Evaluating Sources Assignment

  General description of the assignment: 1. You will analyze the list of sources provided in the ~Materials~ and determine which sources you as a historian believe are more and less reliable if you were writing a book on the life of Frederick Douglass. 2. You will write a paper (no more than four pages in length) in which you will discuss which four sources from the list of sources that you feel are strongest, describe those sources and correctly identify what type of source each one is (primary, secondary, or tertiary) as well as explain how and why you would use them in your book. You will then discuss the remaining sources (correctly identifying the type of source each one is) and why you feel they are not as strong. 3. In the process of writing your paper you will properly cite your sources within the paper (in-text citation) using the MLA style. 4. You will also provide a Works Cited (in other words bibliography) of all the sources following the MLA style. In order to complete your assignment, follow the directions listed below: Part I of the assignment: Before you start your paper, first of all you will need to examine the list of online sources available in the ~Materials~, which are referred to as “List of Sources.” You will need to read through each of those sources and take some notes for yourself. Some of the sources are briefer, while others are a few pages in length. You will need to note which sources are primary sources versus secondary or tertiary sources and note what that source is all about and its strengths and weaknesses. Part II of the assignment: You must provide a bibliography (or in MLA parlance a Works-Cited page). It does not need to be annotated and does not count as part of the four page limit. A. The bibliography should be sorted alphabetically according to the information provided to you. Use the author’s last name first. If the author’s name is not provided, the title of the web page you are using. If there is not an available web page title within the website, then you use the website’s title. B. Each source should provide a complete and correct bibliographic entry based upon the MLA style. For Example: Jefferson, Thomas. “Declaration of Independence.” Primary Documents in American History. www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/DeclarInd.html. Accessed March 10, 2017. Just to help you out: The author is Thomas Jefferson. The title page within the larger website is the Declaration of Independence (in quote marks).The website is Primary Documents . . . and is in italics just like a book title would be. If you do not have an author, then the web page within the website takes the place of the author as far as alphabetizing goes. If you do not have a title page and you are merely citing an entire website and no author, then the website’s title (still in italics) takes the place of the author. D. This part of the assignment will be graded based upon the accurate bibliographic entry using the correct format. Part III of the assignment: The other part of this assignment is asking you to think like a historian. A. If you were researching and writing a book, select from the list of sources found in the Canvas Classroom the four sources that you feel would be most useful in helping to write your book. You should explain (identify) what each source is (including the type of source it is), why you think it is a strong source (in other words explain your analysis of each source), and then how you think you would use it in your book. After that, you need to address the remaining sources and again explain what each source is (including proper identification of the type of source it is) and why you think it is not as strong a source. B. You must correctly cite your sources (again using MLA style) throughout your paper. C. This portion of your assignment will be graded based upon the following: -Your effectiveness of identifying all the sources and explaining your analysis over a source’s strengths and weaknesses. -Explaining how you would use those sources in writing your book (the fours strongest sources that is). -Writing style -Proper, effective, and thorough use of the sources within your paper and correct parenthetical citations (in-text citation based upon the MLA format) throughout. IV. Submission instructionsThe two parts of the assignment (both the works cited page and the paper itself) are to be submitted together as one document through Turnitin.com in your Canvas classroom. V. Assignment rules: A. The works cited/bibliography should be no more than two pages in length (normally), using twelve point type, Times New Roman font, and one inch margins all the way around. There are no exceptions to this! (Reduce long urls to no more than one line. Remember your instructor actually has the urls so keeping them shorter than they really are is not a problem.) B. The other part of your paper should be no more than four pages in length using twelve point type, Times New Roman font, and one inch margins all the way around. It should also be double-spaced. There are no exceptions to this! C. The bibliography does not count as part of the four page paper portion of the assignment. D. Your writing is to be free of both basic grammatical and spelling errors. More than three errors per page will result in a serious reduction of your score. E. The writing portion of the assignment should have both introductory and concluding paragraphs. Your writing needs to be complete, well-written, and citing sources correctly and thoroughly. F. Please avoid quotes, but if you do, you must cite at the end of the sentence that the quote is used. G. Please number your pages.