NOTES ON WRITING EXHIBITION REVIEWS
JUDY RADUL
NOV. 2000
What is most important is that you write a response which is appropriate to the art you are speaking about. Of course, giving the reader certain information before other points are made makes more sense— for instance a physical description of the work should come before interpretive points, which rely on a knowledge of the physical description of the work.
Remember: reviews are relatively short, make every word count, choose your adjectives and adverbs with great specificity and economy. For example think of the different connotations which arise if you describe a way of working as “traditional” rather than “common” or “usual”. Don’t fall into banality, be interested in the work. You do not have to be “objective” — the reader understands you are putting forth your own opinion—choosing to write about a specific exhibition already indicates a certain investment in it. You should, however, be as informed as possible about the artist, the contemporary and historical art context, the specifics of the work (its topics and particular cultural/social/historical/material references) and the curator and gallery (if this is relevant). Talking to the artist or curator directly is how a majority of reviewers glean important information—however their opinions/intentions are not “the truth” or necessarily more authoritative than your own. Be prepared to spend some time at the gallery, take notes, make sketches, ask for reproductions if they are available, ask if you can take some photographs if you want to refer to these while writing.
Local Context (start your review with some inclusion of Name of Exhibition, Name of Artist, Name of Curator, Location of Exhibition)
“The Sydney art world is notoriously factionalized and combative....For outsiders or new arrivals this generally bitchy atmosphere is both surprising and highly entertaining. It was inevitable that when Anthony Bond, Head Curator of Western Art at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, opened his long-awaited “BODY” exhibition, it would be met with a response colored by entrenched histories of antagonism and partisanship...” ( David McNeill, Body, Art/Text 60, 1998)
(Physical) description of the work: this doesn’t have to exclude all other descriptive/interpretive language but forefronts a relatively basic description of the art, rather than conceptual interpretation,
Observations, assessments, critiques of the work : the review need not be uniformly “positive” or “negative” in fact the aspect of “judgment” or assessing the “success” of the work might be secondary to a more general outlining or interpretation of the project or aims of the artist. .
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Monday, April 25, 2011
Research
Finding Sources
* Gathering Information for Essays which Require Research: Background
* Finding Sources--explanation
* Primary & Secondary Sources
* On-Line(Card) Catalog
* Magazines & Journals
* Indexes & Abstracts
* Newspaper Indexes
* Reference Books
* Library of Congress Subject Heading Index
* Books
* Internet Resources
* Knowledgeable People
* Interlibrary Loan
* Reference Librarian
* Exercise 6: Primary & Secondary Sources
* Exercise 7: Sample Searches
* Ask the writing tutor about your own Search Strategy
Gathering Information for Essays which Require Research: Background
Gathering sources is much more complex than it used to be. For starters, there are more resources available. Secondly, information can be gathered in a number of places. Your primary places for locating sources will be:
* The library
* Other computer sources (CDRoms, etc.)
* The internet/world wide web
The computer in the library usually will have instructions attached to it. Most library systems allow you to search by title, author, or subject headings, and most are cross-referenced. If you know which books you want, or know a specific author who has written books about the field that you are researching, then go ahead and use the title or author categories in the computer. You also may find it very helpful to use the subject heading category, which will offer you more options for the books that might be useful to you in doing your research.
The subject heading category allows you to put in key words that might lead to books in your interest area. Don't limit yourself, though, by putting in words that are too narrow or too broad. If your search words are too narrow, you will not find many sources; on the other hand if they are too broad, you will not find the search useful either.
Key words are words that relate to your topic but are not necessarily in your thesis statement (note that it will be most helpful if you have a clear idea about your topic before you begin this type of research, although research can also help to narrow your thesis). For example, if you are searching for information about women in the Civil War, it would be too broad to enter just "women" and "war." You would find too many sources this way. It might also be too narrow to enter the name of a specific woman--you probably need more historical context. Try key phrases such as "women and Civil War" or "girls and Civil War." You want to find as many books that might be helpful on the subject that you are searching, without providing yourself with so much information that you lose sight of your original topic.
You will also discover that there is another great way to find books that might be helpful to you. As you find books on your topic listed in the computer, you can then track those books down on the shelf. After a few minutes of searching on the computer, you will start to see that certain books have call numbers (the number on the book's spine that tells its location in the library) that are similar. After you finish your work on the computer, ask a reference librarian, or follow the signs on the walls to locate the call numbers that correspond with your books. When you get to the section where your book is located, don't just look at that book. Look around, too. Sometimes you will find great resources that you were unaware of just by looking on the shelf. Because libraries are generally organized by topic, you can often find some real "gems" this way. Also check the index in the front or the back of the book (the one in the back is always more detailed, but not all books have one) to be sure that the information you are looking for is in the book. A book can have a great title, but no information. On the other hand, a book that doesn't seem to go along with what you are doing can turn out to have a lot of usable information.
Books are generally a great resource--they often contain a lot of information gathered into one place, and they can give you a more thorough investigation of your topic. As you are reading a book, journal article, or newspaper article, you should keep the following questions in mind, which will help you understand how useful the book will be to you.
1. Is the book or article biased in a particular way? For instance, is the book or article written by a person who is a member of a particular religious group, or a particular environmental group, for example, which would "color" their interpretation?
2. Does the author agree or disagree with my thesis?
3. Is the information presented accurately, to the best of your knowledge? Is the author him/herself using valid sources?
Periodicals
Magazines (including Time or Newsweek) are called periodicals as they are published periodically (weekly, monthly, etc.). When you are doing research in the library, a great place to look for information is a publication called The Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature. This is a book which lists, by both author and subject, the names and locations of articles written in that particular year about a particular subject.
Most libraries only keep the most current issues of these magazines on the shelf. The rest are bound together in collections, usually by year. These are usually kept in a separate room (in the basement, to my experience!) where you can go and look at them. Usually, the location is a place called "the stacks," which is where you go to look for periodicals that are older than the current issue. Remember that you can't take these out of the library. If you find articles that you want to take home, you need to photocopy them. Newspaper articles are sometimes in the bound periodicals, but are more often found on microfiche or microfilm.
Make sure to distinguish betwen general interest magazines and professional journals; this is an important distinction in college-level research.
Other computer resources (CDROM, specialized databases etc)
Many libraries today, especially if they are larger libraries, have information available on CDROM or through what are called specialized databases. Be sure to tell a reference librarian what you are working on, and ask her advice on whether or not there is information available on CDROM or through a specialized database.
CDROM's often are put out by groups such as History Societies (there is an entire set on the Civil War, for example). Government documents are currently available on CDROM and often offer updated information (census data, for example). The reference librarian can tell you which CDs might be the most helpful and can help you sign them out and use them.
