for This Cycle

In order to get credit in this class you must have the following in your folder:

3 vetted, reputable articles

3 Cornell Notes sheets, completely filled out, including:
- no less than 5 points for each article
- thoughts, interpretations or questions for each point (written opposite each point)
- a summary of your understanding of the article
- an explanation of how the article relates to your topic

The completed final, which will be given Thursday and Friday in class.

Taking Notes for Each Article You Use in Your Research

You must take notes for each article you use. Our "default" for note-taking is the Cornell Notes template. However, you may use another graphic organizer or note-taking format, as long as you include the following:

1.Your name, the class period and the date
2. The article properly “vetted.” It is from a reputable source.
3. The main points of article are listed.
4. Article points are matched with your own questions, thoughts or reactions.
5. There is a summary or overview of the point of meaning of the article.
6. There is some “higher order thinking,” analysis or discussion of the significance or meaning of the article as it relates to your Research Question.

Initial Research Steps

In your folder, you should have:
1) Your completed and signed "Research Paper Proposal Worksheet." You cannot proceed with your research unless and until this worksheet has been signed by me.

2) Your Key Word Brainstorm and URL sheet. This sheet provides a record of the key word searches you have tried, and the websites you have found. Please only write down the URLs of web sites that you have figured out are good. You check their veracity by going to "About Us" or "Contact Us." You must see if the authors have the credentials to have expertise in that subject.

4) You must have copies of the articles that you have selected.

5) You must have a Cornell notes sheet for each of the articles, and you must take notes on that sheet for each article. Your notes are your evidence that you have read and understood what you are reading. If you are continuing your research at home, you may print out a Cornell Notes template here.

"Holiday Homework": You may continue your research, providing a Cornell notes sheet for each article, translating the meaning of the article into your own words. You may also complete this Cornell notes sheet along with this article.

Refining and Deciding on Your Research Question

Is it researchable?

Is it factual?

Is it narrowed down enough?

Is it specific enough (time, place, specific aspect of the topic)?

Is it an opened-ended question (NOT a "yes - no" question)?

Is it worded as a question?

Do you already know where you might be able to get some research (NOT a search engine, actual agencies, organizations or institutions)?

Is it something in which you are interested?

Research Paper Proposal

1. Check my notes on your BRAINSTORM paper. Make sure that your BRAINSTORM has at least five to ten questions that you want to find out about your topic.

2. Use your BRAINSTORM to help you fill out the Research Paper Proposal Worksheet. This is the next step in the process of preparing for your research paper.

3. Q: "What if my Research Question is not designed to solve a problem or provide an explanation for a problem?
Q: What if it is not researchable?
A: If either of these things are the case, your Research Question cannot be used, and it will not be accepted as something you can research. Please re-think your topic, do another BRAINSTORM, and fill out a new sheet.

4. I am here to help. Ask me in class, read my written responses to your work, and come at lunch for extra help, if you need it!

List of Research Topics - from Classmembers

Here are the topics that we generated in class yesterday. In their brainstorms, many people came up with excellent questions. Now we have to narrow down our questions so that we can actually begin our research.

Topics from Pds 5 and 7

Research Topics from Periods 5 and 7 – April 7, 2011
Teen Pregnancy
Abortion
Drop Out Rate
Graduation Rates
Immigration
Drunk driving
Obama
Drug abuse
Alcohol
Drug trafficking
HIV/AIDS
Protective sex
Domestic violence – male to female (boyfriends to girlfriends).
Child abuse
Euthenasia
Albinoism
Celebrity drug problems
Theft
Sex trafficking
Pimps and hustlers in the 70’s
Crime rate between the cities in the Southern states
Addiction to alcohol
Addiction to drugs
Domestic violence
Child abuse
Foster care
Sweatshops
Food addiction
Fashion addiction
Racism
Teen pregnancy
Abortion
High school dropouts
Graduation rates between private and public and charter schools

Chosing Your Research Topic

Deciding on your Research Paper Topic:

Your research paper is going to make up a substantial part of your work for this cycle in this class. A research topic has to be a question that you want to answer. It has to be a problem or situation that research will help you understand. Your research may indicate solutions to that problem, and based on your research, you may suggest solutions.

First of all, you need to decide on a topic. Then develop a Research Question, and then begin to find sources for your research.

