Using the Internet for Academic Research
Hasting
You are likely to find some of the latest information on a topic on the internet simply because publishing on the web is so simple. Anyone can do it, and herein lies the problem. Sources appropriate for use in academic research are few and far between. Some of the best sources are college and university websites. Their internet addresses end in .edu. Another reliable source is the U.S. government whose websites all end in .gov. All others must be evaluated by you the researcher. That puts the responsibility for their accuracy and honesty on you.
Some ways to be a responsible researcher:
*How recently has the site been updated? If it’s been a long time, you can bet the information is not current and the publisher may be gone.
*Web sites are rarely refereed or reviewed, as are scholarly books and journals, so you will need to determine the website’s point of view and ferret out evidence of bias. It is not unheard of for a student to discover a site about literature that is being run by skinheads who believe in censorship of the very literature they are discussing. As a researcher, it is your responsibility to look at the website closely for indications that it is not what it seems.
*The lack of an author is a common problem on the internet. You must find out who the sponsor or producer of the site is. Is there a way to contact anyone associated with the site? Is the site address just someone’s name? An unidentified author is a bad sign because it means whoever he or she is they do not want to be identified with their site and neither do you!
*Who is the website’s audience? If it is academic, the site will be well organized, easy to navigate, contain working links to other reputable sites and be comprehensive in its coverage of a subject. These are all signs that this is a site that is an important project for someone in the academic community and that they take pride and responsibility in making it available to further the research of others.
*Googling a topic is a wonderful way to start your internet search, but it is only the beginning. Google and other search engines are going to give you massive numbers of sources, many will not be on point, some will be nothing more than someone else’s memo’s on the subject; in other words, most will be totally useless to your research.
*If, after going through a lengthy process, a site makes the grade, you can be sure that it will work to support the argument you are making in your research, rather than making you look foolish.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Examples of Thesis Statements for use in Literary Essays - 1020
Examples of Thesis Statements for use in Literary Essays
English 1020
Hasting
From the opening paragraph, John Steinbeck sets a tone of leaden resolve and introduces the protagonist amid a garden rich with sexual symbolism. (theme and mood)
It is Gilman’s intention to show that her main character’s spiral into insanity is, in fact, her willful defiance of that which would vanquish her true nature. (character and mood)
“The Story of an Hour” contains a rich mixture of situational and dramatic irony, which grow out of error, misunderstanding, incorrect expectations, and a certain degree of pride. (tone)
In A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams demonstrates how real desires can lead, like the streetcar itself, to a place we should never be and towards cruelties of character and circumstance.
In Doctor Faustus, Marlowe demonstrates that when a mortal tries to surpass his human limitations in hopes of attaining ultimate power for himself, he will be defeated. (theme)
Through her clever use of fiction, Woolf shrewdly removes herself from the position of authority, enhances audience identification with her narrator, and invites women to join her search for “the true nature of women and the true nature of fiction.”
In Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte illustrates that in order to overcome adverse conditions, one must possess a burning desire to succeed, the courage to defy societal norms and the endurance and ability to defend one’s convictions.
Auden uses the events in his ode to Spain to try to make sense of how and why a country as great and wonderful as Spain could tear itself apart in the name of diverse ideology.
The “Seafarer” poet uses the imagery in this poem to compare the perilous life of “landlubbers” (11) to that of his own and consequently explains his immense love for the sea.
English 1020
Hasting
From the opening paragraph, John Steinbeck sets a tone of leaden resolve and introduces the protagonist amid a garden rich with sexual symbolism. (theme and mood)
It is Gilman’s intention to show that her main character’s spiral into insanity is, in fact, her willful defiance of that which would vanquish her true nature. (character and mood)
“The Story of an Hour” contains a rich mixture of situational and dramatic irony, which grow out of error, misunderstanding, incorrect expectations, and a certain degree of pride. (tone)
In A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams demonstrates how real desires can lead, like the streetcar itself, to a place we should never be and towards cruelties of character and circumstance.
In Doctor Faustus, Marlowe demonstrates that when a mortal tries to surpass his human limitations in hopes of attaining ultimate power for himself, he will be defeated. (theme)
Through her clever use of fiction, Woolf shrewdly removes herself from the position of authority, enhances audience identification with her narrator, and invites women to join her search for “the true nature of women and the true nature of fiction.”
In Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte illustrates that in order to overcome adverse conditions, one must possess a burning desire to succeed, the courage to defy societal norms and the endurance and ability to defend one’s convictions.
