Chapter 5

During my research I have come across a couple sites that have had really good information, but the information itself was kind of off topic from the direction I want to take my paper; chapter five talks about how to evaluate sources. The first thing to think about is if the site has enough evidence, lack of evidence might indicate flaws in the author’s argument. Is the right kind of evidence offered? Is the evidence used fairly? And lastly is the source of the evidence provided? Chapter five also talks about scholarly articles which we have looked into a lot on the OC database. Evaluating these are easier in my opinion because they are highly credible, however thoroughly reading through the information and taking good notes is important and still needs to be done.

Chapter 7

Within the past few weeks we have been gathering a lot of information; chapter seven discusses how to organize and manage it. I have found that grouping sources that are alike helps a lot. Copy and pasting info from the web into a word document, but keeping in mind to keep track of the sources is a good way to manage information. Annotated bibliographies provide a brief note about each of the sources you’ve listed. For example if you read an article on how to take care of a puppy, for an annotated bibliography, you would briefly summarize what article told you.

Chapter 6

This week we have continued to find useful information on our topics and with that, taking notes has been a huge focus. Chapter 6 lays out a lot of good tips on how to take notes. First off choosing a method and using it consistently. I have found that printing articles out and highlighting important information works best for me. If I find information in a book where I can’t highlight, handwriting and using color to highlight really helps me. Quoting directly is another point the chapter talks about. When you use the information from your notes, it’s imperative that the quotes are directly from the text, and that your notes are labeled correctly.  Another great strategy is classifying your sources throughout your notes; whether it’s grouping, listing, or visualizing. Making sure your notes are accurate will lead you to a successfully well written paper.

Chapter four

As we research further into our topic we have begun locating sources for our paper. Some of these sources include scholarly articles, articles on websites, along with books.  Throughout chapter four we are taught how to read through these numerous sources. Taking notes while reading mark and annotate sources, and also highlighting important passages are a few tips I have received. Many times when reading through research it can be overwhelming, thankfully chapter four broke the steps down very nicely. Identify the genre, note useful illustrations, note whether the document is a primary or secondary source, identify the main point, identify the evidence and reason, and compare the source with the other sources you’ve read.

Questions to answer:

3.

We start with the article title because there is no author and it is in MLA format. Quotation marks are used because it’s an article.

4.

The Environmental defense fund is listed twice because it was published by environmental defense fund and listed on its website of the same name.

5.

The last three items in the citation is the publication date, (8 May 2007) type of source, (web.) and the date it was viewed, (24 May 2009).

6.

 “Female Body Image and the Mass Media: Perspectives on How Women Internalize the Ideal Beauty Standard” Westminster. Westminster, web. 13 Oct. 2015.

Irving, Lori M. “Effects of the Standard of Beauty on the Self- and Body-Esteem of Women Exhibiting Varying Levels of Bulimic Symptoms” Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology:  9. 2; 230-242. Web. 13 Oct. 2015.

Jerffres, Leo W. Mass Media Effects. Waveland Prospect Heights, Illinois. 1997. Print.

Brigit, Katz. “New Study Shows Impact Of Social Media On Beauty Standards.” New York Times. New York Times, 3 April. 2015. Web. 13 Oct. 2015.

Yellow- article on a website

Blue- scholarly article

Green- book by a single author

Red- article in an online periodical

Chapter two:

Throughout this chapter a key point is creating a plan. Last week we began narrowing down our topics and listed pros and cons to each. During the process of listing we listened to our group’s feedback which allowed each of us to conduct preliminary observations. The great advantage of hearing other people’s thoughts and concerns are that it allows us to look at our topic with many different perspectives. Our research paper will be an argumentative paper and after Thursdays class work my groups feedback has helped me decide which direction I want to lead my topic on  whether or not I agree or disagree. Another headline discussed in chapter two is sources. We have yet to work too much with sources, but during week one, we found at least one credible source to one of our five possible topics, and learned about MLA citations. As the week progresses we will be looking more into sources and how to choose the right ones.

Collaborative Writing

5 Requirements:

1.       Be your own words

2.       Build your case logically through a systematic order of presentations

3.       Be 3,000+ words in length

4.       Use correct grammar, punctuation, and MLA-style formatting

5.       Refer to 10 or more highly credible sources

5 Criteria for success:

1.       Plan out a timeline

2.       Use different credible sources

3.       Think of writing as a form of conversation

4.       Understand the rhetorical nature of writing situations

5.       Generate ideas about potential topics

Research Questions

Technology and the effect on "family time"

1. How has technology effected education for students?
2. Are parent-kid relationships worse because of technology?
3. What are the statistics of cellphone addiction?
4. How are the different social media sites effecting people
5. Is there a change in behavior because of technology?

Sports helping inner city youth stay out of trouble.

1. What has programs like Boys and Girls Club done to improve troubled kids?
2. What are the statistics of football helping kids stay away from drugs and gang violence?
3. Which sports seem to help kids more?
4. How does sports shape an athletes character?
5. Do sports help athletes learn to deal with confrontation?

Female body image and the effects of mass media

1. What defines beauty?
2. How far is too far with plastic surgery?
3. Has Dove made any changes with body perception?
4. What are the top changes women want to make to their body?
5. How has media defaced women self esteem?