In order to decide on a topic, consider the following:

Good topics are:

Interesting
Manageable
Available
Worthwhile
Original

Poor topics are:
Too broad
Too narrow
too technical
Too trivial
Too subjective

Here is an example of a research topic: Teen Pregnancy

Here is an example of good and bad research questions about Teen Pregnancy:
Unsuitable: Why are kids having so many babies? (too broad, too subjective)
Unsuitable: What are the statistics on Teen Pregnancy for 1984 (too broad AND too narrow)
Suitable (Good) Topic: What factors are contributing to teen pregnancy rates in the United States during this decade?

Here's what you'd have to do:
1) Look up the statistics.
Q: Where's a good place to look up statistics? Where can we find reliable statistics?
A:

2) Find expert researchers who've written about the causes of teen pregnancy.
Q: How do we know they're experts?
A:

3) Choose articles from good, reliable and reputable sources.
Q: How do we know the sources are reliable and reputable?
A:

4) Find good sources on the internet (or in books, if you can easily get them). Print out the articles that you find. Be sure to have the URL and website name of each article on the printout.
Q: How can you make sure you know where the article came from?
A:

5) Read the articles. Highlight the key points. Take notes (Using Cornell Notes or another graphic organizer) about your thoughts and reactions as you read.
Q: What other ways of taking notes do you know about?
A:

6) Begin the process of writing your paper. This step will be gone into in greater detail as we go along.

In order to think of a topic, you can do a BRAINSTORM.
Choose a topic to think about. Write down the general topic. Then ask yourself as many questions as you can think about, regarding that topic. On a separate piece of lined, notebook paper, write down your proposed topic and 5 to 7 questions about that topic.

General Topic: Tatoos

Questions:

Who gets tattooed? What ages are they?
What cultures besides the US get tattooed?
What do certain tattoos symbolize?
Where did tattooing come from?
What’s the difference between tribal tattoos and modern tattoos from tattoo shops?
How many people get tattoos removed?
Why do people get tattooed?
What are some causes for the current popularity of getting tattooed?

If your research question can be answered in one sentence or from one website, it is not a suitable topic.

If your topic is not specific enough, it is not a suitable topic.

If your topic is just a matter of opinion, it is not a suitable topic. An example might be something like: "Why is Mr. X the best tattoo artist?" Mr. X is only the best artist in your opinion. There is no research you can find to prove that he is the best tattoo artist in the world.

Q: Are any of these research questions researchable?
Q: Which one is researchable, and how can you write it as a good research question?

How Do You Record Information Gathered From Research?

Use the Cornell Notes sheet to record the key points of your article on the Ozone Layer. The three Articles we used are:
1.Ozone Depletion Over Arctic 'Unprecedented' This Winter
By the CNN Wire Staff

2. http://www.oar.noaa.gov/climate/t_ozonelayer.html
Ozone Depletion

3.http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/ozone-depletion-overview.html Ozone Depletion - Losing Earth's Protective Layer

In groups of three, determine what information you have in common, and what information is unique to each article. Then record all of your information the group sheet.

Here's some of what students said they learned by doing this kind of an exercise:

If you cite facts, you need to be sure of them. You need to know where exactly in the text your facts come from.

Understand the vocabulary, and look up words you don't know.

Avoid plagiarism. Writing down the words from the article is plagiarism.

It's good to have more than one source for information, because then you'll know more about your topic.

Put the information you learn into your own words.

Why did we do this exercise? Students said:
1) To get more information on the topic by looking at multiple sources
2) To learn how to figure out what's important in the articles
3) To interpret and analyze the information for yourself (come to your own conclusions, based on the facts)

Instructions for Using Three Types of Graphic Organizers to Chart “Dazed and Confused”

Assignment, Due Monday, April 4th:

1.Use the “Cluster/Word Web 2” sheet to put down details about your character. The character’s name goes into the “Topic” box. You must fill at least four boxes with details about the character. For the highest grade, you should fill them all, and please make sure your work is legible.

2, Use the “Time-Order Chart” to talk about the things that happen to the character during the story. The character’s name goes in the “Topic” box. Each event is another thing that happens to the character during the course of the movie. You should be able to find 4 events for your character.