Auden uses the events in his ode to Spain to try to make sense of how and why a country as great and wonderful as Spain could tear itself apart in the name of diverse ideology.
The “Seafarer” poet uses the imagery in this poem to compare the perilous life of “landlubbers” (11) to that of his own and consequently explains his immense love for the sea.
The Thesis in the College Essay DSPW o8oo & 1010
The Thesis in the College Essay
Hasting
Writing is a form of persuasion.
Your job as a writer is to persuade your reader of the validity of a particular opinion or major point.
Choosing a Subject: Decide what you are most interested in, informed about, or what will go over best with your audience.
Narrowing down a subject: You will only have 500 words to inform, explain, and persuade your audience, so narrow your subject down to a topic that can be treated adequately in such a brief essay.
Thesis: the basic stand you take
the opinion you express
the point you make about your limited subject
the controlling idea
and it must be the last sentence of the first paragraph in your essay. This sentence is also known as your thesis statement. Your thesis requires that you commit yourself. You have something at stake. You are saying, “This is what I believe, and this is why I am right.”
Purpose: Your primary purpose is to persuade the reader that your thesis is valid.
The purpose of the body of the essay is to back up the thesis. The body of the essay consists of three paragraphs that follow the introductory paragraph. Your body paragraphs, individually and as a whole, must persuade your reader that your thesis makes sense.
The title of your essay is not the thesis.
A thesis is not an announcement of the subject of your essay. For example, “ I want to share some thoughts with you about our space program.”
A thesis is not a statement of absolute fact. We all know that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, so this cannot be a thesis; it needs no support. It is just a simple statement of fact that no one would argue.
A thesis is only one sentence found at the end of your first essay paragraph. It is not the entire essay itself.
A thesis must be: restricted – narrow, bite-sized issues, not something that requires a lifetime to discuss intelligently.
A thesis must be unified: only one major idea about its subject can be expressed in a thesis. Now minor ideas can be discussed in the body, but must always work to support the main point of the essay – your thesis.
A good thesis must be specific: The opposite of specific is vague. Vague ideas normally come through as so familiar or dull or universally accepted that the reader sees no point in paying attention to them.
An extended specific thesis which includes the major points you will discuss in the body of the paper is fine.
The thesis as it appears in your introduction should clearly indicate what the subject is and your opinion about the subject (remember you are trying to persuade); however, it also should arouse curiosity in the mind of your reader or establish a tone of humor, anger, solemnity, etc.
Your conclusion: is the last paragraph of an essay. It can do several things such as, be a quick summary of your thesis and its main supporting points, or it can reemphasize the importance of your thesis (make sure to write the thesis in your conclusion using different words), or it can relate your thesis to people’s everyday lives, or it can make a prediction, or it can issue a call for action.
Never introduce a totally unrelated, new idea in your conclusion.
Hasting
Writing is a form of persuasion.
Your job as a writer is to persuade your reader of the validity of a particular opinion or major point.
Choosing a Subject: Decide what you are most interested in, informed about, or what will go over best with your audience.
Narrowing down a subject: You will only have 500 words to inform, explain, and persuade your audience, so narrow your subject down to a topic that can be treated adequately in such a brief essay.
Thesis: the basic stand you take
the opinion you express
the point you make about your limited subject
the controlling idea
and it must be the last sentence of the first paragraph in your essay. This sentence is also known as your thesis statement. Your thesis requires that you commit yourself. You have something at stake. You are saying, “This is what I believe, and this is why I am right.”
Purpose: Your primary purpose is to persuade the reader that your thesis is valid.
The purpose of the body of the essay is to back up the thesis. The body of the essay consists of three paragraphs that follow the introductory paragraph. Your body paragraphs, individually and as a whole, must persuade your reader that your thesis makes sense.
The title of your essay is not the thesis.
A thesis is not an announcement of the subject of your essay. For example, “ I want to share some thoughts with you about our space program.”
A thesis is not a statement of absolute fact. We all know that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, so this cannot be a thesis; it needs no support. It is just a simple statement of fact that no one would argue.
A thesis is only one sentence found at the end of your first essay paragraph. It is not the entire essay itself.
A thesis must be: restricted – narrow, bite-sized issues, not something that requires a lifetime to discuss intelligently.
A thesis must be unified: only one major idea about its subject can be expressed in a thesis. Now minor ideas can be discussed in the body, but must always work to support the main point of the essay – your thesis.
A good thesis must be specific: The opposite of specific is vague. Vague ideas normally come through as so familiar or dull or universally accepted that the reader sees no point in paying attention to them.
