***Note: This MLA project is a mandatory, pre-requisite for turning in a Final Research paper. You need to start early if you want to apply your research work toward your paper. That’s why we are doing this now. This week, we will focus on the research and pre-writing steps. The steps outlined in this exercise are the required first steps towards identifying a theme, narrowing down your ideas, and identifying proper scholarly secondary sources to help you write your final research paper. NOTE: If you are submitting a final paper, THEN YOU MUST SUBMIT the MLA Exercise the due date:
POST MLA exercise by SUN, 7/18 @ 11:59 in the ASSIGNMENTS SECTION of Blackboard!!!!
You will NOT be allowed to turn in a Final research Paper (and will receive a 0 for that assignment) if you do not turn in the MLA exercise by the due date!
Directions:
MLA Project Explanation:
What I have termed MLA Project is actually the first steps you have to take as you prepare to write a research paper. For class and grade purposes the first phase (MLA Project) and the final (the actual paper) will be treated as one. In other words, you will get one grate (up to 10 points) for your paper. This exercise will help you select the necessary sources to write your paper.
What you have to do for the MLA Project:
Answer these questions:
1. What is MLA style formatting and what is it for?
2. What is a PEER-REVIEWED article?
3.What is an ABSTRACT? Include an example with your definition (you may simply cut & paste your example)
4. What is a BIBLIOGRAPHY?
5. What is an ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY?
Cite 2 examples of scholarly databases where you can find FULL PEER-REVIEWED articles
the MLA Project:
1. Come up with a tentative title for a paper you are proposing to write. I say tentative because after you finish your research, you may decide to change the title. So, why choose a tentative tile? Because a title (even if you change it later) helps you focus. A title is actually not even a complete sentence that reflects the idea /thesis of your paper. When choosing a tentative title, you are in fact narrowing the topic of your paper. For example, you could write a papers titled, Mothers, Maidens or Whores: The Representation of Female Identity in Literature; or Representations of Madness in Womens XIX Century Fiction Written by Women. These titles allow you to analyze one of the works we read this semester and apply your thesis to the work in question. Notice that your thesis should be independent from the work you are analyzing. Use Persons and Others by Lorraine Code and Forbidden Fruits in Clarice Lispectors The Body by Santos as models of research papers. Note the both research articles use a work of fiction in order to apply the authors theses/hypotheses.
2. Write an abstract of the paper you are proposing to write.
An abstract is a summary, with a clearly stated thesis, and proposed methodology. What is the general/background info on the topic you are proposing? What is your hypothesis or thesis? What are YOU claiming? What works and methods are you going to use in order to prove your thesis? You should read other authors abstracts (usually posted in the beginning of the article) as examples/models. In step #3, you will have to identify 20 articles, read those articles abstracts.
3. After you have proposed a TITLE and an ABSTRAT, then look for 10 peer-reviewed, scholarly articles that may help you write the paper you proposed in your abstract. You can find good articles in Project Muse, Google Scholar, or JStor. Make sure you select only ARTICLES (reviews are not acceptable).
Scholarly articles are serious pieces of research. They are usually not shorter than ten-fifteen pages and contain a bibliography of at least five scholarly articles (these are short cheat-tips to check whether your selection is in fact a PEER-REVIEWD, SCHOLARLY ARTICLE).
After you select your ten sources, READ each articles Abstract to find out what the article is really about and whether it seems relevant to your proposed research. You may find out that not all sources are actually useful to your topic/approach. After you do this, you will be ready to put together an ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY.
What is an annotated bibliography? A BIBLIOGRAPHY (a list of works on a topic) with an ANNOTATION (a short note describing the article). Note that a BIBLIOGRAPHY is different from a WORKS CITED PAGE because in a Works Cited page you include the works you CITED in your paper, but since you have not written a paper yet, your BIBLIOGRAPHY is a list of works on the topic you proposedthese works can be used to help you write your paper.
After you select your articles and read their abstracts, then writein your own wordsa summary of the summary of each article (an annotation). While ABSTRACTS are usually a paragraph-long, an annotation can be 2-5 sentences. Below each article, include your annotation.
BASICALLY your ANNOTATTED BIBLIOGRAPHY will contain:
The words Annotated Bibliography centered on top,
Each selected article (in STRICT MLA format) followed by its annotation Go to the MLA Guidelinesuse a book or the Purdue MLA site I postedand follow the instructions VERY CAREFULLY. If it say italics, do not use underline and so on.
4. Basically your MLA Project will contain two parts:
a. The proposal: Your proposal is your tentative Title+ your abstract THATS IT! Nothing else needed on this firstpage (your name, of course).
b. The Annotated Bibliography (10 peer-reviewed articles in MLA format with a short, 2-5 sentences, annotation)
EXAMPLE:
Annotated Bibliography
Adams, Joe. Article title. Journal Title. + all required MLA information
In this article Joe Adams raise the problem of He uses Mary Janes book, Great Book to show how his thesis would work on a case such as
Bass, Mary. EVERYTHING IN MLA FORMAT!!! (including line spacing)!
POST your complete MLA Exercise in the ASSIGNMENTS subsection of BB. You will NOT receive a separate grade for this, but it is a mandatory prerequisite to submit a final research paper. Because the computer makes me assign a grade for each POST, I will assign 0. This only means that you turned in the MLA Exercise and fully qualify to turn in the final paper.