3. Use the “Story Map 2” sheet to describe the things that happen in the entire movie. List the setting, the time period in which the movie takes place, the major characters and the minor characters. You may use the internet to look up the characters in the movie. If you take text off of the internet, I will know it. Don’t do it. Everything must be in your own words.

Graphic Organizers, And What Notes Need to Look Like

Everybody has their own style of note-taking. That is true, but note-taking has to be effective. It was to WORK. The problem with some note-taking is that it is not organized or thorough enough: Notes are minimal, details are absent and the notes are confusing when looked at the next day or the next week. That defeats the purpose of note-taking.

Here are some steps to keep your notes organized:

1) Use a graphic organizer like Cornell Notes, or design your own.
2) Make lists and leave room to fill in blanks
3) Use charts that help you understand things.

Today we will look at different types of note-taking strategies, and apply them to the notes you have on your character. Use a graphic organizer or demonstrate on paper a systematic approach to note-taking. You should be able to use your notes to write an essay or paper. The notes have to "work."

Here are some organizers that could work with Dazed and Confused:
Clusterweb Graphic Organizer
Sequence of Events Graphic Organizer
Five W's Graphic Organizer
Story Map Graphic Organizer
Time Order Chart
Venn Diagram

For more graphic organizers, go to "Education Place," a web site created by publishers Houghton Mifflin.

"Dazed and Confused" Character Analysis

Today's Question: How do you observe and draw conclusions about a character?

1) Pick up your own folder from the bin and check it for notes and comments.

2) Get character names (link available on previous post).

3) Take notes during the conclusion of the film, as needed.

At the conclusion of the film, write for ten minutes about the personal journey the person has taken throughout the film. How did they start off, and what have they learned? what is the journey of this particular character? What happens to them during the course of the film?

To complete this writing assignment, you should have:
1) The name of the character
2) A physical description of the character
3) A psychological description of the character: what is his or her personality?
4) A description of the action and development of the character throughout the film.

Character Profiles

Here are some basic profiles of the characters in "Dazed and Confused." Character Profiles. Once you pick your MAIN character, describe in detail this person's personality, describe their looks, and describe what happens to them in the story.

"Dazed and Confused" and Historical Research

We're looking at the movie "Dazed and Confused" to find historical accuracy. The director and actors in this movie had to know what the 70's was really like in order to make it authentic.

Monday's In-Class Assignment:
As you watch the movie, write down at least ten things you see that are different than they are today. Describe each thing. How is it different?

Tuesday:
Pick a specific character. Observe that character as you continue to watch the film. What can you say about that character?
How do they look?
How are they dressed?
What is their personality?

We will watch the movie. Write notes as you watch. Then you will have five minutes to describe them in detail on paper.

Then: pair up with someone else who has picked that character. Share your write-ups. Combine the best of both. Then we will share out.

Careers that Need Historical Research

What Aspects of Life Have Changed, Historically?
Assignment: Watching the movie, identify 10 things that have changed, and describe what they were like back then.

different immigrant groups
transportation
technology (no cell phones)
other kinds of cars
different kinds of busses
tokens for trains (copper/bronze discs)
fashion: 70’s afros, very colorful clothing,
music: jazz, blues, punk, country, pop, record players,
(walk mans, 8-tracks, boom boxes, juke boxes)
dance: electric slide, break dancing,
different laws
food changed
food prices changed

Historical Research Can be Used By…

Taxi drivers - to understand when someone uses an old name of a street or place
Tour guides - to talk about what happened in a particular neighborhood or place
Archeologists - to understand remains
Government officials – to understand political history
Writers - to be historically accurate in their stories
Journalists – accurate information
News reporters – historical context of current events
Social studies teachers - to know what happened in history so that they can explain it to students
Doctors – to know previous cures, treatments, and patient histories
Scientists - to know how experiments have gone in the past
Politicians – to be informed, to be accurate
Entrepreneurs – to learn from other entrepreneurs’ mistakes
Fashion – to be inspired by past trends
Lawyers – to know different cases in the past
Actors – when they have to act out scenes from the past, to know what it was like then and act accordingly
Directors – to be historically accurate, so their movies are believable

Steps to Making Your Essay The Best It Can Be

The class came up with the following steps to help improve essays:

Plan your information before you write it.
Make sure your introduction has enough information.
Make a valid conclusion.
Don’t be repetitive.
People have different styles.
Finish the assignment.
Re-read.
Proof-read.
If you make a mistake in your essay, you should not make the paper look messy.
Watch out for run-on sentences.
Write longer paragraphs.
Put in more details.
Use a lot of examples from the story (or text).
Have at least one other person look at your paper before you turn it in.
You write your essay and you think it’s good, but when you see the rubric, you see what the real criteria (qualifications) are for a good paper.
Make sure your conclusion is wrapped up tightly.
Keep your essay well organized.
Watch your penmanship.
Be understandable.
Be clear.
Be specific.
Make sure your sentences make sense.
Check for spelling.

