ENGLISH 24 ASSIGNMENTS

• FIRST you will Read Women's History in America, The History of the Women's Suffrage Movement and A Brief Timeline of the Women's Suffrage Movement

• THEN you will write a summary of the MAJOR EVENTS in women's history, according to this text. THIS SUMMARY IS TO BE HANDED IN TO ME ON THURSDAY, MARCH 6. YOU MAY ALSO EMAIL THE SUMMARY TO ME at eng24kcc@yahoo.com BEFORE THURSDAY.

It is important to be critical of information resources, especially those you find on the Internet. Knowing how to tell the difference between a web site that presents reliable information and one that presents someone's opinion can save you time and energy in the research process.

Today you will practice evaluating web sites.

You will access and evaluate 3 different web sites on the same subject. Please note that each web site will open in a new window, so that you can compare/contrast the content of each.

NOTE: You will complete the exercises for Steps 1 AND 2 this week. Your answers to Steps 1 and 2 of this exercise are due on THURSDAY, MARCH 20. You may email the answers to me or hand them in on Thursday. PLEASE NOTE: If you email your answers, they MUST be in my email box NO LATER than Thursday morning.

Step 3 will be due next week on THURSDAY, MARCH 27.

Steps 4, 5, and 6 will be ongoing over the next several weeks of the semester.

YOU SHOULD PRINT OUT THIS ASSIGNMENT AND KEEP IT IN YOUR NOTEBOOK FOR FUTURE REFERENCE

• Begin with Steps in the Research Process Web Site.

• Work your way Step-By-Step through each of the 6 pages that comprise this web site. Open Microsoft Word and do the exercises I've listed at each step. Type your answers into a file called myresearchstep#.doc, where # is replaced with the appropriate step. So if you are doing Step 1, you will name the file myresearchstep1.doc
  1. Step One: Preparation
     • What do you already know about the topic you've chosen?
     • What resources have you already found? List book/magazine titles and the URLs of web pages.

  2. Step Two: Discovering and Choosing a Topic
     • Why do you want to do research on this topic? What elements of this topic most interest you? BE SPECIFIC.
     • What questions will you answer through your research?
     • What print, film and Internet resources are available on this topic?

  3. Step Three: Looking for and Forming a Focus
     • Take notes on what you read. Use individual note cards to categorize the various aspects of your research.
     • Identify the specific aspects of the topic that you will discuss in your research paper.

  4. Step Four: Gathering Information
     • Make a list of the resources that you find in the library or on the Internet. Remember that books, magazine/journal articles, Internet texts, and films, both popular and documentary, are all valid and useful resources for your research.
     • Be sure to document all sources. Write down all relevant information on EACH source you gather. REMEMBER THAT YOU HAVE TO CITE ALL OF YOUR SOURCES IN A WORKS CITED SECTION AT THE END OF THE PAPER.

  5. Step Five: Preparing to Write
     • Analyze and organize your information.
     • Put your sources and notes into categories. These will form the various subsections of your research paper.
     • Construct your thesis statement. What is the main idea/thesis that will drive your research report?

  6. Step Six: Writing the Paper
     1. Prepare an outline of the various sections of your research paper

        Here is a model for a possible outline:
        

        • Introduction
        • Statement of the Problem
        • Thesis Sentence
        • Body: Paragraphs 1 and 2
          • History of the Problem (Include, perhaps, past attempts at solutions. Work in sources.)
        • Body: Paragraphs 3 and 4
          • Extent of the Problem (Who is affected? How bad is it? Work in sources.)
        • Body: Paragraphs 5 and 6
          • Repercussions of the Problem (Work in sources.)
        • Body: Paragraphs 7 and 8
          • Future solutions (not necessarily your own. More sources.)
        • Conclusion
        • Summarize your findings
     2. Write a rough draft of your research paper.
        1. Draft the Introduction. DUE ON TUESDAY, APRIL 8
        2. Draft the Body Paragraphs. DUE ON TUESDAY, MAY 6
        3. Draft the Conclusion AND the Works Cited list. DUE ON TUESDAY, MAY 13
     3. Get Peer AND Instructor feedback on your rough draft.
     4. Revise for your FINAL DRAFT.
     5. Proofread your work.
     6. COMPLETED RESEARCH PROJECT IS DUE ON THURSDAY, MAY 29

To prepare you to write the Introduction to your research paper, please read the following articles:

1. The First Draft: Writing an introduction-from the Purdue OWL
2. Introductions and Conclusions--from The Writing Center
3. The Structure Of An Introduction from The UVic Writer's Guide
4. Sample Introductions from The Writing Center

THIS PART IS TO BE DONE IN COMPUTER LAB ON MONDAY, MARCH 31
Now go to the exercise, which you will complete and submit ONLINE. To access the exercise, click on this link:

Remember that this citation question is worth 25 points of your Midterm Exam. You may use your notes and the handout I gave you.
REMEMBER TO PUT YOUR NAME IN THE SPACE PROVIDED. DO NOT SUBMIT YOUR ANSWERS UNTIL YOU HAVE PUT YOUR NAME ON THE FORM

In Part One of the assignment, you will practice using different types of search engines, so that you will be able to gather information for your research project easily.