There are many specialized databases. Some examples are ERIC, the educational database, and Silver Platter, which offers texts of recent articles in particular subjects (yep, the whole article is available right through the computer, which is often less time-consuming than looking through the stacks for it) The American Psychological Association has the titles of articles on specific subjects (psychology, sociology, etc). Sociofile is another example. Ask your reference librarian to see exactly what is available. One good thing about specialized databases is that you already know the source and orientation of the article. You also know that the source is a valid and reputable one. You will need the reference librarian's help getting into specialized databases--most libraries require that the databases have passwords. Warning: Bring your own paper if you plan on doing this type of research! Many libraries allow you to print from the databases, but you must supply your own paper.
Internet/World Wide Web Research
Internet research is another popular option these days. You can research from home if you have internet search capabilities, or you usually can research from the library. Most libraries have internet connections on at least a few computers, although sometimes you need to sign up for them in advance. Even if there doesn't seem to be much of a crowd around, be sure to sign up on the sheet so that you don't have someone come along and try to take your spot.
Internet research can be very rewarding, but it also has its drawbacks. Many libraries have set their computers on a particular search engine, or a service that will conduct the research for you. If you don't find what you are looking for by using one search engine, switch to another (Lycos, Excite, Web Crawler, and HotBot are all good choices).
Internet research can be time consuming. You will need to search much the way you would on the library database computers--simply type in key words or authors or titles, and see what the computer comes up with. Then you will have to read through the list of choices that you are given and see if any of them match what you think you are looking for.
WARNING ABOUT INTERNET AND WORLD WIDE WEB RESEARCH: There are a lot of resources on the internet that are not going to be valuable to you. Part of your internet research will include evaluating the resources that you find. Personal web pages are NOT a good source to go by--they often have incorrect information on them and can be very misleading. Be sure that your internet information is from a recognized source such as the government, an agency that you are sure is a credible source (the Greenpeace web page, for example, or the web page for the National Institute of Health), or a credible news source (CBS, NBC, and ABC all have web pages). A rule of thumb when doing internet research: if you aren't sure whether or not the source is credible, DON'T USE IT!! One good source to help you determine the credibility of online information is available from UCLA: Thinking Critically about World Wide Web Resources. Check out the Content and Evaluation and Sources and Data sections.
Taking notes, paraphrasing, and quoting
Taking notes is an important part of doing research. Be sure when you take notes that you write down the source that they are from! One way of keeping track is to make yourself a "master list"--a number list of all of the sources that you have. Then, as you are writing down notes, you can just write down the number of that source. A good place to write notes down is on note cards. This way you can take the note cards and organize them later according to the way you want to organize your paper.
While taking notes, also be sure to write down the page number of the information. You will need this later on when you are writing your paper.
What do I take notes on?
Good question. You should take notes on ideas and concepts that you think are important to include in your paper. You also can include supporting examples that you think would be helpful to refer to. You should NOT write the words down exactly as they appear on the page, unless you are putting them in quotations. Otherwise, you might accidentally write them into your paper that way, and that would be plagiarism. Be sure to write down the page number that you are working from in case you want to refer back to it. Click here to learn more about Taking Notes.
Using quotes, or What if I want the exact words?
If you come across a passage in your reading and it seems to you that the author's language is more accurate, more touching, or more informative than you could create, then you should write that sentence down exactly as you see it, with quotation marks around the sentence(s). You must be very careful to record the page number that this information is from, because you will need to include it in your paper. Quotes should not be used terribly often--if your paper is nothing more than a series of quotes strung together (and yes, we have all written those!) then you need to go back and include more of your own information. Click here to see an example and to work more with using quotations.
What about summarizing and paraphrasing?
Summarizing and paraphrasing are similar to quoting in that you are recording the author's ideas. However, when you are summarize or paraphrase, you record ideas as opposed to exact language; the language is yours. Once again, be sure to jot down the page number--you will need it later. Any time you summarize or paraphrase, you MUST acknowledge the source of your information. Not only is it a professional requirement, it is a way to avoid plagiarism. To see an example, read more specific information, and work with exercises, check out Summaries and Paraphrases.
Documentation
Any time that you use information that is not what is considered "common knowledge," you must acknowledge your source. For example, when you paraphrase or quote, you need to indicate to your reader that you got the information from somewhere else. This scholarly practice allows your reader to follow up that source to get more information. You must create what is called a citation in order to acknowledge someone else's ideas. You use parentheses () in your text, and inside the parentheses you put the author's name and the page number (there are several different ways of doing this. You should look at your course guide carefully to determine which format you should be using). Two standard formats, MLA and APA, stand for the Modern Language Association, and the American Psychological Association. Check out more specific information on how to document sources.
Finding Sources
Using sources to support your ideas is one characteristic of the research paper that sets it apart from personal and creative writing. Sources come in many forms, such as magazine and journal articles, books, newspapers, videos, films, computer discussion groups, surveys, or interviews. The trick is to find and then match appropriate, valid sources to your own ideas.
But where do you go to obtain these sources? For college research papers, you will need to use sources available in academic libraries (college or university libraries as opposed to public libraries). Here you will find journals and other texts that go into more depth in a discipline and are therefore more appropriate for college research than those sources written for the general public.
Some, though not all, of these sources are now in electronic format, and may be accessible outside of the library using a computer. The SUNY Empire State College web site includes a useful list of online learning resources.
Primary and Secondary Sources
Primary sources are original, first-hand documents such as creative works, research studies, diaries and letters, or interviews you conduct.
Secondary sources are comments about primary sources such as analyses of creative work or original research, or historical interpretations of diaries and letters.
You can use a combination of primary and secondary sources to answer your research question, depending on the question and the type of sources it requires.
If you're writing a paper on the reasons for a certain personality disorder, you may read an account written by a person with that personality disorder, a case study by a psychiatrist, and a textbook that summarizes a number of case studies. The first-hand account and the psychiatrist's case study are primary sources, written by people who have directly experienced or observed the situation themselves. The textbook is a secondary source, one step removed from the original experience or observation.
For example, if you asked what the sea symbolized in Hemingway's story "The Old Man and the Sea," you'd need to consult the story as a primary source and critics' interpretations of the story as a secondary source.
Exercise 6: Primary and Secondary Sources
On-line Catalog
An on-line catalog has replaced card catalogs in many libraries as a means of listing and indexing what is in the library. You use an on-line catalog the same way you use a card catalog: look up a source by author, title, or subject. (So don't feel intimidated if you haven't yet searched on-line; anyway, the directions are right on the screen.) Most of the searches that you do for a research paper will be subject searches, unless you already know enough about the field to know some standard sources by author or title.
When using an on-line catalog or a card catalog, make sure to jot down the source's name, title, place of publication, publication date, and any other relevant bibliographic information that you will need later on if you choose to use the source in your research paper. Also remember to record the call number, which is the number you use to find the item in the library.
Magazines and Journals
Magazines are written for the general public, so they contain articles that do not present a subject in depth.
