Semester I Final Exam

Words of Warfare

Semester I Final

Prompt: We've written many serious academic essays this term, so now it is time to experiment with a more creative exercise although it should not be treated trivially.  Take a character from The Stranger and two from your non-fiction book (Escape from Camp 14, Unbroken, The Other Wes Moore, or My Beloved World).  Imagine that each of these characters is together along with yourself at an event—a barbecue, your eighth-grade reunion, an episode of Glee.  Write a piece showing what the interaction would be like among the four of you.   What conversations would there be?  What are each character’s personalities like and how do they affect their behaviors?   You can choose from several different styles of writing: a newspaper article, a screenplay, a short story, a letter, or some other medium, but be sure that that medium is the best for how you imagine the characters to interact.  Have fun with this, but also demonstrate that you have a deep intellectual understanding of the characters, their actions in the original works, and the author’s purpose. 

You’ll be writing this in class, but you can bring in any notes, books, an outline, or any other guide to help you.  You cannot bring in a rough draft that you recopy for the final. 

Total Points: 60

Annotated Bibliography/Works Cited Page

WOW Thesis

Annotated Bibliography Instructions

Directions: Follow the format and directions below when completing your annotated bibliographies and your works-cited page.  Four annotations are due on January 20th.  Do not write a bibliography on your primary source.  You only have to complete four of these in total, but remember you must have five sources minimum for your thesis.   (Some of your sources can be books or from other media, but not for this assignment.)

The purpose of this assignment is to introduce you to the Multnomah County Library databases for some and to have you begin researching for your thesis.  Each typed entry (summary

and response) should be no longer than one paragraph.  Use MLA style.  Follow the format below:

1.     Provide a full accurate citation for your article (the information can be easily found on the databases). Use MLA formatting.

2.     After reading the whole article, summarize the most pertinent points found in the article. 

3.     Evaluate the usefulness of the source.  You may want to consider the following questions: Do you agree or disagree with the writer’s argument?   Is there a potential thesis stemming from the author’s ideas?  What is the quality of the source?  How much depth does the author go into? 

Use either the citation maker on OSLIS (oslis.org) or checkout a Write Source book to learn the proper format for all other citations.

Annotated Bibliography Sample: List the sources you consulted in proper MLA format. Your list should be alphabetical by the author’s last name. Also, you must summarize and evaluate the information in that source and its relevance to your topic.

Sample: Modeleski, Tania. The Women Who Knew Too Much. New York: Harper-Collins. 1984. This is the key text for my topic. It contains analyses of all of the major Hitchcock films and an essential introduction to feminist film theory. From this source, I learned that Freudian psychology plays a large role in the psycho-sexual development of male characters in film. The book was so relevant that my biggest challenge was to try to create new ideas that were not already represented in the book.

Points Possible: 20

 

 

 

 

Your Works Cited List for your thesis drafts

The works cited list should appear at the end of your essay. It provides the information necessary for a reader to locate and be able to read any sources you cite in the essay. Each source you cite in the essay must appear in your works-cited list; likewise, each entry in the works-cited list must be cited in your text. Preparing your works cited list using MLA style is covered in chapter six of the MLA Style Manual, and chapter four of the Handbook for Writing Research Papers. Here are some guidelines for preparing your works cited list.

• Begin your works cited list on a separate page from the text of the essay under the label Works Cited (with no quotation marks, underlining, etc.), which should be centered at the top of the page.
• Make the first line of each entry in your list flush left with the margin. Subsequent lines in each entry should be indented one-half inch. This is known as a hanging indent.
• Double space all entries, with no skipped spaces between entries.
• Keep in mind that underlining and italics are equivalent; you should select one or the other to use throughout your essay.
• Alphabetize the list of works cited by the first word in each entry (usually the author's last name),

