An example:

Works Cited

Matchan, Linda. “Kitty on Top: Her unparalleled popularity at 30 keeps on

showing that

she had us at Hello.” The Boston Globe 28 Oct. 2004. 7 Mar. 2008

<http://www.boston.com/yourlife/home/articles/2004/10/28/kitty_on_top/>.

McVeigh, Brian. “How Hello Kitty Commodifies the Cute, Cool and Camp:

‘Consumutopia’ versus ‘Control’ in Japan.” Journal of Material Culture 5.2

(2000): 225-246. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Bowling Green St.

Univ. Lib., OH. 18 Feb. 2008

<http://0?search.ebscohost.com.maurice.bgsu.edu/login.asp?profile=web&d

efaultdb=aph>.

Hot tips:

* Works Cited always has the title “Works Cited” if there is more than one source listed.

* Works Cited pages are ALWAYS in alphabetical order and are always double-spaced.

* Use make sure your Works Cited page has proper and exact punctuation.

* Entries that have volume and issue numbers do NOT include Vol. and Issue. It’s just the numbers.

* Library Research Databases just include the home page url, not the url for the specific article that is cited.

A “correct” example:

Ken Belson in Linda Matchan’s online article “Kitty on Top: Her unparalleled popularity at 30 keeps on showing that she had us at Hello” printed in the Boston Globe “thinks her mouthlessness makes her a Rorschach cat. ‘She is very reflective,’ he said. ‘You are invited to superimpose on her your emotions.’”

Hot Tips:

* Review Chapter 6’s “Evaluating Internet Sources” in From Inquiry to Academic Writing for more information.

* Always make sure you can identify an author, the organization that supports the site, and the date the site was created BEFORE using the source in your essay.

* Sources such as Wikipedia are NEVER appropriate academic sources.

1.)    Establish that the issue is current and relevant.
2.)    Briefly review what others have said.
3.)    Explain what you see as the problem.
4.)    State your thesis.

Our Essay 3 Proposals will be the place where we will provide a context for the thesis.

Everything we do in class from here on out will bring us closer to our Researched Essays. Essentially, every piece of writing is building up to our Researched Essays.

The Proposal: A paper proposal clearly stating the issue you are going to write on, you thesis and your argument’s approach as well as a few sources you’re thinking about using

The Source Analysis: A Compare-Contrast Essay about two of the sources you’ll be using in the Researched Essay. The Source Analysis, essentially, is a mini-essay to help us consider connections between sources and practice synthesis once more before heading into The Researched Essay. Ideally, I’d like you to view the Source Analysis as a possible main point for the Researched Essay or at least some writing that could be folded into the Researched Essay.

The Researched Essay: The Final Product of all your hard work.

Presentation: A “virtual” presentation of your Researched Paper.

Hot Tips:

1.) Pick a Topic that is Important to YOU!

2.) Stay away from cliched topics such as abortion, the death penalty, euthanasia, the war in Iraq, etc.

3.) Use Google and Wikipedia for searching possible topics, NOT as sources for The Researched Essay. (Be sure to check out the sources Wikipedia cites for their information. You may find a credible sources among those.)

4.) Look through magazines related to the issues you’re interested in or talk to people who might have more information on issues that interest you. Watch TV. Go for a walk. Non-research activities such as these are important to research too. They can clear your mind and help you arrive at an idea.

Examples:

The Misinterpretation Model—“Although many scholars have argued about X and Y, a careful examination suggests Z.”

The Gap Model—“Although scholars have notes X and Y, they have missed the important aspect of Z.”

The Modification Model—“While I agree with X and Y ideas of other writers, it is important to extend/refine/limit their ideas with Z.”

The Forecasting Straight-forward Argument Thesis: W is a problem because of X, Y, and Z.

The Speculative Thesis: There is an increase in the trend of W because of X and Y, but mostly due to Z.

A Proposing a Solution Thesis: Even though X and Y are possible solutions to W, Z is the best solution.

~

Refer to Chapter 5 in From Inquiry to Academic Writing for more on thesis statements.

To further develop your summarizing skills, complete the “Practice Sequence: Building a Thesis” from Chapter 5.

Also, for examples of strong thesis statements, check out Chapter 5.