Journals are written by and for professionals in various fields and will provide you with in-depth, specific information.
Your professors will expect you to use some journals; in fact, the more advanced your courses are, the more you should be using journal articles in your research (as opposed to magazine articles).
How do you find articles to answer your research question? It's inefficient to go through volumes of magazines and journals, even if you could think of appropriate ones. Most magazine and journal articles are referenced in either an index or an abstract.
Indexes & Abstracts
An index lists magazine or journal articles by subject. Find the correct subject heading or keyword to search for articles. Write down all the information for each article. Check the index's abbreviation key if you can't understand the abbreviations in the entry. Make sure to write down all of the entry's information so you can find the article IF your library carries the magazine or journal. If not, you can use the information to request the article through interlibrary loan.
Specific indices (the "correct" plural of index) exist for journals in just about every field of study (Business Index, Social Science Index, General Science Index, Education Index, and many more), while there's only one major index to general interest magazines (The Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature). Many libraries have many of these indices on their on-line systems; check with the reference librarian if you have a question about indices available on-line.
An abstract is like an index with a brief description of the article's content added. You'll soon see that it's great to be researching in a field that has an abstract, since this short explanation can help you make an early decision about the relevance of the article to your research question or working thesis.
A bound, printed abstract takes two steps to use. The first step is the same--find the appropriate subject heading in the index portion and write down all of the information in the entry. Note that the entry will also include a number or some kind of an identifying code. Then use the number or code in the "abstracts" portion to find a description of the type of information that's in the article.
Many libraries have abstracts in CD-ROM form. Because indexes will be accessed in different ways and because the technology is changing so rapidly, follow the on-screen instructions and/or ask the reference librarian.
Again, if an article seems appropriate, write down all of the entry information so you can find the article in your library or through interlibrary loan and so you'll have the information for your works cited or references list at the end of your paper.
Newspaper Indexes
The most commonly used index to newspaper articles is the New York Times Index, organized alphabetically by subject. Find the appropriate subject heading and jot down the information so you can find the article, which is usually on microfilm, unless you're dealing with a very recent issue of the Times. Your local newspaper also may publish an index, which may be useful if you are researching local history or politics.
Reference Books
There are many general reference books that may be useful to your research in a variety of ways.
1. General Encyclopedias (Britannica, Americana, etc.)
2. Specialized Encyclopedias (e.g., music or medical terms)
3. Facts on File, Statistical Abstracts
4. Other reference books
Encyclopedias provide background information about a subject. Note that you should confine your use of encyclopedias to background information only, since their information is too general to function as an appropriate source for a college paper.
Specialized encyclopedias and dictionaries provide background in specific fields (e.g., a dictionary of music terms, a biographical encyclopedia of American authors, explanations of legal terms).
Facts on File and Statistical Abstracts provide brief bits of statistical information that can aid your research. For example, if you're doing on a paper on airline safety since deregulation, it's a safe bet that you can find statistics on airline safety problems in one of these reference books.
Other reference books abound (e.g., Book Review Digest, medical and legal dictionaries, etc.). Take time, at some point, to browse your library's shelves in the reference section to see how many different types of reference books exist and to consider how you may use them. It will be time well spent.
Library of Congress subject Heading Index
The Library of Congress provides an indexing system; most academic libraries index their books using Library of Congress subject headings. The Library of Congress publishes a Subject Heading Index listing all of the subject headings that they use.
Why bother knowing this information? The Subject Heading Index is a good tool for you as a researcher. If you're not getting exactly the right books you need through your on-line subject search, check this index to find the appropriate subject heading to use.
If you are finding too much information, check this index to see at a glance all of the various headings and sub-headings for the subject. You can get an idea of how to narrow down and focus your subject simply by scanning these various headings and sub-headings.
Just note that these subject headings relate to books only. Magazine and journal indexes and abstracts will use their own subject headings (but the Library of Congress headings can at least give you an idea of the types of headings to use).
Books
The important thing to remember here is that, by the time a book is printed, the information is at least a couple of years old. So if you're doing research that requires very recent information, a newspaper, magazine, or journal is your best bet.
If currency is not an issue (and it's not, in many cases), then a book's fuller treatment of a subject is a good choice.
It's also useful to move from virtual cyberspace into actual, physical space and "real time" when you search for books. That means that you should get yourself into the library. Sometimes a look through the stacks (the shelves on which the books are located) will turn up additional information that's relevant to your research question or working thesis.
Internet Resources
The Internet provides access to a lot of information. There are databases with lists of sources (e.g., the ERIC database is a good one to use if you are researching anything dealing with education or the social sciences). The Internet provides access to many on-line catalogs so you can review the types of books available in the field (and carried by that particular library).
The Internet also provides access to a few full-text electronic journals (which means that you can read and print the article right from the screen). Government information (e.g., policy statements, laws, treaties etc.) are also widely available in full-text format.
You can even find other writing resources.
The Internet can link you up with individuals who might have expertise on the topic you are researching. You can find these people by joining electronic discussion groups (newsgroups) or maillists. These forums are usually categorized by topic (e.g., a maillist on ECOLOGY). By posting a question to the group or maillist, you can obtain useful information from knowledgeable people willing to share their expertise.
The one big problem with the Internet is that you sometimes need to sift. . . and sift. . . and sift through it to find exactly what you want. You also have to be critical of what you find, since anyone can post and even change anything that's out there in cyberspace, and you won't necessarily know if someone answering your query is really an expert in the field. But if you persevere, and even if you just play around with it, the Internet can offer some gems of information in a quick, easy way.
Knowledgeable People
Don't underestimate the power of interviewing knowledgeable people as part of your research. For example, if you're researching a topic in local history, consult the town historian or a local resident who experienced what you're researching. People who have "been there" and "done that" can add a real richness to your research. (Who better than a former Olympic athlete to provide information about the emotional effects of athletic competition?)
You can consult knowledgeable people in print as well. If you find one or two names that keep popping up in your research (if others consistently refer to these names and list works by these people in their bibliographies), then you should consult sources by these people, since it's likely that they are considered experts in the field which you are researching.
Interlibrary Loan
If your library doesn't carry the book or journal article that you need, you probably can get that source through interlibrary loan. The one catch is that it may take 3-4 weeks' time to get the source from another library. Starting your research early will assure that you have time to get the sources that you want to consult.
One big tip for using interlibrary loan: the librarian will need full and specific information to order the material. So get in the habit of writing all of the information down as you compile your list of sources. For books, write down the author, title, publisher, place, and date of publication. For articles, write down the article title, journal title, author, volume, date, span of page numbers, and the name, year, and page number of the reference source in which you found the article listed. The library needs this information to order your source.
Reference Librarian
Don't be afraid to approach this person, who really is there to help you.
