Senior Thesis 09

Senior Thesis Creative Writing English 12 This paper is a major project. It can be fun, but if you put off the steps you will stress yourself and me, and endanger your grade, your credit, and your graduation! This research paper is your chance to learn something new, or something in much greater depth, and to share that information with others. It is not time for you to summarize what you already know. This project should require around twenty to thirty (20-30) hours of research time if you expect to earn top marks. You will be provided a number of days of class time to work on this assignment. But you should plan on working on this project several nights a week for an hour or so for the next month. You are being assigned a number of due dates for steps along the way to completing this paper. These intermediate due dates are important for your success. If you get your work done at each of the assigned times, you will get all the help from me that you need to earn a good grade on this paper. There will be approximately nine (9) conference days between now and the due date for your final draft of the paper. Please, PLEASE use the conference period as well as class time to get help on any area of this assignment that you are struggling with. I will definitely not be here on one of those days (February 26th, but my substitute will be able to help.) You can expect to have two to four days of class in the library during the research portion of this assignment. This will NOT be enough library time. Be sure to plan ahead to spend time in the library here, at your local Multnomah County Library Branch, in the library of one of the local colleges or universities, or where ever you can find reliable, verifiable resources. Though the Internet may be a valid information source, it is extremely difficult to verify information from non-academic Internet resources. If you use a quote from an Internet site be sure to verify your information with another resource. You are required to use a variety of sources of information; your sources may not all be from Internet sites. The number of books, magazine articles, interviews, almanacs, or other sources that you will need to read and consult for this project depends on the questions you develop, and the resources that you find. You probably do not have a broad enough range of questions if you seem to be finding all of your answers in one book (why research a topic, if someone else already has?).

Some Important Dates Due Dates Chronological Order 25 Thesis Questions 20 February 1st Annotation 24 February > 50 Note Cards 3 March/ Research Question 2nd Annotation 10 March/ Working Hypothesis Model Section 16 March (MONDAY) Complete Outline 18/19 March Rough Drafts Due 7 April Final Drafts Due 28 April (Mi ss thi s d ate a nd ri sk fai lur e!) Senior Research Paper ❖ Zartler ❖ February 2009

Reverse Chronology Due Dates Final Drafts Due 28 April ( Miss t his dat e an d risk fai lur e!) Rough Drafts Due 7April Complete Outline 18/19 March Model Section 16 March (MONDAY) 2nd Annotation 10 March/ Working Hypothesis >50 Complete Note Cards 3 March/ Research Question 1st Annotation 24 February 25 Thesis Questions 20 February

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Pep Talk

You CAN do this. And it won’t kill you. And you can even have some fun on this project. Or you can kiss your whole thirteen (13) years of hard work adios, and you can skip the above steps, leave your research and writing for the last minute, and have to write another one of these next year. What’s it gonna be? Seriously, do a little bit each day (or at least four or five days a week). Plan to accomplish each of the above steps on time (notice due dates are usually after conference days; why do you think that is?) and I’ll shake your hand at graduation.

Topics You are invited to research almost any topic of your choosing; however, I must approve your topic. The reason for this is to assist you in identifying a topic for which you will be able to locate sufficient, accessible resources. Your topic should be expressed as some kind of “claim”. A claim is simply a statement that you will show to be true in your writing Identifying your topic consists of three steps. 1) Identifying a general topic. 2) Identifying a specific research question. 3) Defining your main thesis statement. The chart below shows how these steps progress to a clear statement, which can be explained or argued using your thoughts and evidence provided by others.

Identify Your General Topic 20 February

Identify Your Specific Research Question Tuesday, 3 March

State Your Working Hypothesis / Working Thesis Tuesday, 10 March

Presidential Elections

What is the effect of television on presidential elections?

Salmon and the Pacific Northwest

How has the loss of salmon populations hurt Oregon Fishing Communities? Or What have been the cultural effects of the loss of ancestral fishing grounds on Warm Springs Tribes?

Fish Farming

Fish Farming: Good or Bad?

Totem Poles

What is the role of the totem pole in traditional and modern Salish culture?