Article Title Here Article Title Here Article Title Here Article Title Here

Possible
Themes
Here

Possible
Themes
Here

Possible
Themes
Here

Possible
Themes
Here

Possible
Themes
Here

Use this table/grid/rubric to decide which articles have themes that relate to one another. If an article has a theme mentioned, place an “x” in the box next to the theme and under the article title. There’s spaces provided for you to add more possible themes.

~
Topic Ideas to Consider
• What are the benefits of technology? How can technology be “helpful”?
• If technology does make us “lazy”, what might be the benefits of that?
• Does popular culture shape attitudes toward racial, gender, sexual, or other stereotyping?

~

Hot Tip!: Be thinking of possible issues regarding themes you are noticing between sources because they will help lead you to a thesis statement. What questions are coming to mind as you find common themes? What questions are important enough to you to become possible thesis statements? These questions also might lead you to a working thesis. Remember, your thesis for this essay should be argumentative.

Two (or more) sources that agree: Former CIA field officer Robert Baer, when speaking about how the CIA should be restructured, says, “To rebuild the agency you, need to take an insider like Stephen Kapps and put him in charge of management decisions. He’s going to know, very simply, who the frauds are, who the good people are” (76). John Brennan, former chief of staff to CIA Director George Tenet, agrees with Baer, stating that “Hayden and Kapps need to take a look at all the senior people in the agency and decide who should stay and who should go” (58). Clearly, these quotes support the idea that a reorganization of personnel is required within the CIA.

Two (or more) sources that disagree: Bill Bennett, host of the radio show Bill Bennet’s Morning in America muses that “[t]he media reward themselves for leaking classified information—which may be a violation of the law—give Pulitzers for that. We’re in a war and I don’t think a lot of the media think we’re in a war” (98). James Bamford, author of A Pretext for War, disagrees with Bennet’s skeptical view of the American media, stating “I far more trust the press than I do the Administration with judgment of what should be secret and what shouldn’t be. How many scandals has the Administration uncovered on its own?” (87). Without the media, how would average citizens stay informed and hold their government responsible for actions carried out in their names?

One (or more) source that expands upon the ideas of or provides an example from another: Vali Nasr writes, “What lies at the heart of the sectarian violence in Iraq is not so much religious dispute as it is a very secular competition for power and prominence…” (26). Is the term “secular competition” not a virtual synonym for civil war? Reporter James Fearon agrees with Nasr, but takes the idea  a step further, saying that “[b]y any reasonable definition, there has been a civil war in progress in Iraq at least since the Coalition Provisional Authority formally handed over authority to the Iraqis in 2004” (75).

Note how each source is properly cited, with author introduced and source qualified for the initial citation. Also keep in mind that these examples are simple, that you can include more sources or more text in-between your citations, as long as the connection is made clear with transitions (i.e., “agrees,” “disagrees,” etc.) that show why and how you’re connecting them in the first place.

-adapted from a synthesis exercise by Mike Czyzniejewski and Dan Rzicznek

Below is an example of synthesis from one of my favorite academic essays—Brian McVeigh’s “HOW HELLO KITTY COMMODIFIES THE CUTE, COOL AND CAMP: ‘Consumutopia’ versus ‘Control’ in Japan.”

Keep in mind that this example is in APA, not MLA. We want MLA in this class. And it’s an example that is a little more complex than what we will be doing in our first essay. However, it’s an example we can all strive for.

McVeigh argues, “But we must choose our adjectives carefully, because women who collect Hello Kitty articles are not necessarily interested in things cute, but rather have a predisposition towards what is better described as camp, and this campiness, for older female Hello-Kitty aficionados, is tied to a type of femininity that highlights cultural desirables such as sincerity, kindness (yasashisa), and sensitivity to the feelings of others (omoi-yari), the latter being a norm heavily emphasized in different spheres (see Lebra, 1984; McVeigh, 1997b, 1998). What we have is not immaturity, naïvete, or regression, but theatricalized innocence, accessorized cheerfulness, and affected youthfulness. According to one social psychologist, ‘Owning things with cartoon characters on them shows one’s childlike nature… It is proof of one’s youthfulness, which is now considered a positive attribute’ (Yamazaki, 1999). And for many women, Hello Kitty is a celebration not of childishness but of the childlike, a hope that in spite of a gloomy, harried, and harassing world in which they are forced to outmaneuver others, they are still light-hearted, spirited, buoyant, and ingenuous” (231).