One big tip for working with a reference librarian: you'll get more help the more specific you are. The librarian will immediately be able to suggest a number of places to look if you tell him that your research question is "Why is smoking being banned in public places?," or if you tell her that your thesis is "Smoking should be banned in the workplace because of health, safety, and economic reasons." On the other hand, if you tell the librarian that you're researching "smoking," you won't get as much direct help because the topic is so vast.
* Gathering Information for Essays which Require Research: Background
* Finding Sources--explanation
* Primary & Secondary Sources
* On-Line(Card) Catalog
* Magazines & Journals
* Indexes & Abstracts
* Newspaper Indexes
* Reference Books
* Library of Congress Subject Heading Index
* Books
* Internet Resources
* Knowledgeable People
* Interlibrary Loan
* Reference Librarian
* Exercise 6: Primary & Secondary Sources
* Exercise 7: Sample Searches
* Ask the writing tutor about your own Search Strategy
Gathering Information for Essays which Require Research: Background
Gathering sources is much more complex than it used to be. For starters, there are more resources available. Secondly, information can be gathered in a number of places. Your primary places for locating sources will be:
* The library
* Other computer sources (CDRoms, etc.)
* The internet/world wide web
The computer in the library usually will have instructions attached to it. Most library systems allow you to search by title, author, or subject headings, and most are cross-referenced. If you know which books you want, or know a specific author who has written books about the field that you are researching, then go ahead and use the title or author categories in the computer. You also may find it very helpful to use the subject heading category, which will offer you more options for the books that might be useful to you in doing your research.
The subject heading category allows you to put in key words that might lead to books in your interest area. Don't limit yourself, though, by putting in words that are too narrow or too broad. If your search words are too narrow, you will not find many sources; on the other hand if they are too broad, you will not find the search useful either.
Key words are words that relate to your topic but are not necessarily in your thesis statement (note that it will be most helpful if you have a clear idea about your topic before you begin this type of research, although research can also help to narrow your thesis). For example, if you are searching for information about women in the Civil War, it would be too broad to enter just "women" and "war." You would find too many sources this way. It might also be too narrow to enter the name of a specific woman--you probably need more historical context. Try key phrases such as "women and Civil War" or "girls and Civil War." You want to find as many books that might be helpful on the subject that you are searching, without providing yourself with so much information that you lose sight of your original topic.
You will also discover that there is another great way to find books that might be helpful to you. As you find books on your topic listed in the computer, you can then track those books down on the shelf. After a few minutes of searching on the computer, you will start to see that certain books have call numbers (the number on the book's spine that tells its location in the library) that are similar. After you finish your work on the computer, ask a reference librarian, or follow the signs on the walls to locate the call numbers that correspond with your books. When you get to the section where your book is located, don't just look at that book. Look around, too. Sometimes you will find great resources that you were unaware of just by looking on the shelf. Because libraries are generally organized by topic, you can often find some real "gems" this way. Also check the index in the front or the back of the book (the one in the back is always more detailed, but not all books have one) to be sure that the information you are looking for is in the book. A book can have a great title, but no information. On the other hand, a book that doesn't seem to go along with what you are doing can turn out to have a lot of usable information.
Books are generally a great resource--they often contain a lot of information gathered into one place, and they can give you a more thorough investigation of your topic. As you are reading a book, journal article, or newspaper article, you should keep the following questions in mind, which will help you understand how useful the book will be to you.
1. Is the book or article biased in a particular way? For instance, is the book or article written by a person who is a member of a particular religious group, or a particular environmental group, for example, which would "color" their interpretation?
2. Does the author agree or disagree with my thesis?
3. Is the information presented accurately, to the best of your knowledge? Is the author him/herself using valid sources?
Periodicals
Magazines (including Time or Newsweek) are called periodicals as they are published periodically (weekly, monthly, etc.). When you are doing research in the library, a great place to look for information is a publication called The Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature. This is a book which lists, by both author and subject, the names and locations of articles written in that particular year about a particular subject.
Most libraries only keep the most current issues of these magazines on the shelf. The rest are bound together in collections, usually by year. These are usually kept in a separate room (in the basement, to my experience!) where you can go and look at them. Usually, the location is a place called "the stacks," which is where you go to look for periodicals that are older than the current issue. Remember that you can't take these out of the library. If you find articles that you want to take home, you need to photocopy them. Newspaper articles are sometimes in the bound periodicals, but are more often found on microfiche or microfilm.
Make sure to distinguish betwen general interest magazines and professional journals; this is an important distinction in college-level research.
Other computer resources (CDROM, specialized databases etc)
Many libraries today, especially if they are larger libraries, have information available on CDROM or through what are called specialized databases. Be sure to tell a reference librarian what you are working on, and ask her advice on whether or not there is information available on CDROM or through a specialized database.
CDROM's often are put out by groups such as History Societies (there is an entire set on the Civil War, for example). Government documents are currently available on CDROM and often offer updated information (census data, for example). The reference librarian can tell you which CDs might be the most helpful and can help you sign them out and use them.
There are many specialized databases. Some examples are ERIC, the educational database, and Silver Platter, which offers texts of recent articles in particular subjects (yep, the whole article is available right through the computer, which is often less time-consuming than looking through the stacks for it) The American Psychological Association has the titles of articles on specific subjects (psychology, sociology, etc). Sociofile is another example. Ask your reference librarian to see exactly what is available. One good thing about specialized databases is that you already know the source and orientation of the article. You also know that the source is a valid and reputable one. You will need the reference librarian's help getting into specialized databases--most libraries require that the databases have passwords. Warning: Bring your own paper if you plan on doing this type of research! Many libraries allow you to print from the databases, but you must supply your own paper.
Internet/World Wide Web Research
Internet research is another popular option these days. You can research from home if you have internet search capabilities, or you usually can research from the library. Most libraries have internet connections on at least a few computers, although sometimes you need to sign up for them in advance. Even if there doesn't seem to be much of a crowd around, be sure to sign up on the sheet so that you don't have someone come along and try to take your spot.
Internet research can be very rewarding, but it also has its drawbacks. Many libraries have set their computers on a particular search engine, or a service that will conduct the research for you. If you don't find what you are looking for by using one search engine, switch to another (Lycos, Excite, Web Crawler, and HotBot are all good choices).
Internet research can be time consuming. You will need to search much the way you would on the library database computers--simply type in key words or authors or titles, and see what the computer comes up with. Then you will have to read through the list of choices that you are given and see if any of them match what you think you are looking for.
WARNING ABOUT INTERNET AND WORLD WIDE WEB RESEARCH: There are a lot of resources on the internet that are not going to be valuable to you. Part of your internet research will include evaluating the resources that you find. Personal web pages are NOT a good source to go by--they often have incorrect information on them and can be very misleading. Be sure that your internet information is from a recognized source such as the government, an agency that you are sure is a credible source (the Greenpeace web page, for example, or the web page for the National Institute of Health), or a credible news source (CBS, NBC, and ABC all have web pages). A rule of thumb when doing internet research: if you aren't sure whether or not the source is credible, DON'T USE IT!! One good source to help you determine the credibility of online information is available from UCLA: Thinking Critically about World Wide Web Resources. Check out the Content and Evaluation and Sources and Data sections.
