Complete AB for English Course

TOPIC: IS GUN CONTROL AN EFFECTIVE WAY TO CONTROL CRIME?

Argumentative Essay Source Summary

Topic/Focus: Finding and Analyzing Library Sources

Length: 600 words maximum

Materials: PC or Mac; Word processing software (MS Word, Google Docs, iWork Pages, Open Office)

WHAT YOU WILL DO

This assignment is another in the series to prepare you for your documented argument paper. In class, we

have learned about three modes of persuasive argumentation: ethos, pathos, and logos. Conducting

research and incorporating evidence into your argument will strengthen all three modes of persuasion.

The purpose of this assignment is to apply critical thinking skills to the analysis of potential sources for your

paper. Using your approved topic and research question as a starting point, utilize library resources to find

sources. Submit an MLA style annotated bibliography listing your four required sources for Essay 4.You will

likely encounter sources that appear credible and useful at first, but which don’t hold up under closer

scrutiny. At this stage, it is acceptable to document sources which you will ultimately decide not to include

in your final paper.

Your task is to demonstrate why each source is (or is not) useful.

You must find:

One scholarly journal article, using a Library database.

Your article must be at least 2 pages long and cannot be editorials, letters to the editor, opinion

columns, or book reviews.

One news magazine or newspaper article, using a Library database.

Your article must be at least 2 pages long and cannot be editorials, letters to the editor, opinion

columns, or book reviews.

One source addressing counterarguments to your main claim/thesis.

This source can be an article, video, report, topic overview, website (if you haven’t already

included one), or statistics of at least 2 pages in length.

You should use one or more of the following databases to conduct your library research:

Academic Search Complete

America’s NewsBank

Opposing Viewpoints in Context

Opposing Points of View

Points of View Resource Center

Issues and Controversies

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ENC 1101 FRESHMAN COMPOSITION 1 | ASSIGNMENT OVERVIEW

ANNOTATION REQUIREMENTS

For each source, write an entry of 5-10 sentences that contains the following:

Search Strategy

Explain how you searched for the source. What specific strategies did you use from our library

instruction or the online library research lesson to find this source? What database did you choose

and why was this the best choice for your claim? What challenges, if any, did you face while finding

this source? How did you troubleshoot those?

Citation in proper MLA format

Use the library’s MLA Documentation guide, linked in the MLA Documentation: Citing Sources and

Avoiding Plagiarism lesson in Unit 5 of the course, your course textbook, and the Purdue OWL to

ensure your citations follow MLA documentation faithfully.

Annotation that includes answers to all of the following questions. The entire annotation must

be written in your own words. It may not be copied from the abstract or any other description,

and it may not include direct quotations from the publication itself.

Summary & Purpose: What are the main ideas of the source? Is the main purpose of the source to

contribute new knowledge about the topic or to try to persuade an audience to believe or to do

something about the topic?

Methods Used to Collect Evidence & Reliability of Evidence: Is it clear from the source what

methods were used to gather the evidence used in the source? Does the source convince you that

its evidence is reliable? Why or why not?

Applicability: Why is this source helpful to your research? How will you use it in your paper? Are

there any limitations to its usefulness for your paper? Can you overcome these limitations? How?

Authority and Aim: Is the source written by someone who has the expertise to write on the topic?

List the credentials of the author(s). Currency: Is the source up-to-date for your topic? Bias: What

biases if any exist in the source?

Example Journal Article Annotation

Search Strategy: I used musicians and politics as my keywords in several recommended databases. First, I

used Academic Search Complete, as I felt it would provide me with the most results. Just putting in my

keywords though, left me with so many results it was difficult to determine what was a good source. So, I

started narrowing down my search. Because of my particular topic, I limited my search to articles published

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ENC 1101 FRESHMAN COMPOSITION 1 | ASSIGNMENT OVERVIEW

within the last 10 years. To find scholarly articles, I limited my results to scholarly (peer reviewed) journals. I

limited my search to periodicals to find non-scholarly articles.