1. You should begin on the Search Engines section of our web site.
2. Read Four Nets for Better Searching
3. Read Seven Steps of the Research Process
4. Now practice using EACH of the search engines contained on our web site. Type in the same keyword(s) in each--Write down the total number of hits you get. Determine how many, if any, of those hits are useful for your research.
   • When you find a useful, or potentially useful web site, DON'T FORGET TO WRITE DOWN THE COMPLETE URL AND THE FULL TITLE, AUTHOR, ETC. You will need this information for your Works Cited list.
5. ASSIGNMENT DUE TO ME BY TUESDAY, APRIL 15: YOU WILL HAND IN / EMAIL (1) THE RESULTS OF YOUR SEARCH, WITH NUMBER OF HITS AND NUMBER OF USEFUL HITS, AND (2) A LIST OF THE RESOURCES THAT YOU FIND TODAY. BE SURE TO PRESENT THE INFORMATION IN PROPER MLA FORMAT. See A Guide for Writing Research Papers based on Modern Language Association (MLA) Documentation to find the proper format for each citation. .

6. Complete Step 4: Gathering Information
   • Make a list of the resources that you find in the library or on the Internet. Remember that books, magazine/journal articles, Internet texts, and films, both popular and documentary, are all valid and useful resources for your research.
   • Be sure to document all sources. Write down all relevant information on EACH source you gather. REMEMBER THAT YOU HAVE TO CITE ALL OF YOUR SOURCES IN A WORKS CITED SECTION AT THE END OF THE PAPER.

Begin by reading the following texts. They are subdivided into sections:

1. Outline
2. The Structure of the Outline

   ---

3. The Body of the Essay
4. Body Paragraphs

   ---

5. Methods Of Organizing Your Essay
6. Evidence
7. Logic and Argument--Explore the links that are relevant to your research project
8. Audience and Tone
9. Paragraph Unity
10. Everything you ever wanted to know about Paragraphs--Explore the links that are relevant to your research project

ASSIGNMENT DUE ON MONDAY, APRIL 28: Now open Microsoft Word and begin typing. Prepare an outline of the body paragraphs of your paper. You will hand in this TYPED outline in class on Monday, April 28 (please note that this is the day you come back from Spring break). Be sure to refer to the texts listed above as appropriate.

1. In preparation for our discussion of The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood you will read Stanley Milgram's article, "The Dilemma of Obedience".
2. You will then write answers to the seven questions that follow the article.
3. You should type up your answers to all seven questions; however, please type your answer to QUESTION 7 ON A SEPARATE PAPER. This question will be graded as a quiz.
4. This assignment is due TOMORROW, TUESDAY, APRIL 29.

Week of May 5, 2003

Also look at each of the sections in the following: How to Cite Sources (includes Citation Maker)--Note: When you type the required information into Citation Maker, it automatically produces the correct format for the Works Cited section.

NOW COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING ONLINE EXERCISE

English 24 Parenthetical Documentation Exercise

PART TWO:

1. Preparing a Works Cited Section
   

   This section teaches you how to gather the information you will need to document your sources so that you can cite them appropriately in the Works Cited page

2. A Sample Works Cited Page
   

   This section provides you with a section of an actual typed Works Cited page, and it also provides you with examples of actual citations. You can use this examples as models and plug in the appropriate information for your own resources

3. Types of Resources
   

   Go to the link "Citing Sources." Mouseover to the right for an extensive list of many different types of resources, including books, articles in a book, periodicals, films, and many more. If you click on the name of the resource, it takes you to a page with explanation and examples.
   
   NOW COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING ONLINE EXERCISE:
   English 24 Citation Exercise

Read the following texts:

1. Strategies for Writing a Conclusion
2. Conclusions
3. Ending the Essay: Conclusions
4. Writing a Conclusion
5. NOW PREPARE YOUR OWN WORKS CITED LIST FOR THE RESOURCES YOU USED TO WRITE YOUR RESEARCH PROJECT. THE CONCLUSION AND WORKS CITED LIST ARE DUE TOMORROW

1. Strategies for Writing a Conclusion-Review this page
2. Ending the Essay: Conclusions--Review this page
3. Presentation
4. General Proofreading Strategies
5. General Strategies for Editing and Proofreading
6. Five Editing Principles
7. Editing and Proofreading Strategies for Revision
8. Revision: From First to Final Draft
9. ASSIGNMENT:
   • Read Sample Essay 1
   • Read Sample Essay 2
   • COMPLETE THE READER RESPONSE EXERCISE

REMEMBER THAT THIS QUESTION IS WORTH 10 POINTS ON YOUR FINAL EXAM
GOOD LUCK!