Television has caused America to select their presidents not on the qualifications, but on their television appearance. The destruction of native salmon populations in Oregon and Washington has displaced thousands of families and destroyed entire communities. or Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation have dealt remarkably well after being forced from their traditional homes and traditionally salmon based culture on the Columbia River to the high desert where hardly a Salmon is to be seen. Fish Farming once thought to be a panacea harms the environment in several significant ways. The totem was an important part of traditional Salish culture and remains an important cultural tradition today.

How to Choose a Topic The two most important aspects to consider when choosing what your topic will be: 1) how interested you are in the topic and 2) the availability of accessible research on the topic. It should be obvious that in order to stick with doing twenty hours, or more of research you will need to be very interested in your topic. However, you should also consider how easy it will be to find good resources on your topic. It turns out, for instance, that there is a wealth of information available about using Magnetic Resonance Imaging to structure very large proteins; however, I generally can not understand the research even when my brother, a leading specialist in the area tries to explain it to me. Thinking about topics that come up in the news is a good place to start. When topics are frequently in the news, there is usually a lot of accessible information on the topic. Avoid topics you have made up your mind about. Dogmatic beliefs are by definition not an area of research. Search for topics on which there are multiple, published points of view.

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Doing Research Doing research means finding out about your topic. One key to successfully completing your research is to stay focused on your topic. Hopefully, each and every source you look at will have loads of fascinating information. But if you are researching totem poles among the Salish, it may be interesting to learn about igloos and the use of fossilized whalebone among the Inuit, but it will not be useful for your paper.

What Do I Take Notes On? One reason to commit early on to a thesis statement is that it makes it easier to decide what to take notes on. Once you start asking questions about your topic – and had it checked by me – then you know exactly what kinds of information you need to write down. As you focus on your thesis statement – and after I’ve checked it – you will know even better what questions to focus on. For example, ff your thesis statement is, “The totem was an important part of traditional Salish culture and remains an important cultural tradition today,” then you have no need for information about mask carving, basket weaving, or the construction of boats among the Salish unless that activity relates in some way to totems.

How Do I Take Notes You take notes for a research paper on “note cards.” This may seem self explanatory, but it is important. Note cards are index cards on which you put the quote or a paraphrase of a quote and the information necessary to make your bibliographic citation. Here is an example:

Main Subject or Idea of Note

Function of Clay in Soil

Write a direct quote or paraphrase here

“[Clay]…is rich in available nutrients for plants.”

Citation Notes: Author and page

Koreshoff 99

Fill out one note card each time you come across a piece of information that you think is important to your topic. You will not have to use every note that you take, but the more notes you take, the easier it will be to write your paper later. If you are not sure what to write for the title, or main idea of the note at first, that is ok; you can add it later when you know more about your subject. One way to organize the topics on your cards is with the question or questions you are using the note to answer.

Bibliography You will be using MLA (Modern Language Association) style for your bibliography and citations. This is something you do to avoid plagiarism (see below) and flunking. When you read a book, a magazine article, or information on a website, you also fill out a card. This is a bibliography card. It looks like, smells like, and acts a lot like a note card. But it contains information about where you got your information, not what information you found. Each time you read a new source of information, fill out a bibliography card. On your bibliography card you should write the title, author, and publication dates for your information source. See the bibliographic format page for examples.

Arguments that are the Opposite of What I Think One aspect of writing your paper that might seem a bit confusing is that you may need to include information that contradicts your thesis statement. In many areas of thought and study reasonable people disagree with one another – you may not think that writing this research paper is an important and good use of your time; we can disagree. It is almost always better to include and then disprove, or negate arguments that contradict your thesis statement. Although you may be a huge fan of native salmon, it is important to realize that the cheap electricity provided by northwest hydropower has created thousands industrial jobs. So, in your paper with the thesis, “Wild salmon must be saved at any cost,” you should include a page or two exploring the idea, “But people who are losing their jobs may not agree.” Be sur e to tak e not es o n w hat peo ple who di sagr ee with you t hink . Senior Research Paper ❖ Zartler ❖ February 2009

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What is Plagiarism, and what happens if I Cheat?

Plagiarism is when you use another person’s work or ideas without giving them credit. It is a form of cheating. It is stealing. It is against the rules. You will flunk the research paper if you plagiarize. If you flunk your thesis, you are very likely to flunk this class. If you flunk this class you will not graduate. DO NOT PLAGIARIZE! PLEASE!

