How to Refer to Your Sources

You are going over your draft and need to check or add a reference to a source.  Should you refer to the author, the page title, the URL or something else?  The Purdue OWL provides a clear answer:

• Any source information that you provide in-text must correspond to the source information on the Works Cited page. More specifically, whatever signal word or phrase you provide to your readers in the text, must be the first thing that appears in the corresponding entry in the Works Cited List.

For example if your bibliography entry looks like this:  

Lundman, Susan."How to Make Vegetarian Chili." eHow,  www.ehow.com/how_10727_make-vegetarian-chili.html.*

You are required to state the last name of the author, "Lundman," in your reference, since the name of the author is what comes first in your bib. entry.  The last name of the author is then your "signal word."

If there is no author last name in your bibliography, then you will refer to the first thing provided in your correctly formatted MLA bib. entry.  In order of preference, these would typically be:

1. Author.
2. If no author:  use the title of the source. (Title of article or web page or abbreviated title)
3. If no title of source:  use the title of the "container" (Title of web site or abbreviated title.  Note this is NOT a URL)

Which brings us to another rule:

In-text citations for sources with no known author

When a source has no known author, use a shortened title of the work instead of an author name. Place the title in quotation marks if it's a short work (such as an article) or italicize it if it's a longer work (e.g. plays, books, television shows, entire Web sites).

We see so many global warming hotspots in North America likely because this region has "more readily accessible climatic data and more comprehensive programs to monitor and study environmental change" ("Impact of Global Warming").

In this example, since the reader does not know the author of the article, an abbreviated title of the article appears in the parenthetical citation which corresponds to the full name of the article which appears first at the left-hand margin of its respective entry in the Works Cited. Thus, the writer includes the title in quotation marks as the signal phrase in the parenthetical citation in order to lead the reader directly to the source on the Works Cited page. The Works Cited entry appears as follows:

"The Impact of Global Warming in North America." Global Warming: Early Signs. 1999. Web. 23 Mar. 2009.

Upcoming

--Read the opinion piece, "Rap Lyrics on Trial"  Underline one sentence from each paragraph and label each as logos, pathos, or ethos.

--Write three versions of a brief letter to your parents, asking if you can swap cars for the weekend.  (Your car is not very trustworthy; the car belonging to your parents is much nicer).  Demonstrate the use of logos, pathos, or ethos in each of the three versions.

--After reviewing your responses in the  Developing Your Argument and Audience Analysis planning sheets (see Google Classroom), after reflecting on what you have learned about logos, pathos, and ethos, and after reflecting on what you have learned about appeals, write the introductory paragraph to your persuasive essay.  Be sure to target wording, subject matter, and approach to your specific audience.  End the introductory paragraph with a specific thesis statement.

--Again reviewing your responses in Developing Your Argument , construct a n informal outline that states your thesis and identifies your arguments and counter-arguments.  Temporarily place your outline just above your introduction (see document on Google Classroom).

--Begin writing your body paragraphs and doing additional research as needed.  Be sure to use authoritative sources and to use academic databases as much as possible.  A rough draft of your entire essay (Works Cited page included) is due Thursday of next week.

Argumentative Writing

Upcoming: 1. Complete Portfolio #2 Reflection

2. Appeals Activity & Discussion

3. Begin Portfolio #3 Pre-write (Google Classroom)

4. Read text, pp. 88 - 106. (Deductive Reasoning, Inductive Reasoning, and Writing an Argumentative Essay.)

Ways to Appeal to an Audience:

-Videos:  1, 2. 3. 

Giving credit to your sources

General structure of a database citation in MLA 8:

Author’s Last name, First name. “Title of the source.” Title of the first container, First name Last name of any contributors, Version, Numbers, Publisher, Publication date, Name of Database, URL or DOI.

Common items are highlighted above.  Less common are items such as contributors and publisher.  These items should be included if available but often are not available.  

Use the following capitalization rule for your article (or website page) titles:  capitalize the first word of the article title and also capitalize any proper nouns.  All other words should be lower case.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is something you have to work hard to avoid -- like getting wet when it is raining.  In other words, if you just go about your business as is your habit, you are likely to get wet, just as you are likely to unintentionally plagiarize unless you take safeguards:
1) acknowledge your sources -- bibliography
2) refer to sources as needed
3) use quotation marks for quotes.  If you don't want to put something in your own words, if in doubt, use a direct quote.
4) paraphrase information when taking notes

How to Paraphrase:

• change the words
• change the order of words
• change the structure of the author’s words
• collapse lists
  
  An excellent site on the intricacies of plagiarism and how to avoid it is Plagiarism.org

Identifying and Grouping Stakeholders

 --World's Shortest Political Quiz

--Situate your own position on the issue you are researching
--A few thoughts on identifying other perspectives (stakeholders) related to you issue
--Begin Stakeholder Analysis Chart (see Classroom)

--indicate "perspective" as part of annotation.

