Comprehensive American Studies II: February 2015

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Modern Language Association (MLA)

As always, check out our Research Guide created by Ms. Hopkins...

What is MLA? (from the MLA website) All fields of research agree on the need to document scholarly borrowings, but documentation conventions vary because of the different needs of scholarly disciplines. MLA style for documentation is widely used in the humanities and features brief parenthetical citations in the text keyed to an alphabetical list of works cited that appears at the end of the work.

As we continue our process for the research paper, and "check your sources," we are requiring you to put these sources in "MLA Style." EasyBib is a terrific resource, but you do need to know how to enter your information correctly. You can submit your sources to us any way you would like-note cards, Google Docs, etc.

The best how-to out there for correct MLA-formatting is the OWL at Purdue University. Use it!

The most important thing to start with for a correct citation is author. Let's look at an article (you'll have to sign-in), and figure out how to correctly format the citation. This source has the correct citation at the bottom.

Here is another article that will take some more work...Let's open a Doc and do this...

Monday, February 16, 2015

Research Paper

Today we'll do some preliminary research on topics for the research paper. Be sure to use our databases. Many of the databases allow you to browse by topic. Here is an example:

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Research Paper/Cinderella Man

All students in Comprehensive American Studies II must complete an MLA style research paper that encompasses some aspect of American history, literature, or culture. This paper does "original analysis" that comes from a thesis that defends an argument--Not a book report or an evaluation of an autobiography!

The paper is worth two grades: Process and Product. Look at the steps and guidelines and possible topic choices.

We'll start the process next week with research...But for now brainstorm some topic choices!

Cinderella Man

As we wrap-up the Great Depression, we are going to watch Cinderella Man. James J. Braddock was an up-and-coming boxer finding success and wealth in the late 1920s. The crash of the stock market and the Great Depression quickly changed all of that. Nursing an injured hand, Braddock continued to fight in low paying matches, struggled for work at the local docks, and tried to keep his family fed and their one room apartment heated. This movie is an accurate, heart-wrenching historical depiction of one American family's ethical struggles during The Great Depression as well as one man's determination to hold on to his integrity and his family.

Here are some guided questions.

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Depression Assessment

Your English assessment is to write a "vignette" based on the photo you chose to analyze...

A vignette is a short, well written sketch or descriptive scene. Think of the two Steinbeck pieces we read-”Breakfast” and “The Turtle.” It does not have to necessarily have a plot which would make it a story, but it does reveal something about the elements in it. It may reveal character, or mood or tone. It may have a theme or idea of its own that it wants to convey. It is the description of the scene or character that is important. This is your chance to be very descriptive and creative! Paint the picture with your words.

This vignette should be at least 3 paragraphs. You will be graded using a six-trait rubric—with emphasis on word choice and voice, i.e., how detailed and descriptive you are. Use Steinbeck as an exemplar. You will work on this in class.