Taking notes, paraphrasing, and quoting
Taking notes is an important part of doing research. Be sure when you take notes that you write down the source that they are from! One way of keeping track is to make yourself a "master list"--a number list of all of the sources that you have. Then, as you are writing down notes, you can just write down the number of that source. A good place to write notes down is on note cards. This way you can take the note cards and organize them later according to the way you want to organize your paper.
While taking notes, also be sure to write down the page number of the information. You will need this later on when you are writing your paper.
What do I take notes on?
Good question. You should take notes on ideas and concepts that you think are important to include in your paper. You also can include supporting examples that you think would be helpful to refer to. You should NOT write the words down exactly as they appear on the page, unless you are putting them in quotations. Otherwise, you might accidentally write them into your paper that way, and that would be plagiarism. Be sure to write down the page number that you are working from in case you want to refer back to it. Click here to learn more about Taking Notes.
Using quotes, or What if I want the exact words?
If you come across a passage in your reading and it seems to you that the author's language is more accurate, more touching, or more informative than you could create, then you should write that sentence down exactly as you see it, with quotation marks around the sentence(s). You must be very careful to record the page number that this information is from, because you will need to include it in your paper. Quotes should not be used terribly often--if your paper is nothing more than a series of quotes strung together (and yes, we have all written those!) then you need to go back and include more of your own information. Click here to see an example and to work more with using quotations.
What about summarizing and paraphrasing?
Summarizing and paraphrasing are similar to quoting in that you are recording the author's ideas. However, when you are summarize or paraphrase, you record ideas as opposed to exact language; the language is yours. Once again, be sure to jot down the page number--you will need it later. Any time you summarize or paraphrase, you MUST acknowledge the source of your information. Not only is it a professional requirement, it is a way to avoid plagiarism. To see an example, read more specific information, and work with exercises, check out Summaries and Paraphrases.
Documentation
Any time that you use information that is not what is considered "common knowledge," you must acknowledge your source. For example, when you paraphrase or quote, you need to indicate to your reader that you got the information from somewhere else. This scholarly practice allows your reader to follow up that source to get more information. You must create what is called a citation in order to acknowledge someone else's ideas. You use parentheses () in your text, and inside the parentheses you put the author's name and the page number (there are several different ways of doing this. You should look at your course guide carefully to determine which format you should be using). Two standard formats, MLA and APA, stand for the Modern Language Association, and the American Psychological Association. Check out more specific information on how to document sources.
Finding Sources
Using sources to support your ideas is one characteristic of the research paper that sets it apart from personal and creative writing. Sources come in many forms, such as magazine and journal articles, books, newspapers, videos, films, computer discussion groups, surveys, or interviews. The trick is to find and then match appropriate, valid sources to your own ideas.
But where do you go to obtain these sources? For college research papers, you will need to use sources available in academic libraries (college or university libraries as opposed to public libraries). Here you will find journals and other texts that go into more depth in a discipline and are therefore more appropriate for college research than those sources written for the general public.
Some, though not all, of these sources are now in electronic format, and may be accessible outside of the library using a computer. The SUNY Empire State College web site includes a useful list of online learning resources.
Primary and Secondary Sources
Primary sources are original, first-hand documents such as creative works, research studies, diaries and letters, or interviews you conduct.
Secondary sources are comments about primary sources such as analyses of creative work or original research, or historical interpretations of diaries and letters.
You can use a combination of primary and secondary sources to answer your research question, depending on the question and the type of sources it requires.
If you're writing a paper on the reasons for a certain personality disorder, you may read an account written by a person with that personality disorder, a case study by a psychiatrist, and a textbook that summarizes a number of case studies. The first-hand account and the psychiatrist's case study are primary sources, written by people who have directly experienced or observed the situation themselves. The textbook is a secondary source, one step removed from the original experience or observation.
For example, if you asked what the sea symbolized in Hemingway's story "The Old Man and the Sea," you'd need to consult the story as a primary source and critics' interpretations of the story as a secondary source.
Exercise 6: Primary and Secondary Sources
On-line Catalog
An on-line catalog has replaced card catalogs in many libraries as a means of listing and indexing what is in the library. You use an on-line catalog the same way you use a card catalog: look up a source by author, title, or subject. (So don't feel intimidated if you haven't yet searched on-line; anyway, the directions are right on the screen.) Most of the searches that you do for a research paper will be subject searches, unless you already know enough about the field to know some standard sources by author or title.
When using an on-line catalog or a card catalog, make sure to jot down the source's name, title, place of publication, publication date, and any other relevant bibliographic information that you will need later on if you choose to use the source in your research paper. Also remember to record the call number, which is the number you use to find the item in the library.
Magazines and Journals
Magazines are written for the general public, so they contain articles that do not present a subject in depth.
Journals are written by and for professionals in various fields and will provide you with in-depth, specific information.
Your professors will expect you to use some journals; in fact, the more advanced your courses are, the more you should be using journal articles in your research (as opposed to magazine articles).
How do you find articles to answer your research question? It's inefficient to go through volumes of magazines and journals, even if you could think of appropriate ones. Most magazine and journal articles are referenced in either an index or an abstract.
Indexes & Abstracts
An index lists magazine or journal articles by subject. Find the correct subject heading or keyword to search for articles. Write down all the information for each article. Check the index's abbreviation key if you can't understand the abbreviations in the entry. Make sure to write down all of the entry's information so you can find the article IF your library carries the magazine or journal. If not, you can use the information to request the article through interlibrary loan.
Specific indices (the "correct" plural of index) exist for journals in just about every field of study (Business Index, Social Science Index, General Science Index, Education Index, and many more), while there's only one major index to general interest magazines (The Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature). Many libraries have many of these indices on their on-line systems; check with the reference librarian if you have a question about indices available on-line.
An abstract is like an index with a brief description of the article's content added. You'll soon see that it's great to be researching in a field that has an abstract, since this short explanation can help you make an early decision about the relevance of the article to your research question or working thesis.
A bound, printed abstract takes two steps to use. The first step is the same--find the appropriate subject heading in the index portion and write down all of the information in the entry. Note that the entry will also include a number or some kind of an identifying code. Then use the number or code in the "abstracts" portion to find a description of the type of information that's in the article.
Many libraries have abstracts in CD-ROM form. Because indexes will be accessed in different ways and because the technology is changing so rapidly, follow the on-screen instructions and/or ask the reference librarian.
