English 12

Mass Media Communicatio

ns

Research Project

Mr. Tafla / Mrs. Belmonte

RESEARCH PROJECT CHECKLIST

ANY ASSIGNMENT SUBMITTED AFTER THE DUE DATE WILL LOSE TEN POINTS FOR EACH DAY IT IS LATE.

DUE DATE DATE SUBMITTED

GRADE

1. Topic Monday, March 2

2. 8 Bibliography Cards* Monday, March 9

3. Typed Rough Outline* Monday March 16

4. 30 Note Cards and copies* Monday, March 23

5. Typed Outline* Monday, March 30

6. Typed Rough Draft* Monday, April 13

7. Final Term Paper* Monday, April 20

No item can be accepted without all previous items having been submitted first (even if you receive NO CREDIT for a previous item handed in late).

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PAPERS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED AFTER WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27. THIS WILL COUNT AS A ZERO FOR 30% OF YOUR FOURTH QUARTER GRADE-NO EXCUSES WILL BE ACCEPTED.

*TEACHER MUST BE NOTIFIED OF ANY CHANGE IN TOPIC.

*NO TOPIC MAY BE CHANGED AFTER FRIDAY, MARCH 10

Project Requirements

Be sure to follow all of the requirements for the research paper listed below. If any of these requirements are not fulfilled then your paper will be returned as unacceptable and the highest grade you may receive is a 65%.

Four-six pages typed

Double spaced

12 point font (Times New Roman only)

One inch margins

Black in and white paper only

One staple on top left corner of the paper

MLA style cover page (in addition to the four-six page paper)

Pages numbered starting with “2” at the bottom of the second page (do not number the cover page).

Thesis statement

MLA style works cited page

12 MLA style parenthetical citations (in-text)

Six sources used in the paper and listed on the Works Cited page.

Only one website can be used as a source.

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Only one encyclopedia or dictionary may be used as a source.

A minimum of four print sources must be used.

Submit print copies of original sources (only the one you used).

Underline any facts on the photocopies that are cited in your paper.

Submit your typed outline with the finished paper.

Final paper must be submitted along with a CD or flash drive.

Important Steps in the Process

Part One – Getting Started:

Understanding the issuesWhat is mass media?What are some important concerns people have about media?

Understanding the Research ProjectTopic = A specific medium + a specific issue + a specific audienceProcess not productFollowing directionsGrading policies

Selecting a TopicFocus (too narrow vs. too vague)InterestingFeasibleFlexibility

Developing subtopicsGuiding questionsKind of like three thematically connected essays.Use multiple sources for each subtopic

Finding Useful SourcesCredibilityObjectivityReadability

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Variety

Bibliography (Cards)Keep track of titles, authors, etc. so you can find your sources later.

Selecting FactsActive reading – Highlighting, annotatingWrite down questions as you read

Part Two – Staying Organized as You Research

Print out works that you are sure you’ll use.

Keep all paper in a folder.

Bring everything to class and home every day.

Set up a folder in EBSCO and use it.

Use Google Drive to keep notes on what you’re learning as well as citation information.

Part Three – Drafting

Use annotations and questions to find connections between works (organization sheet).

Write out your ideas about how you think your essay will be written (written plan).

Just start writing. Don’t worry about grammar or organization; just get started (sloppy copy).

Use Information: o Quotes – direct quotes, paraphrasing, summarizing, citation

Part Four – Revising

Mark up your paper the way a teacher would.

Have others read it and record suggestions.

Plan for rewriting – write out ideas about how you want to change the content, organization and language of your paper.

Rewrite your paper. Do not throw out your original draft.

Revise your citations for MLA style.5

Part Four – Submitting Your Work

Formal Language

Can someone else understand it.

Proofread..

Do not plagiarize!

Assigned Topics

1. Government should invest more money in public broadcasting.

2. Government should support alternative media.

3. The internet should be completely uncensored.

4. The internet should be censored the same way TV and radio are.

5. Cable news has ruined journalism.

6. Journalists should be given complete freedom in reporting from war zones.

7. Media should be granted complete freedom of speech.

8. The media is too liberal.

9. The media is too influenced by large corporations.

10.Celebrities have less right to privacy.

11. I-Tunes has saved the music industry.

12.Rap has ruined the music industry.

13.Pop music has ruined the music industry.

14.Government propaganda should be illegal.

15.Government has the right to use propaganda.

16.Political correctness, in media, is an unjustifiable form of censorship.

17.News outlets should not editorialize.

18.The profit motive is the best way to encourage democratic media.

19.Journalists should be protected from law suits.

20.Electronic media will end the need for traditional schooling.

21.Social networks should be censored.