How NOT to Plagiarize

It is easy not to plagiarize. Do not take credit for someone else’s ideas. Research papers are supposed to be full of other people’s ideas. Use the words and phrases like the ones below to show that you are borrowing another person’s ideas: As Dr. Ruth Hubbard explains…. Albert Einstein’s elegant proof of relativity suggests …. Many agree with Howard Gardner’s belief that…. Mr. Zartler, an authority on the matter, uses the analogy of…. David Oates has written extensively on the subject and his work makes clear…. Don’t be embarrassed, it’s cool to paraphrase. But even if you do not use a direct quote, be sure to give credit for all borrowed ideas and information. Don’t be embarrassed, it’s cool to borrow ideas – that the whole idea of a research paper! Or so reminds my good friend Dr. David Oates. (See, I paraphrased David, and gave him credit for reminding me to remind you to give credit to sources your paraphrase.) If you use the exact words of another person then you must MU S T put those words in quotes and provide a bibliographic reference. Attached to this assignment is a chart which shows the appropriate way to cite your sources. The magazines that this assignment is modeled on do not use citations, but because this is an academic exercise, you MUST cite your sources using MLS format.

Annotations Your annotation should answer the following questions: What is the subject of your research and Which categories/ types of your questions are answered (not what are the answers) by the source. Does the source seem reliable, why? What bias is there? Is the source useful? To you? To someone else? For What? Why? Holland, Suzanne. The Human Embryonic Stem Cell Debate : Science, Ethics, and Public Policy. Boston: MIT Press, 2001. This is the annotation of the above source. In this example, I am following MLA guidelines for the bibliographic information listed above. If I was really writing an annotation for this source, I would now be offering a brief summary of what this book says about stem cell research. After a brief summary, it would be appropriate to asses this source and offer some criticisms of it. Does it seem like a reliable and current source? Why? Is the research biased or objective? Are the facts well documented? Who is the author? Is she qualified in this subject? Is this source scholarly, popular, some of both? The length of your annotation will depend on the assignment or on the purpose of your annotated bibliography. After summarizing and assessing, you can now reflect on this source. How does it fit into your research? Is this a helpful resource? Too scholarly? Not scholarly enough? Too general/specific? Since "stem cell research" is a very broad topic, has this source helped you to narrow your topic? Senior, K. "Extending the Ethical Boundaries of Stem Cell Research." Trends in Molecular Medicine. 7 (2001):5-6. Not all annotations have to be the same length. For example, this source is a very short scholarly article. It may only take a sentence or two to summarize. Even if you are using a book, you should only focus on the sections that relate to your topic. Not all annotated bibliographies assess and reflect; some merely summarize. That may not be the most helpful for you, but, if this is an assignment, you should always ask your instructor for specific guidelines. Wallace, Kelly. "Bush Stands Pat on Stem Cell Policy." CNN . 13 August 2001. 17 August 2001. Notice that in this example, I have chosen a variety of sources: a book, a scholarly journal, and a web page. Using a variety of sources can help give you a broader picture of what is being said about your topic. You may want to investigate how scholarly sources are treating this topic differently than more popular sources. But again, if your assignment is to only use scholarly sources, then you will probably want to avoid magazines and popular web sites. Notice that the bibliographic information above is proper MLA format (use whatever style is appropriate in your field) and the annotations are in paragraph form. Note also that the entries are alphabetized by the first word in the bibliographic entry. If you are writing an annotated bibliography with many sources, it may be helpful to divide the sources into categories. For example, if I was putting together an extensive annotated bibliography for stem cell research, I may divide the sources into categories such as ethical concerns, scholarly analyses, and political ramifications. For more examples, a quick search at a library or even on the Internet should produce several examples of annotated bibliographies in your area. The following information must remain intact on every handout printed for distribution. This page is located at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/print/general/gl_annotatedbibEX.html Senior Research Paper ❖ Zartler ❖ February 2009

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Bibliographic Format for References One excellent resource for your bibliography, and citations format is the web site: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_mla.html . This web site has all the information you would need. I also have examples of the bibliographic and parenthetical formats you are most likely to need below.