Again, if an article seems appropriate, write down all of the entry information so you can find the article in your library or through interlibrary loan and so you'll have the information for your works cited or references list at the end of your paper.
Newspaper Indexes
The most commonly used index to newspaper articles is the New York Times Index, organized alphabetically by subject. Find the appropriate subject heading and jot down the information so you can find the article, which is usually on microfilm, unless you're dealing with a very recent issue of the Times. Your local newspaper also may publish an index, which may be useful if you are researching local history or politics.
Reference Books
There are many general reference books that may be useful to your research in a variety of ways.
1. General Encyclopedias (Britannica, Americana, etc.)
2. Specialized Encyclopedias (e.g., music or medical terms)
3. Facts on File, Statistical Abstracts
4. Other reference books
Encyclopedias provide background information about a subject. Note that you should confine your use of encyclopedias to background information only, since their information is too general to function as an appropriate source for a college paper.
Specialized encyclopedias and dictionaries provide background in specific fields (e.g., a dictionary of music terms, a biographical encyclopedia of American authors, explanations of legal terms).
Facts on File and Statistical Abstracts provide brief bits of statistical information that can aid your research. For example, if you're doing on a paper on airline safety since deregulation, it's a safe bet that you can find statistics on airline safety problems in one of these reference books.
Other reference books abound (e.g., Book Review Digest, medical and legal dictionaries, etc.). Take time, at some point, to browse your library's shelves in the reference section to see how many different types of reference books exist and to consider how you may use them. It will be time well spent.
Library of Congress subject Heading Index
The Library of Congress provides an indexing system; most academic libraries index their books using Library of Congress subject headings. The Library of Congress publishes a Subject Heading Index listing all of the subject headings that they use.
Why bother knowing this information? The Subject Heading Index is a good tool for you as a researcher. If you're not getting exactly the right books you need through your on-line subject search, check this index to find the appropriate subject heading to use.
If you are finding too much information, check this index to see at a glance all of the various headings and sub-headings for the subject. You can get an idea of how to narrow down and focus your subject simply by scanning these various headings and sub-headings.
Just note that these subject headings relate to books only. Magazine and journal indexes and abstracts will use their own subject headings (but the Library of Congress headings can at least give you an idea of the types of headings to use).
Books
The important thing to remember here is that, by the time a book is printed, the information is at least a couple of years old. So if you're doing research that requires very recent information, a newspaper, magazine, or journal is your best bet.
If currency is not an issue (and it's not, in many cases), then a book's fuller treatment of a subject is a good choice.
It's also useful to move from virtual cyberspace into actual, physical space and "real time" when you search for books. That means that you should get yourself into the library. Sometimes a look through the stacks (the shelves on which the books are located) will turn up additional information that's relevant to your research question or working thesis.
Internet Resources
The Internet provides access to a lot of information. There are databases with lists of sources (e.g., the ERIC database is a good one to use if you are researching anything dealing with education or the social sciences). The Internet provides access to many on-line catalogs so you can review the types of books available in the field (and carried by that particular library).
The Internet also provides access to a few full-text electronic journals (which means that you can read and print the article right from the screen). Government information (e.g., policy statements, laws, treaties etc.) are also widely available in full-text format.
You can even find other writing resources.
The Internet can link you up with individuals who might have expertise on the topic you are researching. You can find these people by joining electronic discussion groups (newsgroups) or maillists. These forums are usually categorized by topic (e.g., a maillist on ECOLOGY). By posting a question to the group or maillist, you can obtain useful information from knowledgeable people willing to share their expertise.
The one big problem with the Internet is that you sometimes need to sift. . . and sift. . . and sift through it to find exactly what you want. You also have to be critical of what you find, since anyone can post and even change anything that's out there in cyberspace, and you won't necessarily know if someone answering your query is really an expert in the field. But if you persevere, and even if you just play around with it, the Internet can offer some gems of information in a quick, easy way.
Knowledgeable People
Don't underestimate the power of interviewing knowledgeable people as part of your research. For example, if you're researching a topic in local history, consult the town historian or a local resident who experienced what you're researching. People who have "been there" and "done that" can add a real richness to your research. (Who better than a former Olympic athlete to provide information about the emotional effects of athletic competition?)
You can consult knowledgeable people in print as well. If you find one or two names that keep popping up in your research (if others consistently refer to these names and list works by these people in their bibliographies), then you should consult sources by these people, since it's likely that they are considered experts in the field which you are researching.
Interlibrary Loan
If your library doesn't carry the book or journal article that you need, you probably can get that source through interlibrary loan. The one catch is that it may take 3-4 weeks' time to get the source from another library. Starting your research early will assure that you have time to get the sources that you want to consult.
One big tip for using interlibrary loan: the librarian will need full and specific information to order the material. So get in the habit of writing all of the information down as you compile your list of sources. For books, write down the author, title, publisher, place, and date of publication. For articles, write down the article title, journal title, author, volume, date, span of page numbers, and the name, year, and page number of the reference source in which you found the article listed. The library needs this information to order your source.
Reference Librarian
Don't be afraid to approach this person, who really is there to help you.
One big tip for working with a reference librarian: you'll get more help the more specific you are. The librarian will immediately be able to suggest a number of places to look if you tell him that your research question is "Why is smoking being banned in public places?," or if you tell her that your thesis is "Smoking should be banned in the workplace because of health, safety, and economic reasons." On the other hand, if you tell the librarian that you're researching "smoking," you won't get as much direct help because the topic is so vast.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Poetry at Bunker Hill Community College April 27 6PM
Come join the Bunker Hill Community College Community to celebrate National Poetry Month
The Collyer Brothers of Harlem
The Collyer Brothers of Harlem
By William Bryk
Two years after the Collyers’ arrival, African-Americans began settling in Harlem in large numbers. By 1925, Harlem had been transformed from an upper-middle-class white suburb into the center of African-American life.
But while nearly all the other white folks left, the Collyers did not. Dr. Collyer died in 1923; Mrs. Collyer in 1929. Their sons remained in the mansion. According to Trinity Church’s baptismal records, Homer Collyer was born on Nov. 6, 1881. Langley was about six years younger. Both men graduated from Columbia: Homer, who graduated with the class of 1904, earned an MA, LLB and LLM and practiced admiralty law. Langley took his degree in chemistry and mechanical engineering. He never worked for a living, devoting himself to music.
In 1928-’29, Homer worked in the law office of John McMullen, who would become the family lawyer. Homer then worked for City Title Insurance at 32 Broadway, spending his days researching in the Hall of Records. A former colleague described Homer as an affable, courtly, Dickensian type, with old-fashioned clothing, high collars and elaborate sideburns who wrote with an elegant Spencerian hand.
Langley, who was last photographed in 1946, looked like a stereotype of an aging late Romantic poet, with an old-fashioned bowtie, formal black jacket and vest, gray striped trousers, a long gray mustache and longish hair.