22.Mass media are too violent.

23.Video games should be censored.

24.Government has a right to influence mass media.6

25.Mass media has destroyed our cultural values.

26.Sports media should always present a positive image.

27.Journalists have failed in their capacity as “watchdog”.

28.We are being sold a bill of goods by corporate media.

29.Media ownership regulations should be more strict.

30.There is too much government regulation of media ownership.

Hicksville High School Online Databaseswww.hicksvillepublicschools.org High School Library Recommended Resources (Bookmark it!)

EBSCO

http://search.ebscohost.com/Login.aspx?lp=userlogin.asp&ref=&authtype=uid

Username: s8707601

Password: password

EBSCO HOST Advanced Placement Source + Eric + TOPICsearch + MAS ultra + any other relevant databases.

(Advanced Search is recommended)

ProQuest

http://www.proquestk12.com/

Username: 41-13862

Password: bigchalk

Off-Campus Username: HPXPWPHNFM

Password: welcome

ABC-CLIO

http://databases.abc-clio.com/Authentication/LogOn

Username: hicksvillestudent

Password: password

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NOVEL Gale (Opposing Viewpoints)

http://find.galegroup.com/menu/commonmenu.do?userGroupName=nysl_li_hicksvl

Password: empirelink

Bibliography Cards / List

Once you’ve determined your topic, you should focus on finding useful sources of information. You must use at

least two books, and you can only use one website and one encyclopedia or dictionary. Initially, you should focus on

learning what the general issues are that affect your topic – gather background information. Once you have a good idea

what the background issues are, you must select eight sources and construct one bibliography card for each. The

objective for making bibliography cards is to have a reference of your sources each time you return to the library or

computer lab. You can write these on index cards (don’t lose them) or keep them on GoogleDrive (recommended) and

print it out to submit on the due date.

Steps you will take:

Determine your topic.

Find sources of information.

Get a general idea about the topic.

Select eight sources to read further.

Make a 3x5 inch bibliography card for each source or list the require

information on a Google Drive document.

1. Find sources: Credibility – Websites under the .com domain are not considered credible. Sites that are .org or .edu may be, but

you should check with us to see. Not all books are equally credible. Reference books and articles in a

professional journal or professional reference work are reviewed before they are published and are generally

considered trustworthy. Databases are reviewed by experts and are credible sources. When in doubt ask us.

Recent and relevant – All sources should be as recent as possible. If one is more than ten years old you should

have a good reason for including it.

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2. Create bibliography: Cite each of your sources using the standard college style which is called MLA style. Double

space and indent the second line of information as well as any lines that follow.

Determine what type of source you are using (book, website, database, book by two authors, book with no author

listed, multi-volume work, etc.)

Select the proper format listed on the next three pages.

Create a bibliography card (or list) for each of your sources.

Follow the format exactly (Italics, indenting, capitalization and punctuation all count).

MLA Style for Various Sources:(Remember that the first line for each source is not indented and the subsequent lines are)

A Book

Last name, First name. Title of Book. City of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication.

Medium of Publication.

Article in a Magazine

Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Periodical Day Month Year: pages. Medium of

publication.

for example:

Poniewozik, James. "TV Makes a Too-Close Call." Time 20 Nov. 2000: 70-71. Print.

Article in a Newspaper

Cite a newspaper article as you would a magazine article.

for example:

Brubaker, Bill. "New Health Center Targets County's Uninsured Patients." Washington Post 24

May 2007: LZ01. Print.

Website9

Last name, first name(if available). Name of Site. Name of sponsor or publisher, date of

resource creation (if available). Medium of publication. Date of access.

for example:

The Purdue OWL Family of Sites. The Writing Lab and OWL at Purdue U, 2008. Web. 23 Apr.

2008.

An Article from an Online Database

Cite articles from online databases the same way you would cite print sources, just be sure to include medium of publication and date of access.

for example:

Langhamer, Claire. “Love and Courtship in Mid-Twentieth-Century England.” Historical Journal

50.1 (2007): 173-96. ProQuest. Web. 27 May 2009.

A Book by More Than One Author

Last name, first name of first author, “and” last name, first name of second author. Title

of Book. City of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium of Publication.

A Multivolume Work

When citing only one volume of a multivolume work, include the volume number after the work's title, or after the work's editor or translator.

Editor’s last name. Title of the book. “Vol.” number. Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium

of Publication

for example:

Quintilian. Institutio Oratoria. Vol. 2. Cambridge: Loeb-Harvard UP, 1980. Print.

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Book with No Author Listed

Title of book. City of publication: Publisher, year of publication. Medium of publication.

for example:

Encyclopedia of Indiana. New York: Somerset, 1993. Print.