Evaluating Using The Rubric

How do we equally apply the rubric, really understanding the way it functions?

As we looked at the rubric we identified words that were new to us. Here is a list of the class's new vocabulary words:

Valid = legitimate; legally acceptable; not expired; logical; well-founded

Sparse = far and few between

Minimal = very little

Sophisticated = classy, smart, well-read, intelligent, experienced in the world, well-educated, complex

Analysis = The separation of a whole into its component parts in order to study the parts and their relation to the whole

Thesis = an unproved statement put forward as a premise in an argument

Viable = clear, something that can be verified

Then we began to identify vocabulary in the first student essay:
Infrastructure =
1) An underlying base or foundation, especially for an organization or system
2) The basic facilities, services and installations needed for the functioning of a community or society

and we verified the spelling of the word
definitely

We identified criteria for evaluating the essays, and began to apply it to student-created essays that we examined as a group. Students corrected grammar, punctuation and spelling errors in the first essay.

Informed Peer Review: Evaluating Your Writing Using the Rubric and Your Grammar Handouts

Steps to Analyzing, Correcting and Evaluating Your Essay:

1.) Your partner must be someone you do not know.

2.) You should sit across from your partner at the tables in the classroom.

3.) Read the essay, aloud or silently, with pencil in hand. Make corrections as needed, using the Grammar handouts on Commas, Apostrophes and Spelling as references.

4.) Attach a copy of the rubric to the essay. What score would you give the overall paper? In the "Comments" area, make notes describing three or four steps the author of the essay should take to improve their work in the future.

Welcome to Cycle 5, Spring 2011

Our last unit in Cycle 4 had to do with reading, understanding what you're reading and then drawing conclusions based on what you'd learned. The assignment required you to think about what the implications are for us, as we consider the disaster in Japan.

In writing, meaning is key, but form is also a necessary element. Form ensures that our writing communicates what we mean effectively.

What tools do we have at our disposal that help us to write well? We have our Rules of Comma Use, Rules of Apostrophe Use, and Spelling and Grammar Tips. Those are all available to the right of this post, under "Handouts." Let's use these tools to make sure our writing meets a minimum standard of good writing. Along with "development", these tools will ensure that we communicate effectively.

Instructions for Final Writing Assignment for Cycle 4

Assignment: Written Response to Tsunami Article

1. Using either the Cornell Notes sheet or the handout for this assignment, list the most important points in the article.

2. Write an essay of approximately a page and a half on lined 8.5x11 paper, responding to the questions below. USE YOUR NOTES to create your first paragraph.
In your first paragraph, paraphrase: What have you learned about the earthquake/tsunami disaster in Japan by reading the article?
In your second and third paragraphs, explain your ideas about what the American people, the American government, and we, as individuals should do if this kind of thing ever happened here in New York. What would you suggest the government do, and what would you do for yourself and your family?
DO NOT respond to this assignment in question and answer format. This assignment must be done in essay format. In order to get credit for this assignment you must also turn in your notes.

Reading, Identifying Key Points, Drawing Conclusions

Write an essay in response to The New York Times' Article on the Tsunami in Japan.

First, on the handout in the classroom, read the article with a highlighter, and note the salient (most important) points. Then take your notes.
1. What are the most important points in the article (write them in note form) on the handout:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

Next, in essay format, paraphrase: What have you learned about the earthquake/tsunami disaster in Japan?
a) What should we (the American people, the American government, and we, as individuals) do if this kind of thing should ever happen here in New York?

b)What would you suggest the government do, and what would you do for yourself and your family?

Write the responses to these questions in an essay of approximately a page and a half on lined 8.5x11 notebook paper.

How to know if a web site is legitimate?

