Sophomore Project Compare/Contrast

Sophomore Project Paper Requirements

8 body paragraphs typed or word processed

MLA format 5 research sources minimum Sources must

be academic, scholarly articles from recognizable foundations, coalitions, etc.

Thesis Statement

What is a Thesis Statement? A one- or two-sentence condensation of the argument or

analysis that is to followWhy Should Your Essay Contain a Thesis Statement? to test your ideas by distilling them into a sentence or two to better organize and develop your argument to provide your reader with a “guide” to your argument In general, your thesis statement will accomplish these goals

if you think of the thesis as the answer to the question your paper explores.

How to Generate a Thesis Statement

Reduce topic to a single, specific question. compose one or two complete sentences

answering that question. For example, assignment: Write a report to the local

school board explaining the potential benefits of using computers in a fourth-grade class.

Question: “What are the potential benefits of using computers in a fourth-grade class?”

How to Tell a Strong Thesis Statement from a Weak One.

A strong thesis statement… takes some sort of stand. justifies discussion. expresses one main idea. is specific.

Thesis: Occasion/Position format1. Write the occasion – the reason for the essay (dependent clause)2. Write the position – what you hope to prove, explain, solve (independent

clause) Occasions always start with one of the following:

In order that If After Since Before Unless Although So that Whenever As long as As Even though

Example Occasion/Position Thesis Though the cultures of Germany and Austria are

often confused, the government, education, and economy of these two countries are quite different .

Although the governments of Israel and Jordan are similar, the education systems and economic views are very diverse.

Even though Sudan and Nigeria are both located in Africa, the health standards, economies, and governments are divergent.

Beginning research- sources Acceptable sources

Newspaper articles Website pages Scholarly Journal Articles Books

Not acceptable sources Wikipedia Ask.com Personal blogs

Where do I find sources? School Research Database

EBSCO Host (Online) www.bonita.k12.ca.us – library- EBSCO Host- Username: bonita Password: bearcat

Library: OPAC

Where do I find sources? Other Databases and Resources

www.googlescholar.com www.cuil.com News: CNN.com, Channel One.com, BBC.com,

LATimes.com, NYTimes.com, MSNBC.com Culture: Discoverychannel.com,

Nationalgeographic.com

Note cards- CD Collectors Purpose of note cards

To collect concrete details Begin sifting through research Stay organized

Guidelines for note cards: Only ONE SHORT Concrete Detail per note card Must be EXACT Quotes WORD FOR WORD Must be NEAT and LEGIBLE…

if you can’t read them, they won’t be useful when you begin to outline your paper.

must be on a ring or in a spiral note card book

Note cards- Getting started Each person in the group gets a number 1-4 Each person labels his or her sources with a

large A1, B1, C1 or A2, B2, C2 in the top right hand corner…

Put A1 in the top right hand corner of a note card

Note cards- Now what? Find a good CD from source A1 Highlight CD in pink or underline in red since Write CD in the middle of the note card

Note Card format – Front

Header Source Letter (A1, B1, etc.)

Corresponding with source finder

“Concrete detail (fact)- exact quotation in quote marks.”

Page # or net (internet source) and section of website

Some note card definitions/explanations Header: A short (few words) explaining that fact

ex. Child Cancer Death statistic or homeless teens fact Source letter: This is how you know which cards go with which

sources. A card marked with A1 should go with a source marked A1

Concrete Detail: A fact or statistic or piece of evidence found in one of your sources.

Page # or section: Write the page # if it’s from a book or article. from a website write “net” followed by the section in

(parentheses) Ex. net (Cancer research)

Some note card definitions/explanations

CD’s must be copied WORD FOR WORD put in quotes to avoid plagiarism

If the person who said the quote, isn’t the person who wrote the article precede your CD with Dr. Martin Luther King

Jr. said “I have a dream.”

Note Card format – Back Last name, P. 1,4,or 6

Stark

1. Government, Econ, Education, or Health

2. Sub Section: (Example: Types, Male/Female, Groups that Threaten, Groups that help)

Working Bibliography What and why?

To keep track of your sources Will become your Works Cited page

www.easybib.com

MLA Formatting Title Page First Page of Writing Headers Interior Citations Works Cited

Internal Citations General rules:

Use the first words that are found in your works cited entry.

If the article title has six or more words… create a shortened version of the title

If article title is five words or less, use the entire title

Internal Citations Examples Ex: “In the United States in 2003, the poverty

rate for all individuals was 12.5%” (Payne 4). “quote” (Author’s last name page #).

Ex: “The war in Uganda has been called the most neglected humanitarian emergency in the world today” (“The War in Northern Uganda”). “quote” (“name of article or website page”).

Attributive words for lead ins/out

“According to (author) in (book, name of article, etc), …. ”

Who said it (person or organization) + Why are they credible (job, expertise, experience, degree) + a verb such as… Claims States Defines ______ as Asserts In her research, _________found that

Something to help you with Commentary These resources are valuable to the citizens of

(country) for/because of (jobs and trade, opportunities to vote, etc.). 

Also, many consumer products come from these resources.  However, South Africa has “diamonds and agricultural products” for its main resources. 

The advantages of these resources for its population is that . . .

Introductory Paragraph A basic introduction to your paper Explaining that these two countries are

commonly confused. Final sentence: Thesis Statement in

Occasion/Position format

Concluding Paragraph Which country has greater advantages for

its citizens? Summarize some of the findings from your paper.

Which country would you prefer to be a citizen of? Why?