A Work in an Reference, or Collection

Works may include an essay in an edited collection or anthology, or a chapter of a book. The basic form for this sort of citation is as follows:

Last name, First name. "Title of Essay." Title of Collection. “Ed.” Editor's Name(s). City

of Publication: Publisher, Year. Page range of entry. Medium of Publication.

for example:

Harris, Muriel. "Talk to Me: Engaging Reluctant Writers." A Tutor's Guide: Helping Writers

One to One. Ed. Ben Rafoth. Portsmouth: Heinemann, 2000. 24-34. Print.

MLA Bibliography Checklist:

Sources____ Eight sources

____ No more than one website

____ No more than one encyclopedia or dictionary

____ At least two books

Formatting____ I selected the proper MLA format for each source.

____ First line of each source not indented

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____ Subsequent lines are indented

____ Punctuated exactly as shown above

____ Author’s first and last names capitalized

____ Titles either italicized or quoted properly

____ Titles capitalized properly

____ Medium of publication listed

____ Double spaced

____ Alphabetical order

Rough Outline

After you have created your bibliography, it’s time to start thinking about how you will use the sources you found.

That is the purpose of a rough outline. At this point you should have some understanding of the main ideas you’ve been

reading about. Consider how those main ideas can work together to prove the thesis of your paper.

A good approach is to develop three or four subtopics that are logically connected. For each subtopic in your

outline, write out the main idea followed by a list of general types of information you found as well as a parenthetical

citation for each. Each subtopic will eventually fill in a few paragraphs in your final paper, so for each one try to list a good

amount of information from more than one source.

Organize what you’ve found so that each subtopic builds upon the ideas you’ve already presented.

To simplify the process, treat each subtopic as if it were a separate essay using two of your sources, and since all

of your subtopics are so closely related they can all share the same introduction and conclusion.

Thesis: Children’s television misrepresents its programming when it claims to be educational.

I. Examples of children’s shows that claim to be educational.

A. Channels that target children (Johnson 8)

B. Between show infomercials (Rogers 227)

C. After-school specials (Smith 128)

II. Defining “education”

A. Types of learning (Groswell 28)

B. Stages of mental development (Klein 228)

III. A closer look at the ways in which TV shows claim to be educational.

A. Social skills (Ludonovich 65)12

B. Foreign language learning (Johnson 89)

C. Mathematics (Mitchell 312)

IV. Scientific studies of children’s TV shows.

A. Social development (Bonner 90)

B. Language learning (Bonner 94)

C. Mathematics (Takamura 74)

Your Thesis:

Subtopic I:

A.

B.

C.

Subtopic II:

A.

B.

C.

Subtopic III:

A.

B.

C.

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Subtopic IV:

A.

B.

C.

Note Cards

The purpose of research is to become informed on a topic so that you may take an educated

position supported by strong evidence. In order to do that, you will have to gather compelling facts.

Your note cards can help you. 30 note cards are required, and they should be in the format outlined

below. You can use 3x5 inch index cards to manipulate easily when writing your rough draft or you

can use Google Drive to make copying and pasting easier later on.

Be sure to:Record the exact words from the source you are using.

Identify the author and page number of your quote.

Note Card Format

Author: Page number:

Direct quote:

For Example

Bukongo 21314

Eleven percent of drivers aged 18 to 20 who were involved in an automobile

accident and survived admitted they were sending or receiving texts when

they crashed.

Using Note Cards

Your note cards provide you with easy access to your research, but since there are 30 of them

it may be difficult to know how you’ll use them unless you take the time to organize them well. These

are your cards, so how you organize them is up to you. An easy way of doing this is to follow your

rough outline and decide which quotes best support each of your subtopics.

Some suggested methods of organization are:

Most important to least important

General facts to more specific facts

Oldest to most recent

Simplest to most complex

Several simple facts that build on each other

Facts followed by a conclusion

Recommendation followed by facts

Definitions followed by examples

Cause and effect

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The ways in which you organize your ideas are up to you, and you will need to get creative at

times. Just try to remember that the more time you spend organizing now the more clear things will

be when you write your paper.

Once you have placed your cards in the order you like, you must number each of them from

one to thirty.

Final OutlineOnce you have thoroughly researched your topic and created your note cards, it is time to start

your final outline. This is a step that is meant to give you a chance to organize all of your information and ideas so that you won’t have to think about it as much when you are drafting your paper. A final outline is basically the same as the rough outline, but it is more specific in its details.

The organization of this outline may be slightly different from the rough outline since you’ve had more time to research and think about your work. This assignment must be typed and follow the format illustrated below. This shows only one body paragraph, but yours will outline as many body paragraphs as you may need.