Citation:

Street, John, Seth Hague, and Heather Savigny. “Playing to the Crowd: The Role

of Music and Musicians in Political Participation.” The British Journal of Politics and International

Relations. 10.2 (2013), 269-285. Academic Search Premier. Web. 8 July. 2015.

Annotation: The first half of this article includes a summary of previous articles and books written about

the meeting of music and politics. The easy-to-understand summary is broken down into the three areas –

organization, legitimation and performance – that one must study to understand how and why musicians

become political activists. It also attempts to define “participation” by asking if it requires action and if

listening to music is an action. The article also includes studies of Rock Against Racism and Jubilee 2000,

and looks at those politically charged concerts in terms of organization, legitimation and performance. I

was hoping for more from this article than it gave me. I was looking for reasons why musicians participate

in such events, but instead found how to study those musicians and events. The bibliography, which

includes music, political and economic sources, is extensive. The authors also interviewed several

individuals involved in the music industry and/or major musical events such as Rock Against Racism. These

first-hand accounts, especially, make the article very reliable. Additionally, the authors conclude that the

music itself is part of the political process; it is the sounds and the lyrics that affect people. Musicians use

their sound as a backdrop to their message. This article gave me the knowledge to work with such

questions in regards to particular musicians and events, especially concerts like Vote For Change that

include a range of musical styles. The article’s three authors are all from the School of Political, Social and

International Studies at the University of East Anglia. This qualifies them to write on the subject. I had to

take into account that they are from England, and that British views on politics and music, as well as the

events described in the article, may differ from those in the United States. The article, written in 2013, is

very current.

Note: this is a lengthy annotation. Your four annotations need only be 5-10 sentences long in total.

Rubric (the following rubric will be used to assess your work)

Objective/

Criteria

Levels of Achievement

Novice Intermediate Advanced

Source

Choice

(10 pts)

Student’s choice of sources

is not informative or

persuasive. Student has not

chosen a source from one

of the databases studied in

class. (0-4 points)

Student’s choices are from a

database, though the

source is not sufficiently

authoritative or is biased.

(5-7 points)

Student chooses relevant

sources from one of the

library databases studied in

class. Student is able to

explain that choice clearly.

(8-10 points)

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ENC 1101 FRESHMAN COMPOSITION 1 | ASSIGNMENT OVERVIEW

Annotation

of Source

(15 pts)

Unclear summary of main

idea and supporting points.

Writer does not clearly

explain what studying the

source taught him or her.

Unclear evidence and

development to support

how the writer will use the

source. (0-5 points)

Adequate summary of

source and supporting

points. Some explanation of

what was learned by

studying the source. Some

explanation of how the

writer will use the source in

the paper. The writer’s use

of the source seems

somewhat unclear. (6-10

points)

Structured, organized, and

focused summary. Thorough

explanation of what was

learned from the source.

Clear understanding of how

the source will be used in the

paper is evident. (11-15

points)

Research

Process

(10 pts)

Writer cannot clearly

explain how he or she

searched for the source.

Strategies are not derived

from the library instruction

or online research lesson.

Student did not use the

library to find research. No

clear explanation of why

this was the best choice for

the thesis/claim is given.

(0-4 points)

Some explanation of how

student searched for the

source is present. Basic

search strategies from the

library instruction and

online lesson are used.

Student found source on a

library database. Some

understanding why this

choice is a strong choice is

present. (5-7 points)

Writer clearly explains how

he or she found the source.

Strategies are advanced and

derived from the library

instruction and the online

research lesson. Student

found the source on a library

database. Clear

understanding of why this

source is a good choice is

present. (8-10 points)

Grammar

and

Mechanics

(10 pts)

Errors interfere with the

writer’s ability to

communicate purpose;

significant errors; errors in

format are visible. (0-4

points)

Occasional errors do not

interfere with writer’s ability

to communicate purpose;

appropriate format. (5-7

points)

Minimal to no errors. Writing

is clear, polished, and

mechanically correct. Errors

are not distracting. (8-10

points)