By 1917, the Collyers’ telephone had been disconnected because, as Langley explained, they were "being billed for long distance calls they didn’t make." In 1928, the gas was shut off. The brothers began going without steam heat and hot running water, using kerosene for lighting and cooking. The Encyclopedia of New York City and Jan Morris in Manhattan ’45 claim they had no water or sewer connection; no contemporary sources go that far. Some of the local kids threw stones through their windows and after Langley had spent large sums to replace the glass, he decided it was better to board them up and close the inner shutters.
Most sources agree Homer last appeared in public in 1932. In 1933, he suffered a stroke, with "hemorrhages in both eyes," and went blind. Thereafter, Langley cared for him. They avoided doctors, treating Homer’s illnesses with special diet and rest. Langley said Homer ate 100 oranges a week and treated his eyes by consciously resting them: keeping them closed at all times.
Their solitude was first violated by the press on Aug. 11, 1938, when Helen Worden wrote an article for the World-Telegram about Maurice Gruber, a real estate agent who wanted to buy Collyer property in Queens. When the Collyers did not respond to his letters and then his personal visits, Gruber staked out the house. By the following day, Worden found Charles Collyer, a distant cousin working as a ticket agent for the Long Island Rail Road, who suddenly and conveniently became worried that Homer was dead. Worden’s article was accompanied by photographs posing Charles Collyer and his wife on the front steps of the mansion. Worden called Langley "the mystery man of Harlem." She recapitulated every street rumor that behind the shabby facade was a veritable Arabian Nights’ palace of Chinese rugs, rare antiques and thousands of morocco-bound books, including piles of money Langley was afraid to put in the bank.
She then staked out the mansion herself. One night she caught Langley slipping out to go shopping and began her interview by calling out, "Good evening, Mr. Collyer. The neighbors tell me you keep a row boat in the attic and a Model T in the basement."
Strangely enough, he responded. "Yes and no," Langley replied. The boat, he explained, was his father’s canoe. "He used to carry it to the Harlem River on his head and paddle down to [Bellevue] every morning and back every evening. The auto was his, too. I never got around to putting it together again after he died."
Langley later claimed all his troubles dated from these articles. Jan Morris wrote that "...nobody ever interfered with them it seems, or tried to make them live like everyone else. They were the Collyer Brothers, Harlem’s Most Fascinating Mystery, as the tabloids like to say, and fashionably mysterious they were allowed to remain."
But they were not left alone. As the Daily News wrote, "folks attempted to see for themselves." This phrase is ambiguous. The clippings on the Collyers leave a strong impression that from the late 30s, nosy neighbors knocked on the door, nasty kids threw rocks at the house, broke their fence and smashed bottles in their front yard, and reporters kept interviewing obscure relatives on the steps of the house, expressing concern over poor cousins Homer and Langley.
Another story quoted a neighbor describing Langley as "the ghosty man... He did have a brother, Homer, but nobody’s seen him in a long while. They ain’t seen his ma, either. She was s’pose to be dead, but she never had a funeral... He’s like haunts in graveyards, he don’ come out before midnight."
Langley panicked. Though gloomy, the house had not been messy in 1938. By 1942, Langley had singlehandedly accumulated vast quantities of newspaper, cartons, tin cans and other refuse, transforming the mansion into a fortress. He apparently applied his engineer’s training to arrange packing boxes and cartons in interlocking tiers with concealed tunnels passing from one room or one floor to another. Langley alone was familiar with the maze. Anyone else would have to remove the entire barricade to pass. He also booby-trapped massive piles of newspapers and old luggage with trip wires.
Their final drama began at 8:53 a.m. on March 21, 1947, when a man who gave his name as Charles Smith telephoned police headquarters, saying, "There was a dead man in the house at 2078 Fifth Avenue." Police arrived around 10 a.m. to find a crowd of Harlem residents outside the house. The police roped off the house. Some officers tried forcing the mahogany front doors. Then the police took them off their hinges. There stood a solid wall of boxes and debris, up to the ceiling.
Other officers entered the unlit, cluttered basement. The way from the basement to the first floor was blocked by a solid mass of packing cases. Then, the police forced the shutters on a first floor window. Within lay a desolation of ceiling-high stacks of boxes, paper and furniture, crawling with rats. The officers found the stairs to the second floor blocked with yet another mass of packing cases.
Two hours after the police first arrived on the scene, officers finally clambered from a ladder into a second-story room. There they found Homer dead. He was emaciated, bearded (Daily News) or mustachioed (Times), clothed only in either a tattered robe (Times) or a few ragged fragments of clothing (The Sun), and lay with his knees drawn almost to his chin. Dr. Thomas Gonzales, the medical examiner, said that Homer’s body was extremely emaciated and dehydrated. "There is no question," Gonzales said, "that he had been neglected for a long time." There was no food in his stomach or his digestive tract, indicating he had nothing to eat or drink for at least three days before his death, which was attributed to chronic bronchitis, gangrenous decubital ulcer (a large, untreated bedsore), and senile pulmonary emphysema.
The story was a wild sensation: on March 22, 1947, even the Times printed a front-page story on Homer’s death. By the end of the second day, according to the Times, the police had removed 19 tons of debris from the first-floor hallway alone.
As the search for Langley continued, thousands of curious citizens walked or drove by the house. According to the Daily News, "few lingered at the scene. They were driven away by the smells."
A friend whose father covered the story for one of the dailies told me the cops lit up cheap, foul-smelling cigars against the overpowering stench of organic corruption–"like a blow from a mailed fist." For not only the newspapers, garbage and animal wastes were rotting, but as a city housing inspector told The Sun, even the house was rotting: Its floor and walls were saturated because of the open windows and roof leaks, the beams were rotted and buckled from the weight of the junk and bricks were falling from the walls.
The New York County public administrator, a Surrogate’s Court official, took over the search from the police. On March 31, the public administrator hired six professional movers to remove all articles of value from the house. They tore out the basement entrance and began emptying the law library. The 2500 law books were merely a tenth of the volumes in the house. They found numerous family oil portraits. They found Mrs. Collyer’s hope chests, jammed with unused piece goods, silks, wool, damask and brocade; three bolts of embroidered white curtain material, each containing 54 yards, that had never been unwrapped; and a batch of fine linen dish towels, stamped "Collyer," that had never been used.