IntroductionThesis:

Main Ideas / Subtopics:

I:

II:

III:

IV:

Body ParagraphMain Idea:

____________________________________________________________________________

Information and ideas:

A. (Note Card #)

B. (Note Card #)

C. (Note Card #)

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ConclusionMain Points to Remember:

Final Conclusion:

Rough DraftThe next few pages will give you more information about writing your rough draft. The most important thing is to

be prepared to concentrate on communicating clearly. That means you should have a good grasp of the issues you read

about. You should have all of your note cards organized using a finished outline, and you should have some idea about

what ideas and examples will best prove your main points. If you are prepared, you should be better able to focus on the

writing process because most of your organizational thinking will be done.

Once your rough draft is done, the majority of your work is complete and you should only have to correct minor

details.

When writing your paper be sure to:

1. Have a clear one to two paragraph introduction.

Include a clear thesis on the topic.

A thesis:

Takes a clear position

Addresses a specific type of media

Focuses on the effects on a specific group of people

Have two or three main ideas that support your thesis.

Each main idea will be developed into a major subtopic of your paper.

2. Divide the body of your paper into at least two or three related subtopics.

Write at least two to three paragraphs that provide ideas and examples on each subtopic.

Connect each subtopic to the next in a way that makes sense to the reader.

Use a total of 12 cited facts in your paper.

Use some direct quotes.17

Use some paraphrasing.

Cite all your facts properly.

Make clear connections between each of your subtopics and your thesis.

3. Have a clear one to two paragraph conclusion.

Remind your reader of your main ideas.

Explain clearly how all of what you’ve written proves your thesis.

PlagiarismWhen you write your research paper, you are dealing with a lot of complex information and ideas from several

sources. You have three to four subtopics, information from thirty note cards and a deadline to meet. Some students in the past have been tempted to copy information from a book and try to pass it off as their own. This is called plagiarism. It is cheating, and it can have serious consequences.

What is plagiarism? Using someone else’s exact words without giving them credit. Using someone else’s sentence but changing the words. Copying the organizational pattern of someone else’s writing.

Types of plagiarism: Word-for-word copying Mixing exact phrases into your own paragraph (patchwork plagiarism) Following the exact topics and ideas as the original source

How to avoid plagiarism. Give credit to the original source (parenthetical citations). Use direct quotes. Paraphrase

What will happen if I plagiarize? You may receive no credit for the assignment. Your parents will be notified. There may be other indirect consequences.

Here are some recent examples from the news:

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Ohio University student charged with plagiarizing a paper was expelled from the University of Virginia’s Semester at Sea program. She was forced to disembark early and go home.

Alex Haley settled out-of-court for $650,000, having admitted that he copied large passages of his novel Roots from The African by Harold Courlander.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's education minister has resigned over plagiarism allegations.

Senator Joseph Biden, now Vice President, was forced to withdraw from the 1988 Democratic Presidential nominations when it was revealed that he had failed a course in law school due to plagiarism.

Facing accusations that she is guilty of plagiarism, historian Doris Kearns Goodwin has decided not to participate as a judge for this year's Pulitzer Prizes.

Direct QuotationsIn your research paper it’s okay to copy an author’s exact words as long as you give them

credit. You will be expected to use direct quotes for some of the 12 quotes in our research paper.

Examples of Direct Quotes:

“Nine out of ten doctors recommend limiting exposure to violent video games” (Johnson 87).

According to professor Ken Johnson, ” Nine out of ten doctors recommend limiting exposure to violent video games” (87).

“Nine out of ten doctors,” according to professor Ken Johnson, “recommend limiting exposure to violent video games” (87).

Why use direct quotes?

• As examples• To prove a point you’re making• To lend credibility

How are direct quotes punctuated?

• Put quotation marks before and after someone else’s exact words.19

• Capitalize the first word in the quote.• Most punctuation goes before the quotation mark.• Author and page number are cited at end of the sentence, followed by a period.• Do not put a period at the end if followed by a citation.

Advanced use of direct quotes:

• Use ellipses ( . . .) if you leave out a part of the quote.• Long quotes (more than one long sentence) are introduced with a colon, then skip a line and

indent each line of the long quote. Do not use quotation marks.• A quote within a quote uses apostrophes as quotation marks.

Things to avoid:• Too many quotes from one source• Using quotes out of context• Very long quotes• Too many quotes in a single paragraph.

Paraphrasing (Indirect Quotes)Sometimes information you get from a source just doesn’t fit into a paragraph in your writing. The information can

be too wordy, too long or it might not fit grammatically. There are several choices you can make as a writer, one of those

choices is to paraphrase or put the quote into your own words. This is perfectly acceptable as long as you give credit to

the author of the information.

