ENGL 1102 - Johnston (Cartersville) - Summer 2015: Home

English 1102 -

Finding Sources Exercise

1. Locate a book, a physical book, in the GHC library, in the Cartersville stacks on Stonehenge. Write down its title, its author, the publisher, and the date of publication.
2. Find the ebook Portrait of a Killer Jack the Ripper: Case Closed by Patricia Cornwell. Who is the ebook provider? (Note: not the publisher of the book, but the ebook provider.) Write the title of one of the chapters in the book.
3. In Galileo, Browse by Subject. Can you find a recent—late 2014 or 2015—article about the Loch Ness monster? What is its title, and who is the author? In what publication did it appear? Does the article you chose have a PDF version that you could download? Why would you want the PDF version of the article as opposed to an HTML version?
4. In Galileo, do a general search to see if you can find a source on Harry Potter books. What is the title of the source? Is it a book or an article? What is the date of publication? Would it be recent enough to use as a source?
5.  In Galileo, search Databases A-Z. Choose O. Look for Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Search the database for anti-smoking campaigns. Can you find an article to support the position that anti-smoking campaigns are successful? If so, what is the title of the article?
6. In Galileo, go to Databases A-Z again. This time, go to F for Films On Demand. Find the video Children of the Holocaust. Does this video have a segment on children being gassed? How long is this segment?
7.  Do a Google search for Rosa Parks and find a reliable, credible source. What is the title of the source? In what publication did it appear? What is its publication date? Why is it, or what makes it, a reliable, unbiased source?
8. Go to Google Scholar (www.scholar.google.com). Can you find a good source for comic strips, how comic strips are changing, or are significant in American culture? What is the source? Record the name of the source and its publication information.

English 1102 Research Project

Due Date for Final Packet:  Wednesday, July 1 at the beginning of class

Length:  1400-2000 words

Grade Value:  The entire research paper project counts as 30% of your final grade, with 20 points of your grade earned with deadline assignments as outlined below, and 80 points for the final, completed packet.

Write an analytical paper on one of the topics listed at the close of this assignment sheet. The paper must be written in third-person point of view (i.e., no “you” or “I.”)

Research/Source Requirement – The paper must use and cite 5 sources. The paper’s sources should be the most credible, reliable sources you can locate and preferably found in either Gil or Galileo databases. Any source not found in Gil or Galileo may be used only with my permission. Only one general reference book (general encyclopedia) may be used. A dictionary may not be counted as a source.

Schedule of Due Dates – Points earned for each deadline assignment apply toward the final grade of the research paper. As each deadline approaches, we will discuss the components due.

The only way to complete this research project successfully is to keep up with this schedule. This is especially true in the Summer Term.

--Wednesday, June 10:  topic selected, 2 points

--Wednesday, June 17:  correct working bibliography due, 3 points

--Monday, June 22:  outline with thesis, 5 points

--Wednesday, June 24:  a rough introduction to the paper, 3 points

--Monday, June 29:  complete rough draft due with in-text citations and works cited page, 7 points

--Wednesday, July 1:  final draft & complete packet due

TOTAL POINTS AVAILABLE = 100 (counts as 30% of course grade)

The Final Draft Packet – The final draft and all that is to be turned in with it should be placed inside a large manila envelope and must include

1. Final, complete paper with a body of 1400-2000 words, typed and double-spaced with pages numbered. The paper should have one-inch margins all around and use a 12-point font such as Times New Roman, Arial, or Calibri. No large or fancy fonts, please! The entire paper should follow MLA format, thus it must include appropriate headers, in-text (parenthetical) citations, and a works cited list. The works cited page should be the final separate page of the paper and does not count toward the 1400-2000 word requirement; however, the works cited page is numbered sequentially—meaning that if the last page of the text of your paper is page 5, your works cited page would be page 6.
2. Include your previously graded bibliography, outline, and rough draft.
3. Also include copies of your source material, the information that you have used as direct quotations and paraphrases. These copies should be marked to indicate where the citation occurs in the paper by page number and paragraph. Each copied page should have the author’s name and page number marked or highlighted. The copies should be sorted in the order that they are used in the paper.