• The site has to have good information from a reliable source. Is the source reliable? Does the person writing the document/web site have the education necessary to speak about this topic?
• What are the credentials?
• Who’s behind the web site? What other organizations does that person refer to? Who do they say is behind it? Is there a group of people? Who are they?
• What is the URL? What is the root directory?
• References – follow the links. Are they legitimate?
• Check “About Us” and “Contact Us”.
• Google the names and organizations
• How current Is the website? – Check the date, if there is one.

Determining Validity: Identifying Bias

We looked at establishing the legitimacy and reputability of a web site. We also must look at language on websites to determine the bias of the web site. Let's look at the websites we examined yesterday. What is bias, and what words indicate bias in the language of the websites?

The class will discuss their findings of yesterday, and we will examine some of the websites to determine their bias.

What other agencies or organizations or institutions or media outlets do you know of who clearly have a bias? What does "bias" really mean? We can be biased in favor of something, just as we can be biased against it. What biases do we find in our own thinking?

How Do You Assess a Web Site?

Look up these websites:
Global Warming Solutions http://www.globalwarmingsolutions.org
Global Warming http://www.globalwarming.org/
Big Bang Theory http://www.big-bang-theory.com/
The Big Bang http://www.umich.edu/~gs265/bigbang.htm

What organizations or agencies or people are behind these sites? Are they legitimate sources for Global Warming and The Big Bang Theory? Why? Why not? Complete this Web Site Assessment Form with your responses.

How to you Verify a Source?

You found a lot of information on the internet. Now, how do you know it's good information? When you meet someone in the street do you immediately believe their story? How do you figure out if they're legit? You need the same "street smarts" when you evaluate internet web sites. Read today's handout (see below) to learn ways to evaluate web sites.

What Does Good Research Look Like?

In order to do good research, there are some skills and techniques you have to practice. In today's class we began to identify those methods. As a class, we came up with the following strategies that are essential for good Internet research:

CHOOSE A GOOD SEARCH ENGINE:

I recommend Google. There are other many other search engines, but if you want to use another one, ask me, and we'll look at it together to decide if it's a good one to use for the type of research that you're conducting.

BE CAREFUL ABOUT HOW YOU PHRASE YOUR SEARCH.
When you type your search terms into the search engine (for instance, Google):
• Use correct grammar and spelling
• Be as specific as possible
• Be thorough
• Narrow your search, so you get exactly what you want

Vary your search terms. For example, when researching early rap: “KRS1” or “KRS One” or “Chris Parker” or “Kris Parker,” or other things associated with him, like
the term “Edutainment” could work to get you the results you’re looking for.
Use quotation marks around your search term, if the words have to go together. For example, Chris Parker becomes “Chris Parker,” so that you don’t get everyone named Chris, and all the Parkers in the world.
When you type words in, your search engine is going to search for all those words in addition to those words in combination. So, for example,

prom dresses Spanish Harlem

will result in Google searching for everything that has the word "prom," the word "dresses," the word "Spanish" and the word "Harlem," in addition to looking for "prom dresses" and "Spanish Harlem."

In order to get ONLY prom dresses in Spanish Harlem, you would need to put each phrase in quotes. That tells the search engine to only look for those words in those exact combinations. So you can search Google by typing in

"prom dresses" "Spanish Harlem"

However, there may be stores in Spanish Harlem that are not listed because they do not use the phrase "Spanish Harlem" in their own pages. Perhaps they use "Upper East Side," or "East Harlem" or simply list the street on which they are located, like "3rd Avenue," or "Third Avenue," or "116th Street" or "116 St". All of these are different search terms. If you really want to find a place in Spanish Harlem, you may have to try all these things. ALSO, A LOT OF STORES, INSTITUTIONS, and BOOKS DO NOT HAVE WEBSITES. Everything that exists is not online. A person might have a store and not make a website for it.
We found out that a lot of stores in Spanish Harlem that sell prom dresses do not have websites. That does not mean they do not exist. Lots of places that exist are not online.

WHEN TRYING TO FIND DETAILED INFORMATION OR READ A BOOK, REMEMBER:
Sometimes you actually have to go to a library to read a document or book on the topic. Usually, entire books are not online, especially new ones. The only entire books that are online are public domain books (like Shakespeare, Chaucer, etc). You can find many public domain books online at Project Gutenberg. You can also check out authorama.com.