Finding Truth in an Era of Fake News

Random Career Generator

 The Random Career Generator is here.

Options for Response Essay #3

On Monday, you will choose an article for Response Essay #3.  

You may want to choose an article being read by at least one other person in the class, but this is not required.  If you choose an article that is not one of the five options listed below, please have me approve the article before putting time into it.

 Option 1:  "America's Real Digital Divide"

 Option 2:  "Facebook Threatens to Zuck Up the Human Race"

Option 3:  "Let Prisoners take College Courses"

Option 4:  "Shame is Not a Four-Letter Word"

Option 5: "Make Gun Companies Pay Blood Money"

Other New York Times Opinion Pieces are here. 

The Response Essay Process

Portfolio 1 Skills & Process:

Week 2 -- College Composition

Writing & the Writing Process -- integrate ideas from

1. Your experience in writing the 20-minute in-class prompt
2. Your annotations of Lamont, "Bird by Bird" 
3. The Writing Skills Questionnaire
4. The Stephen King, Jerry Seinfeld, Animation video clips
5. Other

"Ten Habits of Successful Students" -- Brief Discussion of assigned reading.

Writing a Summary -- "Not so easy, not so difficult."

During Class:

• Read Chapter 9 in the handbook “Reading to Write” pp. 119-122.
• Annotating an article.  A good resource for annotation is here.
• Summarizing an article.  Read the handout “Writing a Summary.”
• grammar & usage issues related to writing a summary.
• begin writing your summary (if time allows)

Assignment for Monday:
--Write a summary of the "Losing is Good for You" article that was passed out in class. Be sure to annotate the article as discussed in the handbook before you write your summary. Also be sure to look up any terms you do not understand. Your summary should be about one paragraph or ½ page long. Bring your copy of the article (with annotations) and your typed summary on Monday.  A sample summary of a different article is here.
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“E.L. Doctorow said once said that 'Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.' You don't have to see where you're going, you don't have to see your destination or everything you will pass along the way. You just have to see two or three feet ahead of you. This is right up there with the best advice on writing, or life, I have ever heard.”
― Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

--see this link for more quotes from Bird by Bird. 

Plan for Tues/Wed:

1. Is writing important?  Discussion

2.  Writing Skills Questionnaire

3. Writers on writing (video clips)

4. In-class brainstorm about prompt. (see "A" below).

Upcoming -- Assignments for Fri/Mon: 
--Read the article “Bird by Bird” by Ann Lamott (click link).
--Annotate the article with 5 or more agreements, disagreements, comments, or questions.
--Timed writing: Give yourself 20 to 30 minutes and write (at least) one page about something you have done or experienced that has had a significant effect on you as a person. Examples might include: meeting/knowing a certain person, living somewhere, moving, a challenge or competition, an illness or injury, a trip or a job. (The two assignments above will count as your first two "homework" grades.)

Assignment for Thurs/Fri.
A. Write a 1.2 page typed, double-spaced (apx. 300-word) biography of yourself as a writer that includes a description of your own writing process.  Your response can be longer than the minimum, but it should not be shorter.  Include any struggles you may experience and any strategies you do/could employ to help you with your writing. Bring the typed description of your writing process to class.  I will collect this.  (Include any prewriting.) (This will count as two homework grades).
B. Read pp. 1 - 8 in text (Concise Wadsworth Handbook) and be ready to discuss.
C. Read syllabus and be ready to ask questions, in particular about KVCC policies that may need to be modified for a high school setting.

The Writing Process -- Insights from Working Writers

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During class, you will be asked to complete a Writing Process Questionnaire.

Welcome to College Compositon aka Dual Enrollment KVCC English / English 101

 This blog is a home base for College Composition.  Visiting this page often can help you be successful.

Please bookmark this page on your laptop browser.

Reasons to visit this blog include:

• to complete class assignments
• for links for research and reading
• to get caught up in case you are behind or absent
• if you are confused and need more information
• if you want to challenge yourself and complete an honors assignment
• if you missed a class and want to make sure you are on the right track
• if you are interested in something we discussed in class and want to learn more

Poetry Terms & Resources

Figurative Language:

Extended Metaphor --

Synecdoche & Metonymy --

• video
• video 2
• explanation

Bean Trees -- Resources for Understanding

--"Timeline: Guatemala's Brutal Civil War" (from PBS.org)
--"Guatemalan Army Stole Children . . ."
--"Children Were Routinely Kidnapped . . ."
--Kingsolver's Bean Trees as a Political Critique . . ."