What is a paraphrase?

A brief summary, in your own words, of the original information.

When should we use a paraphrase?

To condense the material.

To omit information in the original source that is not on your topic.

To simplify the information and make it easier to understand.

How are paraphrases cited?

Paraphrases are cited just like direct quotes, but they are not punctuated using quotation marks.

When should we not use paraphrases?

Avoid putting more than one paraphrase in any one paragraph.

There should write more paraphrasing than you write about your own ideas – remember it’s your paper.

Do not paraphrase when you do not give credit to the author; That is plagiarism and you may receive a zero for

the assignment.

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Examples of Paraphrasing:

Here’s the original information you found in a newspaper article:

“Information stored in cellphones seem to be increasingly attractive to the Department of Justice – law enforcement

agencies affiliated with the department used more than 37,600 court orders in 2011 to gather cellphone data, a sharp

increase from previous years” (Sengupta B3).

Here’s how you might paraphrase it:

In the past year federal law enforcement agencies have dramatically increasing their use of information stored on peoples’

cellphones (Sengupta B3).

-or-

According to a recent New York Times article by Somini Sengupta, Law enforcement is much more likely to use

information stored on someone’s cellphone as evidence in an investigation (B3).

Parenthetical Citations – Reference for ReviewHere are a several ways you can give credit to various sources of information.

1. Mention the author as part of your sentence.

For example: Johnson mentions at least five reasons not to text and drive (67-69).

2. Cite the author after your sentence.

For Example: There are at least five reasons not to text and drive (Johnson 67-69).

3. Use information that the author of your book found elsewhere – a second-hand quote.

For example: The US Attorney General stated in a recent interview that, “Texting and driving is a serious crime that should have serious consequences under the law" (qtd. in Johnson 66).

4. If there is no known author to your work (like many websites), or when using two works by the same author, you can use a brief version of the title.

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For Example: “In the time it takes to read and respond to a single text message, a driver can travel the distance of two football fields” (Sound Driving 137).

5. If your book is part of a multi-volume work insert the volume number and a colon.

For Example: “In the time it takes to read and respond to a single text message, a driver can travel the distance of two football fields” (Johnson 3: 137).

6. Sometimes an organization publishes a work with no authors name listed. You should use the name of the organization as your citation.

For Example: At highway speeds a driver can pass the length of two football fields in the time it takes to read a single text message (NTSB 2).

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Regulate the Use of Cell Phones on the Road

Angela Daly

English 101

Professor Chavez

22 April 2015

Title of this research paper

Student’s name

Class

Teacher’s name

Date of submission

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Daly 2

When a cell phone goes off in a classroom or at a concert, we are irritated, but at

least our lives are not endangered. When we are on the road, however, irresponsible

cell phone users are more than irritating: They are putting our lives at risk. Many of us

have witnessed drivers so distracted by dialing and chatting that they resemble drunk

drivers, weaving between lanes, for example, or nearly running down pedestrians in

crosswalks. A number of bills to regulate use of cell phones on the road have been

introduced in state legislatures, and the time has come to push for their passage.

Regulation is needed because drivers using phones are seriously impaired and because

laws on negligent and reckless driving are not sufficient to punish offenders.

No one can deny that cell phones have caused traffic deaths and injuries. Cell

phones were implicated in three fatal accidents in November 1999 alone. Early in

November, two-year-old Morgan Pena was killed by a driver distracted by his cell

phone. Morgan’s mother, Patti Pena, reports that the driver “ran a stop sign at 45 mph,

broadsided my vehicle and killed Morgan as she sat in her car seat.” A week later,

corrections officer Shannon Smith, who was guarding prisoners by the side of the road,

was killed by a woman distracted by a phone call (Besthoff). On Thanksgiving weekend

that same month, John and Carole Hall were killed when a Naval Academy midshipman

crashed into their parked car. The driver said in court that when he looked up from the

cell phone he was

dialing, he was three feet from the car and had no time to stop (Stockwell B8).

Expert testimony, public opinion, and even cartoons suggest that driving while

phoning is dangerous. Frances Bents, an expert on the relation between cell phones

and accidents, estimates that between 450 and 1,000 crashes a year have some

connection to cell phone use (Layton C9). In a survey published by Farmers Insurance

Group, 87% of those polled said that cell phones affect a

Your last name and page number. Page number starts at 2 because cover page is not numbered.

Clear thesis statement

Topic sentence introduces the paragraph

Source of quote is introduced in the sentence

Web source with no page number.

Page 8 of section B of the source

This is the source for the quote by Bents

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Daly 3

driver’s ability, and 40% reported having close calls with drivers distracted by

phones. Many cartoons have depicted the very real dangers of driving while distracted

(see fig. 1).