WHO CREATED THE WEBSITE?
Find out who wrote the information on the website, and write down those details.

ASK YOURSELF: Who are they? Who is the author of the website? What organization or group is behind it?

ARE THEY REPUTABLE?
• Have you already heard about the authors or institutions behind the website and do you know that they're reputable already? (for instance, students suggested that one might go to merriam-webster.com, because we already know that they are a good company that publishes dictionaries.)
• Always verify your information by looking at more than one reputable source.
• Read the information on the website carefully. Is it sound? Does it make sense? Does it seem credible?
• Determine who wrote the website by looking at “Contact Us,” or “About Us,” or the citations and bibliography at the bottom, or
• Verify your source by making sure you look at more than one source.

ARE THEY RELIABLE?
• Is there a second website that confirms the information on that website?
• When did they update their page last?
• Google the owner and/or author.

WHAT DOES THE URL TELL YOU?
• Go back to the root directory of the website to see who hosted it. For example, in the url: http://www.columbia.edu/texts/religion/philosophy.html, the root directory is www.columbia.edu. When looking at the root directory, look for the type of website it is. You can find that out by looking at the letters that come after the first dot. For example:

o .org = organization (non-profit)
o .edu = college or university (- usually. Sometimes it’s a school system.)
o .net = is a commercial designation. (In other words, anyone can get it.)
o .com = company or commercial. Anyone can have one.
o .gov = U.S. Government web site.
o .info = information about some agency or group.
Two letter codes, are country codes, but they are commercial.
o .uk = United Kingdom (also called Great Britain).
o .ca = Canada
o .tv = Tuvalu
o de = Germany
o fr = France

What Must Be in Your Folder in Order To Receive Credit for This Assignment

1) Your PowerPoint must be complete and you must get it saved to the flash drive.

2) You must have THREE WEB SITE PARAPHRASE FORMS (Named "WebsiteParaphraseForm1","WebsiteParaphrase2" and "WebsiteParaphrase3") in your folder. These forms establish that the words on your slide are actually your own words, and are not plagiarized. You must have the URLs (web addresses) of those pieces of information on each form.

Your three Web Site Paraphrase Forms are essential, and must be in your folder in order to receive credit.

Presentations

Your presentations on your New York City neighborhoods are due. Each presentation must have five slides:

1) A title slide including your name and the name of the neighborhood

2) A fact, stated in your own words, with a citation (a statement explaining where you got the fact from) and a real, historical picture that illustrates that fact

3) A second fact, stated in your own words, with a citation (a statement explaining where you got the fact from) and a real, historical picture that illustrates that fact

4) A third fact, stated in your own words, with a citation (a statement explaining where you got the fact from) and a real, historical picture that illustrates that fact

5) A concluding slide in which you state what you feel you have learned from your research.

We will be showing them tomorrow. I will save them to my flash drive. Please name them with your name plus the neighborhood. My presentation would be CamillaUpperWestSide, for instance. When you are ready for your work to be saved, raise your hand and I will come over to you and copy your Powerpoint onto my flash drive so we can display it tomorrow. Be prepared to talk about what you learned as we show the slides.

You must also have THREE WEB SITE PARAPHRASE FORMS in your folder, to prove that the words on your slide are actually your words, and not plagiarized. Those three forms are essential in order to receive credit.

What Learning Looks Like: Reading, Comprehending, Interpreting, Expressing

Learning is a process of development. You start with a skill, and then build on it. You all now know, or at least have had some experience - finding interesting material about the neighborhood on which you've chosen to focus. It is not enough to just find that material. You must read it carefully, and then interpret it: translate it into your own words and express it to an audience.

There is a purpose in all this: learning is not simply copying information from one source to another. Maybe when you are in elementary school it helps to write "A" "A" "A" over and over again, but as you grow older you need to develop another skill: that of understanding the material that you have read and making it your own by describing it to others using your own words.

If I was simply satisfied by your copying a paragraph from a website into your PowerPoint presentations I would not be teaching you anything. You would not be learning anything. This is a bad habit that a lot of schoolchildren have been allowed to get away with for years, but it is plagiarism, and it is not allowed in my class.

The reason that you have to fill out the Web Site Paraphrase Form is because you need to be able to take information in, understand it, and describe what you know. It is possible to simply copy something down and have no idea what you are writing or talking about. That is not learning. That is faking. I am not interested in what you can fake. I am interested in what you can understand.