Based on the M LA Hand boo k for W rit ers of R esea rc h P ape rs, 6th ed., 2003.

In MLA style, sources are acknowledged by short parenthetical citations in the text instead of numbered footnotes. The parenthetical citation includes just enough information to point the reader to the complete information about the source in the Works Cited list. The parenthetical usually includes the author's last name (if an anonymous work, the first one or two words from the title), and the page number cited. Leave the author's name out of the parenthetical if it is clearly stated in your sentence. When your Works Cited list includes more than one work by an author, the parenthetical should include part of the title, i.e., (Nielsen, Hypertext 141). If the entire work is being acknowledged, or there is no page or paragraph number (as in the case of many online works), incorporate the author's name into the sentence instead of using a parenthetical. The works cited list, like your entire paper should be double spaced (below it is shown single spaces to save paper).

Type of Entry Book - single author Book - more than one author Work in an anthology e.g EBSCO Newspaper article from online database When citing an online source, include the publication date (5 June 1998) and the date you visited the site (15 April 2004). e.g EBSCO Article from an online database When citing an online source, include the publication date (1998) and the date you visited the site (15 April 2004). e.g EBSCO Article from a Web site When citing an online source, include the publication date (13 July 2000) and the date you visited the site (15 April 2004).

Works Cited list

Citation in Text

Oates, David. Paradise Wild: Reimagining American Nature. Corvallis: Oregon State University Press, 2003. Gilbert, Sandra M., and Susan Gubar. The Madwoman in the Attic. New Haven: Yale UP, 1979. Hooker, Thomas. "A True Sight of Sin." The American Puritans: Their Prose and Poetry. Ed. Perry Miller. New York: Columbia UP, 1982. 153-64.

(Oates 141)

Fletcher, Michael A. "Study Finds Wide Racial Disparity in Death Penalty." Washington Post 5 June 1998: A24. LexisNexis Academic: News. GALILEO. 25 Sept. 2003 .

Mention in your text: "Fletcher reports..." See section 6.4.1 of the MLA Handbook for more information.

Voss, Paul J. "Debris from Heaven in Paradise Lost." English Language Notes 35.3 (1998): 37-41. Academic Search Premier. EBSCOhost. GALILEO. 25 Sept. 2003 .

Mention in your text: "According to Voss..." See section 6.4.1 of the MLA Handbook for more information.

Blume, Harvey. "Geek Studies." Atlantic Online 13 July 2000. 25 Sept. 2003 .

Mention in your text: "Harvey Blume states..." See section 6.4.1of the MLA Handbook for more information.

Senior Research Paper ❖ Zartler ❖ February 2009

(Gilbert and Gubar 9) (Hooker 154)

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Magazine article Journal article Newspaper article (unsigned) Reprinted article

Article from encyclopedia (unsigned) Article from online encyclopedia When citing an online source, include the publication date (1992) and the date you visited the site (15 April 2004). Entire Web site When citing an online source, include the publication date (2003) and the date you visited the site (15 April 2004). Web page within a larger Web site When citing an online source, include the publication date (1999) and the date you visited the site (15 April 2004). Film or video See section 5.8 of the MLA Handbook for citing radio, TV, live performances, recordings, interviews, and works of art.

Cowley, Geoffrey. "I'd Toddle a Mile for a Camel." Newsweek 23 Dec. 1991: 70-71. Snodgrass, Susan. "The Rubbish Heap of History." Art in America 88.5 (2000): 156-57. "Give Georgia More HOPE." Atlanta Journal Constitution 18 Dec. 1994: G6. Parks, Edd Winfield. "Edna St. Vincent Millay." The Sewanee Review 38.1 (1930): 42-49. Rpt. in Twentieth Century Literary Criticism. Ed. Sharon K. Hall. Vol. 4. Detroit: Gale, 1981. 310-11. "Tutankhamen." The New Encyclopaedia Britannica: Micropaedia. 15th ed. 1994.

(Cowley 70)

Killam, G.D. "Chinua Achebe." Dictionary of Literary Biography. Ed. Bernth Lindfors and Reinhard Sander. Vol. 117. Detroit: Gale, 1992. 15-34. Literature Resource Center. Gale. U of Georgia Lib. 25 Sept. 2003 .