Fig. 1. A cartoon shows the dangers of using cell phones and other devices while driving (Lowe A21).

Scientific research confirms the dangers of using phones while on the road. In

1997 an important study appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine. The

authors, Donald Redelmeier and Robert Tibshirani, studied 699 volunteers who made

their cell phone bills available in order to confirm the times when they had placed calls.

The participants agreed to report any nonfatal collision in which they were involved. By

comparing the time of a collision with the phone records, the researchers assessed the

dangers of driving while phoning. The results are unsettling:

We found that using a cellular telephone was associated with a risk of

having a motor vehicle collision that was about about four times as

Graphic does not count towards your minimum page number

Graphic includes figure #, caption and citation

Use colon and skip a line before long quote.

Long quote uses indentation not quotation marks

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Daly 4

high as that among the same drivers when they were not using their

cellular telephones. This relative risk is similar to the hazard

associated with driving with a blood alcohol level at the legal limit.

(456)

The news media often exaggerated the latter claim (“similar to” is not “equal

to”); nonetheless, the comparison with drunk driving suggests the extent to which cell

phone use while driving can impair judgment.

A 1998 study focused on Oklahoma, one of the few states to keep records on

fatal accidents involving cell phones. Using police records, John M. Violanti of the

Rochester Institute of Technology investigated the relation between traffic fatalities in

Oklahoma and the use or presence of a cell phone. He found a ninefold increase in the

risk of fatality if a phone was being used and a doubled risk simply when a phone was

present in a vehicle (522-23). The latter statistic is interesting, for it suggests that those

who carry phones in their cars may tend to be more negligent (or prone to distractions of

all kinds) than those who do not.

Some groups have argued that state traffic laws make legislation regulating cell

phone use unnecessary. Sadly, this is not true. Laws on traffic safety vary from state to

state, and drivers distracted by cell phones can get off with light punishment even when

they cause fatal accidents. For example, although the midshipman mentioned earlier

was charged with vehicular manslaughter for the deaths of John and Carole Hall, the

judge was unable to issue a verdict of guilty. Under Maryland law, he could only find the

defendant guilty of negligent driving and impose a $500 fine (Layton C1). Such a light

sentence is not unusual. The driver who killed Morgan Pena in Pennsylvania received

two tickets and a $50 fine—and retained his driving privileges (Pena). In Georgia, a

young woman distracted by her phone ran down and killed a two-

In a long quote, period comes before the parenthetical citation

This is a paraphrase (indirect quote) and even though there are no quotation marks it still gets cited.

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Daly 5

year-old; her sentence was ninety days in boot camp and five hundred hours of

community service (Ippolito J1). The families of the victims are understandably

distressed by laws that lead to such light sentences.

When certain kinds of driver behavior are shown to be especially

dangerous, we wisely draft special laws making them illegal and imposing specific

punishments. Running red lights, failing to stop for a school bus, and drunk driving are

obvious examples; phoning in a moving vehicle should be no exception. Unlike more

general laws covering negligent driving, specific laws leave little ambiguity for law

officers and for judges and juries imposing punishments. Such laws have another

important benefit: They leave no ambiguity for drivers. Currently, drivers can tease

themselves into thinking they are using their car phones responsibly because the

definition of “negligent driving” is vague.

As of December 2000, twenty countries were restricting use of cell phones in

moving vehicles (Sundeen 8). In the United States, it is highly unlikely that legislation

could be passed on the national level, since traffic safety is considered a state and local

issue. To date, only a few counties and towns have passed traffic laws restricting cell

phone use. For example, in Suffolk County, New York, it is illegal for drivers to use a

handheld phone for anything but an emergency call while on the road (Haughney A8).

The first town to restrict use of handheld phones was Brooklyn, Ohio (Layton C9).

Brooklyn, the first community in the country to pass a seat belt law, has once again

shown its concern for traffic safety.

Laws passed by counties and towns have had some effect, but it makes more

sense to legislate at the state level. Local laws are not likely to have the impact of state

laws, and keeping track of a wide variety of local ordinances is confusing for drivers.

Even a spokesperson for Verizon Wireless has said that

Notice that this paragraph has no quotes. The paragraph is bringing together some of the main ideas already mentioned.

These final three paragraphs develop the conclusion of this research paper. Notice how opinions are stated as facts.

27

Daly 6

statewide bans are preferable to a “crazy patchwork quilt of ordinances” (qtd. in

Haughney A8). Unfortunately, although a number of bills have been introduced in state

legislatures, as of early 2001 no state law seriously restricting use of the phones had

passed—largely because of effective lobbying from the wireless industry.