Do not use a source from the internet that is too confusing or full of technical terms you do not understand. Use information from web sites that are clear to you. Read the information they give you and then describe what you have learned - as if you are explaining it to another student. Put it in your own style. Describe the history of the place as you understand it.

The stages of learning here are:
reading
comprehending
interpreting
expressing

You read, you figure out what each word means, you figure out the whole meaning and message of what you have read, and then you express your thoughts about what you have read, either verbally or through your own writing. That is what learning looks and feels like.

Using What You've Learned: Creating a Presentation

You will use the three pictures that you have found in a PowerPoint presentation that you will create. You will also have to explain to the class what you have learned about your neighborhood in the 70's, or earlier (you may choose any historical information, as long as it is from before 1980).

Read the material that you find on web sites that contain the pictures. Look further, using google's regular web search engine, to find more information about your exact neighborhood 40, 50, 60, etc. years ago. When you find something you like, bookmark the page and read it carefully. Copy the section that you want to use into the box on the form, and then, next to it, write the same information using your own words. This may be tricky, but you must do it. Copying words directly from someone else is plagiarism. If will get your work disqualified in any arena: work or academia.

In your presentation you'll need to include material from appropriate websites. What have you learned about your neighborhood based on what you've read? Use the Web Site Paraphrase Form to record those passages that are relevant and describe what you've learned in your own words. Once you've put the information on the form you can put it into your PowerPoint slides. You'll need a "Web Site Paraphrase Form" for each piece of information you use. Although you must put your own words into your PowerPoint slides, you must always give credit as to where you got the information.

Your Neighborhood Story

Assignment:
Choose a neighborhood somewhere within the boundaries of New York City. Find three images from the 1970's, or earlier, on the internet. The pictures cannot be from a film or television show. They must be authentic. How do you know if a picture is really from the 70's or earlier? Check out the technology and clothing of the people. One student mentioned that photographic film also has a different look than digital photography. If you can discern that, use that as well. Make sure you've logged in to your own school account (not the generic "Student" account), and save the images to your desktop.

The 1980's VS Today

What was it like for Christopher Sorrentino and his friends in New York City in the 1980's? How was teenage life both the same and different thirty years ago? We discussed the article in depth.

Would you bring up your own children the way Chris' parents brought him up? Do you think they had a good approach to parenting? What limits should parents set for their kids, and should they let their kids know about things they did when they were young? In what way was New York City better, and in what way was it worse in the 1980's? What difficulties did they have then that we don't have as much today, and what things are difficult for us that were easier then? We discussed how things were freer then, but on the other hand people did a lot of crazy things and that kind of behavior was more generally accepted. Similarly, we saw how it was easier to survive because rents were cheaper, but New York City was a more dangerous place to live.

Create Your Own Story from Chris Sorrentino's Vocabulary

The words below come from the Chris Sorrentino article. Choose any ten words from this list:

Adolescence
Earnest
Serendipitous
Assemble
Animosity
Existence
Exhilarating
Equation
Critical
Shift
Inherent
Situate
Arbitrary
Persuade
Dubious
Reassuring
Curfew
Restrictions
Encourage
Designate(d)
Liberated
Confess Arrangement
Fodder
Hilarity
Acknowledge
Violating
Inflexible
Impinged
Shrug
Nebulous
Immoderate
Encounters
Hormonal
Core
Consume
Perspective
Geezer
Lawless
Bankrupt
Anarchic
Heady
Archives
Heterodoxy
Disorder
Revolution
Reinvigorate
Thriving
Crimp
Banishment
Relegation
Abrupt (ly)
Criminalize
Honored
Breach
Concomitant
Enforcement
Lament
Legitimacy
Bestow
“verboten”
Sanctioned
Homogenized
Fertile
Post-mortem

1. Choose any ten words from the above list. You may use any form of the words you choose. In other words, “homogenized” is also “homogenize” in the present tense. “Relegation” can be “relegate” or “relegated.” “Enforcement” can be “enforce.” Look the words up and make sure you know what they mean. If you already have ten words from yesterday’s assignment, you do not have to look up ten new words. Use the ones from your work on Thursday.

