This link allows you to submit the first section of your research paper. The sections are defined below. Use those descriptions to make sure you are submitting the correct work in the best form possible.
Introduction
This is the part of your paper in which you frame your discussion and in which you involve your reader. The best kinds of introductions begin with what readers already know and end with something they don’t know—usually what they don’t know will be your main idea. To do an introduction well, you need to consider what your audience knows. So look above for whom your audience is (keeping in mind what they think as well as what attitudes they hold). What they know is that they love their tech and see no problem for themselves (but maybe for others). Start there. End with what they don’t know—the problem you’ve identified that they didn’t know about.
Please Note: Be sure to read and use the lesson I offer in this module on how to write a good introduction. I will be evaluating your submission on how use this lesson.
Statement of Background
This section is where you make sure you offer significant specific detail about what the problem is. Your introduction is where you set up a contrast of ideas and attitudes as they relate to your audience but then this section, maybe one or two paragraphs, perhaps more, is where you lay out the important specific details of what the problem is. Think of this section as the one where you lay out the facts but not yet the arguments. This is section in which you would include statistics, for instance.
(Please note: you may find that the problem you are investigating is that people may think there is a problem when there is not, such as, imagine, Carr argues that the Internet ruins your ability to read well, but then your research shows that this claim isn’t exactly right. So the problem is that Carr hasn’t got the problem right. Thus, keep a flexible mind as you do your research.)
Thesis Statement
Plan on writing the first section in such a way that your thesis — the central position of your paper — will be the last sentence of the Statement of Background.
Format:
Papers should be typed in 12-point Times New Roman font, double-spaced, with one inch margins at the top, the bottom and the sides. Your paper must follow the guidelines of MLA style for formatting.
A successful submission will have the following:
- Evidence of following the instructions;
- A clear and focused goal and purpose generated by the writer;
- An introduction that frames the discussion using the standard view/new view form taught in our class;
- An organization that is logical, coherent, unified and easy to follow;
- Reference to legitimate support (your research) using MLA citation;
- Effective use of “They, I Say” structure, avoiding “voice mixing” and the “data dump”;
- Specific and clear explanation of your ideas;
- Logical relationships—linkages—between ideas, sentences and paragraphs;
- Sentence style that is clear and precise; and
- No surface feature errors.
What is a “data dump”? A data dump is when a writer takes all of his or her research and dumps it into the paper without any kind of analysis, interpretation or assertions of importance or emphasis. This is a common kind of the so-called “research paper” found in high school. But it isn’t. So don’t do this. Data dumping makes for a very bad paper.
What is “voice mixing”? Voice mixing is a condition when a reader can’t tell the difference between the author’s own voice and the voices from the sources. This is bad. It should always be clear when a reader is reading the sources ideas (the “They Say”) and when they are reading your own ideas (the “I Say”). To make matters worse, voice mixing can look a lot like plagiarism.
What is one way to tell that you have data dumping or voice mixing in your paper (though not the only way)? That your paper has one or a number of paragraphs that have only one citation located at the very end of the paragraph. A paragraph should most likely have a source (or two) that needs an in text citation and then also have your own voice (which won’t have an in text citation).
What you submit here must contain:
1) at the top, please post your central thesis
2) in the text, include correct in-text citations.
3) be sure to include a relevant Works Cited page at the end. If you use only one source, then your Works Cited page will have one source.
DO NOT USE SOURCES FROM GOOGLE! USE THE SCHOOL LIBRARY DATABASE!
Research with the Databases through the CCP Library
Doing research for this section of English 102 will require you to make use of the various databases offered by the CCP Library. These databases are expensive, and the college subscribes to them for your use. In other words, the cost is included in your tuition.
What Are Databases?
A database is essential a collection of data organized for searching with its own search engine. Google is a search engine that allows you to search the web, which is itself a database. However, the web is an indiscriminate body of data, a collection of myriad kinds of texts and images of varying kinds and qualities. And most of what is found on the Internet is inappropriate for quality research.
The databases provided by the library have already been judged to offer access to knowledge that is relatively or highly reliable. This is why English 102 requires that you make use of the databases.
How to Access the Databases
To access the college databases, do the following:
- 1) Log onto MyCCP .
- 2) Looktotheleftcolumnonthehomepage.Youwillsee“StudentQuickLinks.” Click on this link
- 3) Anumberofoptionswillopenforyou.Scandowntoyoufind“Library Databases.” Click on this link.
- 4) Youarenowonthepagewiththefullcurrentcollectionofallthecollege’s databases. The names of the databases are in alphabetical order.
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