Source Synthesis Final Draft

Don't forget that your final draft of the Source Synthesis Essay is due this Friday, October 26th, 2012 at 5:00 pm :) Please upload it to your Dropbox account. Don't forget to include your bibliography as the last page. Remember, this is your final draft, so I will be grading it with extensive commentary. If you are unhappy with your final grade, you will have the option of rewriting your essay by making the appropriate suggested changes. Please email me if you have any questions.

Don't Be Like The Bear!

 

Synthesizing Summaries

We've now finished reading the three articles about how television affects us and our culture. Our next task is learning how to combine our summaries in such a way as to produce a new piece of work that takes the best from each individual article summary and integrates it all into a single passage.

The source synthesis chart will act like your outline for this essay. It will allow you to graphically organize your three articles based on three points of comparison that you will choose. Points of comparison/contrast can include: TV and it's influence on child development or TV and it's influence on human pyschology.

The source synthesis powerpoint will give you a good idea on how to combine the three articles into a cogent essay on the topic of television. The idea is not to take sides. What we are striving for in this essay is the ability to compare and contrast or evaluate the idea of how television influences our culture based on the information in each of the three articles.

The example essay is a great resource. Read it over and see how you can pattern your own essay after it. Pay special attention to the thesis statement and topic sentences, as well as the introduction and conclusion.

Finally, I upload a document on language for comparing and contrasting. It shouldn't require any explanation. 

Summary Synthesis Template

Source Synthesis Powerpoint
Example Essay 
Language for Comparing and Contrasting

Presentation on Neutral Language

A concise guide to presenting your summary the way it should be, that is, without bias and as objectively as possible!

Objective vs. Subjective 
Reporting Verbs

Reflective Essay #2: In Class Reflection

It's now time for us to do our second reflective essay of the semester. The first one had to deal with with your personal writing style and how your culture possibly influences the way you write. This essay will deal with plagiarism and how we can incorporate outside sources into to our writing, to make it more succinct, stronger or more credible, while also giving proper credit to the original author(s). Please answer the following prompt in at least 300 words. 

We have spent a good amount of time discussing plagiarism in class. What is plagiarism? Why is it important to avoid it? How can you avoid plagiarism? Explain the difference between quoting, paraphrasing and summarizing. What is the difference between quoting and citing? Do you think that learning about plagiarism and how to avoid it was useful? Why or why not? What are the plagiarism policies in your home country? Are they similar or different from the ones you have learned in this class? Is there anything about plagiarism that you would like to discuss more in class? What? Write at least 300 words. If you use any sources to answer any of these questions, give them proper credit. 

When you are finished, please hand in your responses. I will take a look at them over the weekend.

Summary Writing Practice

Here is a very informative power point presentation created by two ESL 500 teachers, Betsy Devine and Kristen Michaelson, on how to correctly write a summary.

The Joys of Summary Writing

New Powerpoints!

The links below will take you to the power point presentations we've been referring to in class. Covered in the first presentation are the topics: plagiarism, quotation, paraphrasing and summary writing. Please consider using this to inform any questions you may have while working on the Source Synthesis Paper. The second short power point has some basic information on APA-style citation and referencing. As always, get in touch with me should you have any questions.

Plagiarism, Quotations, Paraphrasing and Summary
APA Citation + Referencing 

Source-Synthesis Paper

For our next major assignment, you will summarize three short articles about different aspects of the ongoing debate about the (lack of) virtues associated with the culture of TV here in the United States and then synthesize them into an effective summary that compares and contrasts both sides of the debate. Below you will find a link to the assignment information. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU READ THIS DOCUMENT. There will be multiple due dates and it is your responsibility to know when each component is due. We will go over the assignment in class today but after that, you should refer to the document for further questions.

Source Synthesis Paper Information

The first summary is due by 3:00 pm, Tuesday, October 9th, 2012. Your assignment is to summarize the following article. As always, please email me with any questions (or come visit me during my office hours, Tuesdays and Thursday from 12-1 pm in 2022 FLB.

Article #1: Television Addiction
Article #2: TV is a Positive Influence on Child Development
Article #3: TV Turning Young Girls into Fame Monsters  (Listen to the story here)

Informal Early Feedback Form

Below you will find a link to a short survey about how the class is going so far. Please take a few minutes and answer the questions. They will help me make our future classes even more efficient by tailoring them to your needs. Thanks!

Informal Early Feedback Form

APA Formatting Worksheet

We will be talking about the APA guidelines for source citations on Thursday of this week. Please take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with the topic by filling out the worksheet (first link below) using the information found on Purdue's Online Writing Lab (OWL) website (second link). The OWL webpage is a great resource for information on the all the aspects of writing effectively in English. The homepage is listed to the right under the header "Helpful Websites". Please email me or leave a comment on the course website if you have any questions or concerns, but don't worry if you can't find all of the answers or there is something you are unsure about; this is just an introduction to the topic. We will cover everything in detail in class on Thursday.

APA Worksheet

Purdue OWL: APA Formatting and Style

Powerpoints on the Writing Process

Here are a couple of the power point presentations that I used in class to talk about the writing process. There is everything from outlining to introductions and conclusions, body paragraphs, topics sentences and unity and coherence. Hopefully these will not only provide you with a useful reminder of the steps involved in producing a quality piece of writing in English but help you to organize your in class notes and exercises. As always, let me know if you have any questions or comments.

The Writing Process (Days 4-7) 

Unity and Coherence in Your Essay (Betsy Devine, ESL 500) 

You'll also notice that I've started to put up some of the other documents we've consulted in class over the course of the last month under the "Class Links" heading to the right. Hopefully they're helpful!