Grading is based upon:

--Organization and development of the essay, including a clearly stated thesis

--Your selection and use of research materials

--Citation mechanics

--Grammar, punctuation, and mechanics.

It should go without saying that plagiarism will result in a 0 for the assignment.

Where to go for help?

--Harbrace Essentials for MLA style and mechanics of writing a research paper (there is a copy in the library)

--Readings for Writers (1101 textbook) for analytical writing information (there is a copy in the library)

--The Tutorial Center, located in the library

--The GHC library staff for research questions

--Schedule an appointment with your instructor

Topic Choices:

History “Mysteries”:

--England’s Stonehenge or Peru’s Nasca Lines

--“The Curse of the Pharaohs”:  Truth or Myth?

--The disappearance of the Roanoke settlement

--Amelia Earhart – her life, her career, her disappearance

--The Loch Ness monster:  real—or not?

--The Bermuda Triangle or the Bimini Road

--The lost continent of Atlantis

--Jack the Ripper

--The Mary Celeste

--The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370

--The JFK assassination:  Conspiracy—or not?

--The Shroud of Turin (is it Jesus’ burial cloth?)

--The “disappearing” Amber Room (“the eighth wonder of the world”)

“Anniversary” topics:

--The signing of the Magna Carta (800 years ago –What is it? Why is it so significant?)

-- The battle of Waterloo (200 years ago – What was it? Why was it so important?)

-- Development of Mendel’s law(s) of genetics (150 years ago)

-- Surrender of Robert E. Lee to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox, thus ending the Civil War; assassination of Abraham Lincoln; ratification of the 13^th Amendment (150 years ago – Discuss the importance of any one of these pivotal events in American history, or tie two of them together)

--Publication of Alice in Wonderland (150 years ago – Why has it lasted so long? Why does it continue to fascinate children and adults? How has it, or the author, Lewis Carroll, been controversial?)

--Death of Vincent Van Gogh (125 years ago – Discuss his importance as a painter)

--Albert Einstein and development of the theory of relativity (100 years ago – The impact of Einstein and his work on the modern world)

--Sinking of the Lusitania (100 years ago – What was it? Why was it important?)

--Babe Ruth’s first homerun (100 years ago – What is his legacy to the sport of baseball?)

--Elvis Presley’s birth (80 years ago – How did he influence modern American music?)

--The battle of Britain (75 years ago – Why was this battle so pivotal in World War II?)

--The liberation of Auschwitz (70 years ago)

--Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima (70 years ago – How/Why was this a defining moment in modern history?)

--Arrival of first U.S. troops in Vietnam (50 years ago) & fall of Saigon (40 years ago – What is the role of the Vietnam War in U.S. history?)

--Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Ala. bus (60 years ago – What is Parks’ legacy? What was her role in the civil rights movement?)

--Final volume of Lord of the Rings published (60 years ago – Why is this work so popular?)

--Martin Luther King’s voting rights march from Selma to Montgomery (50 years ago) & Voting Rights Act (50 years ago)

--Assassination of Malcolm X (50 years ago)

--Death of Winston Churchill (50 years ago – Why is Churchill such a towering figure in history?)

-- J.K. Rowling born (50 years ago – What is Rowling’s role in modern popular literature? How/why has Harry Potter become such a phenomenon?)

--Oklahoma City bombings, the deadliest terror attack in America (20 years ago)

Contemporary life/culture/political topics:

Impacts of labor practices/environments in underdeveloped and developing countries (think of the clothing factory fire in Pakistan not so long ago, a factory where people were working in dangerous conditions)

The effectiveness of anti-drug, anti-alcohol, or anti-smoking campaigns—are they working?

Effects/impact of social media on elections

Cyclical nature of the popularity of body art or a historical-cultural analysis of body art

Evolution of comic strips/do they reflect a changing America?