2. Write a short story one page long in which you use your ten chosen words correctly. The story must MAKE SENSE, and hang together as a story. It can be about anything, as long as it is appropriate for school. Have fun! ☺

ESSENTIAL NOTE: The story must be one 8.5 x 11 lined page, single-spaced and with normally sized handwriting. Hand the stories in to the teacher when they are completed.

Defining Chris Sorrentino's Words

We read the Chris Sorrentino article, "When I Was Seventeen." The assignment was as follows:

1.) Read the article

2.) Find at least ten vocabulary words in the Christopher Sorrentino article. That means look for ten words in the article that you, personally, do not know. If you know all the words, then pick ten that you think would qualify as high school level vocabulary words.
3.) Using the skills we discussed last week, try to figure out the meaning of the words BEFORE you look the meaning up. Use the form available here to list your words and definitions. The skills we discussed yesterday were to use contextual clues, break the word into parts (prefix, root word, and suffix), or draw on your knowledge of a Latin-based language (like Spanish) to help you guess the meaning of the word. Put YOUR OWN DEFINITION in column B,
4.) Find a good, understandable dictionary definition online, and write it into column C. Do this for all ten vocabulary words.

Rules: Look up those words by going to an online dictionary or by using a dictionary in the classroom AFTER you’ve written down your own possible definition in Column B. DO NOT use a definition that you do not understand. If you go to a website and find the definitions are not clear, try another dictionary website. Here is a list of some of my favorite dictionary websites, and you can also find others on your own:

http://dictionary.com
http://www.merriam-webster.com/
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/
http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
http://oxforddictionaries.com/?attempted=true

Example of Word List:

Column A	Column B	Column C
Vocabulary Words	What You Think They Mean	Dictionary Definitions

The form that was distributed in class is available here.

Welcome to Cycle 4, Spring 2011 Semester

Our first assignment is a writing assessment.

Read Langston Hughes' poem "Mother to Son" and write an essay of at least a page and a half explaining what you think the poem is about, and how you relate to it. What is the true meaning of the poem, and how is its message true in real life?


Mother to Son

Well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor --
Bare.
But all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light.
So boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps
'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall now --
For I'se still goin', honey,
I'se still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.

Help In Planning Your Paper

Do you need help organizing your thoughts? Use the Cornell Notes For Websites Template to take notes on each point that you are using in each of your three articles. Highlight the quote, paste it into the template and, in the opposite box, write down your translation of the quote into your own words. Explain what that part of the article means, without copying the same exact words. Use your GUIDELINES FOR WRITING A RESEARCH PAPER Citing Your Sources: Quotation, Paraphrase, and Plagiarism sheet for information on how to avoid plagiarism.

What Must Be In Your Paper

1) Your Intro = your research statement, made into a paragraph. In the intro paragraphy, your research statement states your topic and answers your research question. Your research statement should be written simply and succinctly (clearly, and to-the-point).

2) Body Paragraphs: Make sure your body paragraphs support your research statement with details and information from your THREE SOURCES (your articles).

3) Your paper must have a conclusion that sums your ideas up.

MAKE SURE TO:
Use ALL of your sources for your article (at least THREE different SOURCES).
Make sure you type your paper.
Make sure it is 3 to 5 pages.
Make sure it is double spaced, with no larger than a 12 point font. DO NOT USE AN UNUSUAL or italic FONT. Best fonts: Arial or Times New Roman.

Note: You must CITE your sources within the text, and you must LIST YOUR SOURCES in a bibliography at the end of the paper.

Rules for Citing Sources Within Your Paper

Follow the directions on citations illustrated in the handout "Guidelines For Writing A Research Paper." The handout provides specific instructions about how to use quotations and paraphrasing, and avoid plagiarism.

The Thesis Statement Forms Your Introductory Paragraph

Are Your Articles Relevant to Your Topic? Make sure that your articles address your research question directly. They must be relevant, as well as reputable!

Your introductory paragraph is where you inform the reader of your thesis. A thesis is an idea formed from your research about your topic. What have the articles told you? How have they answered your research question? You can only have a thesis if you have read your articles. Once you have your answer, you need to form it into a thesis statement. Fill out this form to identify the steps you've taken to form your research statement. Once the form is completed you will be ready to begin your introductory paragraph. Your introductory paragraph has the thesis statement as its main idea.