Despite the claims of some lobbyists, tough laws regulating phone use can

make our roads safer. In Japan, for example, accidents linked to cell phones fell by 75%

just a month after the country prohibited using a handheld phone while driving

(Haughney A8). Research suggests and common sense tells us that it is not possible to

drive an automobile at high speeds, dial numbers, and carry on conversations without

significant risks. When such behavior is regulated, obviously our roads will be safer.

Because of mounting public awareness of the dangers of drivers distracted by

phones, state legislators must begin to take the problem seriously. “It’s definitely an

issue that is gaining steam around the country,” says Matt Sundeen of the National

Conference of State Legislatures (qtd. in Layton C9). Lon Anderson of the American

Automobile Association agrees: “There is momentum building,” he says, to pass laws

(qtd. in Layton C9). The time has come for states to adopt legislation restricting the use

of cell phones in moving vehicles.

This quote is a second hand quote. Haughney quoted the Verizon spokesperson on page A8 of her book.

28

Daly 7

Works Cited

Besthoff, Len. “Cell Phone Use Increases Risk of Accidents, but Users Willing to

Take the Risk.” WRAL.com. Capitol Broadcasting, 9 Nov. 1999. Web. 12 Jan.

2001.

Farmers Insurance Group. “New Survey Shows Drivers Have Had ‘Close Calls’

with Cell Phone Users.” Farmers. Farmers Insurance Group, 8 May 2000.

Web.12 Jan. 2001.

Haughney, Christine. “Taking Phones out of Drivers’ Hands.” Washington Post 5

Nov. 2000: A8. Print.

Ippolito, Milo. “Driver’s Sentence Not Justice, Mom Says.” Atlanta Journal

Constitution 25 Sept. 1999: J1. eLibrary Curriculum.

Layton, Lyndsey. “Legislators Aiming to Disconnect Motorists.” Washington Post

10 Dec. 2000: C1+. Print.

Lowe, Chan. Cartoon. Washington Post 22 July 2000: A21. Print.

Pena, Patricia N. “Patti Pena’s Letter to Car Talk.” Cartalk.com. Dewey,

Cheetham, and Howe, n.d. Web. 10 Jan. 2001.

Redelmeier, Donald A., and Robert J. Tibshirani. “Association between Cellular-

Telephone Calls and Motor Vehicle Collisions.” New England Journal of

Medicine 336.7 (1997): 453-58. Print.

Stockwell, Jamie. “Phone Use Faulted in Collision.” Washington Post 6 Dec.

2000: B1+. Print.

Sundeen, Matt. “Cell Phones and Highway Safety: 2000 State Legislative

Update.” National Conference of State Legislatures. Natl. Conf. of State

Legislatures, Dec. 2000. Web. 27 Feb. 2001.

Violanti, John M. “Cellular Phones and Fatal Traffic Collisions.” Accident Analysis

and Prevention 30.4 (1998): 519-24. Print.

Follow MLA style exactly for your works cited page.

Website article

Web article with no known author

Newspaper

Journal article by two authors

29

Sample Works Cited Page – for Reference and ReviewBe sure to:

Center the words “Works Cited” at the top. Do not bold, underline or quote the words “Works Cited”. Place your last name and page number in the top left. Organize your works cited in alphabetical order. Indent the second and subsequent lines of each entry. Follow the 2009 MLA handbook exactly.

Works Cited McGillicuty 8

"Blueprint Lays Out Clear Path for Climate Action." Environmental Defense

Fund.

Environmental Defense Fund, 8 May 2007. Web. 24 May 2009.

Clinton, Bill. Interview by Andrew C. Revkin. “Clinton on Climate Change.” New

York Times. New York Times, May 2007. Web. 25 May 2009.

Dean, Cornelia. "Executive on a Mission: Saving the Planet." New York Times.

New York Times, 22 May 2007. Web. 25 May 2009.

Gleick, James. Chaos: Making a New Science. New York: Penguin, 1987. Print.

GlobalWarming.org. Cooler Heads Coalition, 2007. Web. 24 May 2009.

Gowdy, John. "Avoiding Self-organized Extinction: Toward a Co-evolutionary

Economics of Sustainability." International Journal of Sustainable

Development and World Ecology 14.1 (2007): 27-36. Print.

An Inconvenient Truth. Dir. Davis Guggenheim. Perf. Al Gore, Billy West.

Paramount, 2006. DVD.

Leroux, Marcel. Global Warming: Myth Or Reality?: The Erring Ways of

Climatology. New York: Springer, 2005. Print.

