English 102

Preliminary Bibliography: Ten Sources

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English 102
Syllabus (DOC file)

Davis Oldham
FOSS 5355
206-546-4768

The core of this assignment is quite simple:

Make a list of at least ten sources you have found so far that may be relevant to your research question. They do not all need to be scholarly, though I expect you to have some by now. The scholarly ones should be labeled (see below).

There are certain rules you must follow in order to complete the assignment successfully:

• Alphabetize the list by author’s last name.
• Format the list according to MLA guidelines. These are explained in the Purdue OWL page on MLA style and in “Documenting Sources: MLA Style: Humanities” at the Research and Documentation Online website. The Shoreline library also has the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, which gives detailed explanations and examples for almost any type of source.

Besides the MLA formatting rules, I have some requirements of my own:

• Identify the thesis of each source, in your own words (do not simply copy from the article). I want to be sure you are familiar with the basic idea of the source and that you understand exactly what a thesis is. Remember that a thesis can only be expressed as a complete declarative sentence, not a phrase or a question. Put the thesis at the end of the entry for that source, after all the information required in the MLA guidelines.
• Label all scholarly sources. This is so I can check your understanding of what a scholarly source is, and so you and I can both make sure you will have the required number of scholarly sources in your final bibliography. Scholarly sources can be labeled with an “S” at the end of the list, by using special formatting (e.g. bold or italics) or in any other way that clearly identifes them. If you use formatting or special characters to identify scholarly sources, please include a note somewhere on your list explaining this.
• Include your research question at the top of the page.

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Grading Criteria

The paper will be scored on the following categories. Each will receive a score of 4, 3, 2, 1 or 0 (corresponding to the letter grades A – F). The total grade will be an average of those scores.

1. Question is focused and unified
2. Question leads to an arguable and descriptive thesis
3. Sources are of the correct quantity and type (10 total, minimum 3 scholarly, reference works may be used but do not count toward the total, no textbooks without my approval)
4. Sources are adequate and appropriate to topic
5. Sources’ theses are correctly identified, in your own words
6. Scholarly sources are correctly identified
7. List is formatted according to MLA guidelines