Basic Rules for Citations

• Authors' names are inverted (last name first); if a work has more than one author, invert only the first author's name, follow it with a comma, then continue listing the rest of the authors.
• If you have cited more than one work by a particular author, order them alphabetically by title, and use three hyphens in place of the author's name for every entry after the first.
• When an author appears both as the sole author of a text and as the first author of a group, list solo-author entries first.
• If no author is given for a particular work, alphabetize by the title of the piece and use a shortened version of the title for parenthetical citations.
• Capitalize each word in the titles of articles, books, etc. This rule does not apply to articles, short prepositions, or conjunctions unless one is the first word of the title or subtitle.
• Underline or italicize titles of books, journals, magazines, newspapers, and films.
• Use quotation marks around the titles of articles in journals, magazines, and newspapers. Also use quotation marks for the titles of short stories, book chapters, poems, and songs.
• List page numbers efficiently, when needed. If you refer to a journal article that appeared on pages 225 through 250, list the page numbers on your Works Cited page as 225-50.
• If you're citing an article or a publication that was originally issued in print form but that you retrieved from an online database, you should provide enough information so that the reader can locate the article either in its original print form or retrieve it from the online database (if they have access). 

Purdue OWL: Writing a Research Paper

Writing a Research Paper

Saadi Yacef youtube video

Senior Thesis Assignment and Due Dates

WOW Thesis Instructions

Topic and Length: Your WOW thesis will be a 7 to 10 page essay that explores a topic of your choosing.  The topic should be one that you are interested in and have a passion for.  I recommend finding a topic that is related to your potential field of study in your post-secondary endeavors, whether in college or in a trade school.  You may take either an expository or persuasive approach to this essay, but in both cases the essay should be thesis driven and follow MLA format for margins, spacing, font size, etc.   You will also be required to do a presentation to the class that covers your findings.

Sources: You are required to have a minimum of 5 college-level sources that are properly cited in your essay and on your works-cited page.  One of these sources should be a primary source, which is an original source (diaries, presentations, events, surveys).  According to Write Source, they “inform you directly, not through a second person’s explanation or interpretation” (372).   You may use other medium besides print, but limit your use of these kinds of sources.  Only two web site references are allowed unless you have conferenced with me about your sources.  You may use more than one primary source if you wish, but be sure that you have at least 5 dependable sources. 

Merely completing a google search is not an effective way to go about this assignment.  Use the Multnomah County library databases (JSTOR or Academic Search Premier for example), OSLIS, or Google Scholar to ensure that you have more accurate and reliable resources.  This will require that you have a library card, so be sure you bring one to class on lab days.  For those of you who have access to the PSU library, use their databases and books.  Our library may also have books available for you, depending on your topic.

If you don’t have a topic in mind, I advise conducting a Google search for one.  I typed in “research topics” and received several hits with lists of questions or possible topics.  Have a few in mind just in case I won’t approve your favorite topic.

WOW Research Paper

Assignments and Due Dates

January 12:  Paper and annotated bib assigned

January 15:  Lab time

January 20:  Four annotated bibliographies due. (20 summative pts)

  

January 20:  Lab time: Note cards and outline assigned. 

January 26: Note cards due (20 summative pts)

January 27: Outline due (20 summative pts)

First Draft Assigned.

January 27:  Lab time. Drafting

February 5: First Draft Due (25 formative pts) Peer Editing.

Second Draft Assigned                                            

February 10: Lab time

February 17: Second Draft Due (40 formative pts) Ms. Cooper will edit and review

Final Draft Assigned

March 3: Lab time. Work on final draft  

March 5: Final Draft Due (400 summative pts) 

                                       

Annotated bibliographies, note cards, outline, and all drafts will also have individual non-academic grades.  You’ll either earn full credit or none depending on if you turned the assignment in on time.  On time means at the beginning of class you have come in with your assignment in tow.  If you have to use class time to print, then it is late.

No thesis means a no pass for the semester.

January Due Dates for The Stranger Essay

January 5th: 2nd draft due
January 6th: 3rd draft due for peer editing
January 8th: final draft due