Milken, Michael, Gary Becker, Myron Scholes, and Daniel Kahneman. "On Global

Warming and Financial Imbalances." New Perspectives Quarterly 23.4

(2006):

63. Print.

Nordhaus, William D. "After Kyoto: Alternative Mechanisms to Control Global

Warming." American Economic Review 96.2 (2006): 31-34. Print.

---. "Global Warming Economics." Science 9 Nov. 2001: 1283-84. Science Online.

Web. 24 May 2009.

Shulte, Bret. "Putting a Price on Pollution." Usnews.com. US News & World

Rept., 6 May 2007. Web. 24 May 2009.

Article from a

website

Newspaper

article

A book

A website with

no title or

author

An chapter in a

journal by

multiple authors

A second work by

the same author

An online

magazine article

A database

30

Uzawa, Hirofumi. “Running on the Earth and With the Earth – a Way of Life.”

Historical Journal 50.1 (2007): 173-96. ProQuest. Web. 27 May 2009.

Final ChecklistBefore submitting your work check your paper for all of the following things.

Page Setup_____ Typed 12 point Times New Roman font_____ double spaced_____ 1 inch margins_____ Four to six full pages.

Cover Page_____ Title_____ Name_____ Class_____ Teacher(s)_____ Date of submission_____ Do not include your last name or page number

Works Cited Page_____ Name and page number on top right_____ “Works Cited” centered no formatting_____ Organized alphabetically by author (or title if there is no author or editor)._____ Do not skip lines between works_____ Do not indent the first line of information for each work cited._____ Tab second and subsequent lines of information for each work._____ Quote article or chapters titles._____ Italicize books, magazines, newspaper and journal titles._____ Include at least six sources_____ Cite only the sources you cite parenthetically in your paper

Body of paper_____ Your last name and page number on top right of each page_____ No comma or “page” between your name and the page number_____ Start page numbers on second page at “2”._____ Include at least 12 parenthetical citations._____ Make use of all six of your sources._____ Use one or two full sentence quotes or paraphrases per paragraph._____ Do not use personal pronouns “I”, “you”, etc.

Other_____ Highlighted photocopies of everything you cited and underline the facts you used.

31

_____ Save work to a Flash drive.

Due Monday, April 20, 2015Research Paper Grading Rubric

In order for the paper to be evaluated it must contain the following basic components. A NO on any single item listed below will result in the paper being immediately returned to you so the omission(s) can be corrected.

YES NO N/A____ ____ ____ Paper typed____ ____ ____ One inch margins____ ____ ____ 12 point Times New Roman____ ____ ____ Cover page in MLA format____ ____ ____ Thesis____ ____ ____ At least six sources used____ ____ ____ At least 12 parenthetical citations____ ____ ____ Correct use of parenthetical citations____ ____ ____ Works cited parenthetically are listed in the works cited page____ ____ ____ Works cited page is formatted correctly____ ____ ____ At least four full pages____ ____ ____ Highlighted photocopies included____ ____ ____ Work saved to a Flashdrive____ ____ ____ No plagiarism---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Once your paper is deemed acceptable it will be graded according to the following criteria:

Excellent 5 points) Clear, consistent and thorough skill applicationGood (4 points) Sound basic skill applicationSatisfactory (3 points) Superficial or inaccurate skill applicationPoor (2point) Unacceptable or incorrect skill application

1. Use of Sources: 5 4 3 2 1All information is documented ___ ___ ___ ___ ___Sufficient information to support thesis ___ ___ ___ ___ ___Mix of your own ideas and outside information ___ ___ ___ ___ ___Research information used to support the thesis ___ ___ ___ ___ ___Citation format ___ ___ ___ ___ ___Works cited match parenthetical citations ___ ___ ___ ___ ___All information properly cited (no plagiarism) ___ ___ ___ ___ ___Use of Sources Score ______

2. Content, Organization 5 4 3 2 1Introduction is focused and engaging ___ ___ ___ ___ ___Thesis is clear and focused ___ ___ ___ ___ ___Thorough, relevant research ___ ___ ___ ___ ___Logical organization of ideas ___ ___ ___ ___ ___Sentence structure and vocabulary ___ ___ ___ ___ ___Effective transitions between subtopics ___ ___ ___ ___ ___Conclusion connects all ideas together ___ ___ ___ ___ ___Content, Organization Score ______

3. Conventions of Standard Academic English 5 4 3 2 1Title page format ___ ___ ___ ___ ___Page formatting -- font, spacing, margins, etc ___ ___ ___ ___ ___Capitalization, punctuation, paragraphing, etc ___ ___ ___ ___ ___Grammar – agreement, clear reference, etc. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___Mechanics -- run-ons, fragments, etc. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

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Formal, academic English ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

Conventions Score ______Overall Score ______

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