Mention in your text: "Killam's analysis..." See section 6.4.1 of the MLA Handbook for more information.

Electronic Poetry Center. 2003. SUNY Buffalo. 25 Sept. 2003 .

Mention in your text: "The Electronic Poetry Center archives..." See section 6.4.1 of the MLA Handbook for more information.

Martin, Thomas R. "An Overview of Classical Greek History from Homer to Alexander." Perseus Digital Library. Ed. Gregory R. Crane. 1999. Tufts U. 25 Sept. 2003 .

(Martin 4.8.IV)

Taxi Driver. Screenplay by Paul Schrader. Dir. Martin Scorsese. Perf. Robert De Niro, Cybill Shepherd, and Jodie Foster. Columbia Pictures, 1976.

Mention in your text: "The violence in Taxi Driver..." See section 6.4.1 of the MLA Handbook for more information.

(Snodgrass 156) ("Give" G6) (Parks 311)

("Tutankhamen")

Adapted from: University of Georgia. http://www.libs.uga.edu/ref/mlastyle.html See we all stand on the shoulders of giants!

Important notes: When a quotation is more than 3 lines long. Block indent the quote. Single space the quote. Do NOT use quotation marks. End the quote with a period. Then have the parenthetical citation. If you paraphrase some one, do not put what you write in quotes, do make a parenthetical citation.

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The following is from the Purdue University Owl web site: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_mla.html#Works-Cited Your Works Cited List The works cited list should appear at the end of your essay. It provides the information necessary for a reader to locate and be able to read any sources you cite in the essay. Each source you cite in the essay must appear in your works-cited list; likewise, each entry in the works-cited list must be cited in your text. Preparing your works cited list using MLA style is covered in chapter six of the MLA Style Manual, and chapter four of the Handbook for Writing Research Papers. Here are some guidelines for preparing your works cited list. List Format • Begin your works cited list on a separate page from the text of the essay under the label Works Cited (with no quotation marks, underlining, etc.), which should be centered at the top of the page. • Make the first line of each entry in your list flush left with the margin. Subsequent lines in each entry should be indented onehalf inch. This is known as a hanging indent. • Double space all entries, with no skipped spaces between entries. • Keep in mind that underlining and italics are equivalent; you should select one or the other to use throughout your essay. • Alphabetize the list of works cited by the first word in each entry (usually the author's last name), Basic Rules for Citations • Authors' names are inverted (last name first); if a work has more than one author, invert only the first author's name, follow it with a comma, then continue listing the rest of the authors. • If you have cited more than one work by a particular author, order them alphabetically by title, and use three hyphens in place of the author's name for every entry after the first. • When an author appears both as the sole author of a text and as the first author of a group, list solo-author entries first. • If no author is given for a particular work, alphabetize by the title of the piece and use a shortened version of the title for parenthetical citations. • Capitalize each word in the titles of articles, books, etc. This rule does not apply to articles, short prepositions, or conjunctions unless one is the first word of the title or subtitle. • Underline or italicize titles of books, journals, magazines, newspapers, and films. • Use quotation marks around the titles of articles in journals, magazines, and newspapers. Also use quotation marks for the titles of short stories, book chapters, poems, and songs. • List page numbers efficiently, when needed. If you refer to a journal article that appeared on pages 225 through 250, list the page numbers on your Works Cited page as 225-50. • If you're citing an article or a publication that was originally issued in print form but that you retrieved from an online database, you should provide enough information so that the reader can locate the article either in its original print form or retrieve it from the online database (if they have access). For more about this, see our discussion of electronic sources. For more about formatting your works cited page, visit MLA List of Works Cited (from Research and Documentation Online), view a Sample Works Cited Page (from A Research Guide for Students), or visit some of the links in our additional resources section. Basic Forms for Sources in Print The MLA Style Manual provides extensive examples of print source citations in chapter six; The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers provides extensive examples covering a wide variety of potential sources in chapter six. If your particular case is not covered here, use the basic forms to determine the correct format, consult the MLA Handbook, visit the links in our additional resources section, talk to your instructor, or call the Writing Lab (765-494-3723) for help.

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