english 101

 
Thanks for a productive week of class. I am very much looking forward to reading the papers you submitted this week and, importantly, working with those of you who are working to finish those papers. Let me know when you have questions or need feedback.
The goals of this reflection/research assignment are:
1) to begin to figure out important differences between your second paper and the final paper,
2) to offer practice quoting and paraphrasing information from sources, this time in MLA style  and, then, commenting on it. You’ll be doing this in your research paper, too, so this is an opportunity to practice.
There are two parts to this assignment:
A. Read through the assignment for the final research paper. Make sure to examine carefully the guidelines for each section.
1. According to the assignment guidelines, what is the difference between the main purpose/goal for the second paper and the final research paper? Overall, what are you trying to help you audience understand in the second paper? Overall, what are you trying to help your audience understand in your final research paper? How will those different purposes impact the information you decide to present in the final paper? There is no specific right or wrote answer to these questions: I encourage you to read the assignments carefully, compare the similarities and differences, and make intelligent judgments based on your understanding. Please have confidence in your thinking and your intelligence!
2. According to the assignment guidelines, what are some of the important expectations a paper will need to meet to earn an A or B on this assignment? What do you think you will need to do to make sure your paper earns the grade you are working hard to earn?
To receive full credit for ts assignment, your response should be detailed and well-explained: shoot for at least one well-explained paragraph in response to each question.
B. Second, you will spend about 30 minutes reading and writing about a source related to your topic/problem. This can be a source you’ve already used or a new one. You’ll practice quoting, paraphrasing and commenting on the source. Here is a resource to help your improve quoting and paraphrasing.
1. Find a sentence to quote. Present the quote using MLA style with a strong signal phrase with the author’s full name to introduce the quote, a comma after the signal phrase verb, quotation marks around the quote, the page number in parentheses after the quotation marks, and a period after the parentheses.
2. Next do the same exercise, only this time paraphrase the information in your own words. You will still introduce your paraphrase with a signal phrase and end with an in-text citation. However, you will not put quotation marks around the paraphrased information. 
3. Finally, offer 3-5 sentences of your own commentary in which you explain why the information is important or what it means. Please start this commentary with a phrase like this: “The author is suggesting that …” or “This means that …” or “What is especially important about this is that …”
To earn full credit, your response to both parts of this assignment should demonstrate your seriousness and intelligence and fulfill all of the requirements. Let me know if you have questions.