An extended specific thesis which includes the major points you will discuss in the body of the paper is fine.
The thesis as it appears in your introduction should clearly indicate what the subject is and your opinion about the subject (remember you are trying to persuade); however, it also should arouse curiosity in the mind of your reader or establish a tone of humor, anger, solemnity, etc.
Your conclusion: is the last paragraph of an essay. It can do several things such as, be a quick summary of your thesis and its main supporting points, or it can reemphasize the importance of your thesis (make sure to write the thesis in your conclusion using different words), or it can relate your thesis to people’s everyday lives, or it can make a prediction, or it can issue a call for action.
Never introduce a totally unrelated, new idea in your conclusion.
The Purpose of Writing 1010
The Purpose of Writing Hasting
The Rhetorical Situation – the context in which you are interpreting a reading or composing a piece of writing or a visual
writer
exigence PURPOSE
audience message
Exigence is the reason or problem that makes you, the writer, want to write.
When language can solve a situation, the solution is rhetorical.
The audience is the reader or readers who have the capacity to do something about a problem.
A clear understanding of your audience—its values, concerns, what it knows, helps you to write effectively.
Specialized – people who you know are interested in just one thing – if you are a part of this specialized audience you know what kinds of words to use to get them to sit up and notice your writing – a more generalized audience might not get it. They might thing you are being overly emotional, or not emotional enough in your presentation.
Diverse – this is an audience that has an interest in a subject, but some of them know a lot more than others about the subject. Some may even know more than you do. You have to keep them all interested and that can be a tall order. As a writer, you have to be aware of the level of understanding of each member of your audience and use words and details in your writing that all will appreciate.
Multiple – this is the one you will deal with most in college. First, there is a primary audience, however, you also are aware than a secondary audience may also read what you have written. As a writer, you have to gauge your words and your tone for both audiences. In college, your primary audience might be your English teacher, then you decide to reuse this essay as the basis for an essay you turn in for history or psychology. Now you’ve got two audiences, and each is looking for something different.
Context – the time, place, audience, writer, and the medium of delivery (newspaper, journal article, webpage) all impact how we write and what we say to our audience. Even cultural circumstances, social situations, religious beliefs, and politics will affect our writing. All writing is written in a context, and your readers will know to read it in that context too. Any time a writer writes and a reader reads they do
The Rhetorical Situation – the context in which you are interpreting a reading or composing a piece of writing or a visual
writer
exigence PURPOSE
audience message
Exigence is the reason or problem that makes you, the writer, want to write.
When language can solve a situation, the solution is rhetorical.
The audience is the reader or readers who have the capacity to do something about a problem.
A clear understanding of your audience—its values, concerns, what it knows, helps you to write effectively.
Specialized – people who you know are interested in just one thing – if you are a part of this specialized audience you know what kinds of words to use to get them to sit up and notice your writing – a more generalized audience might not get it. They might thing you are being overly emotional, or not emotional enough in your presentation.
Diverse – this is an audience that has an interest in a subject, but some of them know a lot more than others about the subject. Some may even know more than you do. You have to keep them all interested and that can be a tall order. As a writer, you have to be aware of the level of understanding of each member of your audience and use words and details in your writing that all will appreciate.
Multiple – this is the one you will deal with most in college. First, there is a primary audience, however, you also are aware than a secondary audience may also read what you have written. As a writer, you have to gauge your words and your tone for both audiences. In college, your primary audience might be your English teacher, then you decide to reuse this essay as the basis for an essay you turn in for history or psychology. Now you’ve got two audiences, and each is looking for something different.
Context – the time, place, audience, writer, and the medium of delivery (newspaper, journal article, webpage) all impact how we write and what we say to our audience. Even cultural circumstances, social situations, religious beliefs, and politics will affect our writing. All writing is written in a context, and your readers will know to read it in that context too. Any time a writer writes and a reader reads they do
Writing Vocabulary - 1010 & 1020
Writing Vocabulary
English 1010
Hasting
Invention
Revision
Organization
Drafting
Edit
Rhetorical context
Audience
Purpose
Persona
Academic textual conventions
Academic community
Critical thinking
Primary sources
Secondary sources
Argumentation
Refute
Concede
Reliability
Documentation
Reflective
English 1010
Hasting
Invention
Revision
Organization
Drafting
Edit
Rhetorical context
Audience
Purpose
Persona
Academic textual conventions
Academic community
Critical thinking
Primary sources
Secondary sources
Argumentation
Refute
Concede
Reliability
Documentation
Reflective
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