They found telephone directories, three revolvers, two rifles, a shotgun, ammunition, a bayonet and a saber, a half-dozen toy trains, toy tops, a toy airplane, 14 upright and grand pianos, cornets, bugles, an accordion, a trombone, a banjo; tin cans, chandeliers, tapestries, a portrait camera, enlarger, lenses and tripods, a bowling ball in a canvas bag, bicycles and bicycle lamps, a rolled-up 100-foot rug runner, a 9-foot-tall mahogany clock with a music box inside and pastel painted figures on the broad face; 13 ornate mantel clocks, including one contained in a metal bust of a girl whose ears and bodice dripped coins, 13 Oriental rugs, heavily ornate Victorian oil lamps and vases, white plaster portrait busts and picture frames. They found a static machine, an electrical device manufactured during the 1890s for the treatment of arthritis, rheumatism and other ailments. They found five violins, at least two dating from the 18th century, two organs and scores of 7-inch gramophone records dating from 1898, including "Round Her Neck She Wears a Yeller Ribbon for her Lover Who is Fur, Fur Away," "Atta Baby" and "Nobody In Town Can Bake a Sweet Jelly Roll Like Mine." They found sheets in braille from Homer’s failed attempts to learn the system. And they found a certificate of merit for punctuality and good conduct awarded to Langley at Public School 69, 125 W. 54th St., for the week ending April 19, 1895.
These things merely salted the vast sea of junk and paper.
By April 3, according to the Herald Tribune, the searchers had removed 51 tons of waste. They had only reached two rooms on the first floor. By April 8, 19 days after the search began, The Sun reported 103 tons of debris removed. Then they found Langley’s body.
He had been buried alive in one of his booby traps while crawling to bring Homer food. He had been only eight feet from his brother. He was wearing burlap draped over his shoulders as a cape, and police speculated this had snagged on a wire and tripped the booby trap. Langley wore no underwear or socks. He had on a bathrobe, three jackets and four pairs of trousers. Around his neck as a scarf was a white onion sack fastened with a safety pin. He lay on his right side and the rats had been at him. Both The Sun of April 8 and the World-Telegram of April 9 stated a preliminary examination indicated Langley had died quite some time before his brother. Apparently, Homer had died utterly, horribly alone.
On May 9, 1947, Robert F. Wagner Jr., the city’s commissioner of Housing and Buildings (later Manhattan borough president and mayor), announced the mansion would be demolished as unsafe and a menace to life and property. It was torn down within the year.
Langley was buried in the Collyer family plot in Cypress Hills Cemetery on April 11. The funeral arrangements were made by the public administrator’s office. The numerous relatives produced by the press apparently did little more than attend the services and file claims against the brothers’ estates.
There was no great wealth. The Surrogate’s Court probated the estates in 1949: $60,000 in real estate holdings, $2000 in savings, $4000 from the sale of personal property. Against this were claims for $15,000 in estate taxes and thousands more in city, federal and state tax arrears. It is unclear whether the 40 claimants against the estate ever saw a dime.
The only explanation Langley ever provided for the brothers’ behavior was that they preferred to live alone.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Introductory paragraph
Intellectual Follies By Lionel Abel
Although the characters in the excerpt from Lionel Abel's "Intellectual Follies" are originally considered to be scholarly writers, their pettiness while trying to discuss whether or not to support a fellow intellectual's protest leads the reader to view them differently. While trying to come to a logical decision, the protest is only secondary compared to the importance of their personal conflicts or self benefits. This lack of intellectual values exhibited by these characters makes them appear much like the common man.
An example of a personal conflict that seems to be more important than the protest is the feud between the narrator and Miss McCarthy..
Other characters, such as Paul Goodman were more concerned about themselves than helping Pasternak
Lionel Abel's essay "The intellectual Follies" presents a hypocritical view of these scholarly writes.
Although the characters in the excerpt from Lionel Abel's "Intellectual Follies" are originally considered to be scholarly writers, their pettiness while trying to discuss whether or not to support a fellow intellectual's protest leads the reader to view them differently. While trying to come to a logical decision, the protest is only secondary compared to the importance of their personal conflicts or self benefits. This lack of intellectual values exhibited by these characters makes them appear much like the common man.
An example of a personal conflict that seems to be more important than the protest is the feud between the narrator and Miss McCarthy..
Other characters, such as Paul Goodman were more concerned about themselves than helping Pasternak
Lionel Abel's essay "The intellectual Follies" presents a hypocritical view of these scholarly writes.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Editing Sheet
EDITING SHEET: After you have written a draft of your paper, revise your draft to make sure
you can answer ‘yes” to each of the following questions. These questions
should remind you of what you learned about writing/revising in your English
classes.
1. INTRODUCTION
Does your introduction catch interest and lead clearly to your thesis?
Does your introduction set the context for the paper?
Do you have a clear thesis which states your main point about the subject of this paper?
Does your thesis reflect careful thought about the paper’s subject?
2. BODY PARAGRAPHS
Does each body paragraph have a clear topic sentence which states the main point
of the paragraph?
Does each topic sentence connect the point of the paragraph clearly to the point of the previous paragraph?
Have you developed the idea in each topic sentence through at least 6 to 8 sentences?
Have you used specific support for your points?
Have you considered more than one way to view the issue in this paragraph?
3. DOCUMENTATION
Have you included the author’s last name and page for all paraphrases and quotes from any sources used for this paper? These should be put in parentheses at the end of the paraphrased or quoted material. Eg. (Mamet 257).
4. CONCLUSION
Does your conclusion begin by restating your thesis?
Does your conclusion explain how your thesis might relate to a more general truth about the subject of this paper?
Does your last sentence make the paper sound “finished”?
5. PROOFREADING
Have you read your paper several times looking for the grammar mistakes you typically made in your English courses?
Have you read your paper several times looking for the spelling errors you typically
made in your English courses?
you can answer ‘yes” to each of the following questions. These questions
should remind you of what you learned about writing/revising in your English
classes.
1. INTRODUCTION
Does your introduction catch interest and lead clearly to your thesis?
Does your introduction set the context for the paper?
Do you have a clear thesis which states your main point about the subject of this paper?
Does your thesis reflect careful thought about the paper’s subject?
2. BODY PARAGRAPHS
Does each body paragraph have a clear topic sentence which states the main point
of the paragraph?
Does each topic sentence connect the point of the paragraph clearly to the point of the previous paragraph?
Have you developed the idea in each topic sentence through at least 6 to 8 sentences?
Have you used specific support for your points?
Have you considered more than one way to view the issue in this paragraph?
3. DOCUMENTATION
Have you included the author’s last name and page for all paraphrases and quotes from any sources used for this paper? These should be put in parentheses at the end of the paraphrased or quoted material. Eg. (Mamet 257).
4. CONCLUSION
Does your conclusion begin by restating your thesis?
Does your conclusion explain how your thesis might relate to a more general truth about the subject of this paper?
Does your last sentence make the paper sound “finished”?
5. PROOFREADING
Have you read your paper several times looking for the grammar mistakes you typically made in your English courses?
Have you read your paper several times looking for the spelling errors you typically
made in your English courses?
Friday, April 1, 2011
Practice Exam 1 Prompt McDonald's
Do you think a fast food job teaches valuable lessons to kids, or is it just a detriment. Use your own personal experiences and engage the text to agree or disagree.
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