Week 5 Overview

This week is entirely about preparing your Source Evaluation Essay.  Because of this, the module is a little more full than previous ones, containing weblinks and sample documents.  Our discussion this week will be a small-group "peer review lite" to get ideas about how your work is progressing so far on the draft.

Three former students' essays are included in this module.  These samples are offered NOT as examples of perfect writing--you'll probably spot small errors in grammar, spelling, punctuation, and citation as you look over them.  They ARE, however, good illustrations of the options of conclusions that are available to you as you make your determinations about your own particular source. 

Through the magnifying glass - Day 069

The source you pick to study in detail is entirely up to you, so long as it relates in some way to your chosen research topic.  This is the only source we'll be going into quite this much detail about, but the concepts of evaluating sources will prove useful for EVERY source you find for the upcoming research essay.  It may take a few extra minutes to Google a source's author or publication, but the information you find out there will lead you to building a solid, massive wall of an argument that your own reader would be a fool to disagree with.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of this week, you should be able to:

  1. Identify potential bias within a source
  2. Use block quote formatting correctly
  3. Create an outline for Source Evaluation Essay
  4. Compare a source's thesis to your own research thesis

 

FOR FURTHER PRACTICE

These resources are not (usually) mandatory, but will often prove valuable in helping you complete other assignments within the unit.   Use them at your discretion.

 

photo by JF Sebastian, available http://www.flickr.com/photos/jf-sebastian/2705856481 Links to an external site.