This assignment, you will a) be providing a list of six sources that you feel are relevant to your research topic, authoritative, and suitable for inclusion in a college-level research paper. You will also b) be writing a summary paragraph for each of them.
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Completing this Assignment
Part One (5 marks total)
1. Identify a research topic on: “Issues affecting Indigenous Women in Canada”
Link: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/07/canada-indigenous-women-and-girls-missing
2. List six sources that you feel should be relevant and sufficiently trustworthy to include in your essay (you can use sources I have given you as readings).
Your list can include a variety of mediums (i.e. books, articles, websites, videos, and podcasts) but must include at least 2 peer-reviewed articles from a scholarly journal.
For each of your sources in the list, include the author’s/s’ name(s), the title of the source, and the publication in which it appears, if appropriate).
Part Two (4 x 5 marks = 20 marks total)
On a new page, for four of the listed sources, include annotated bibliography entries, which consist of the following:
1. An MLA Bibliographic Entry
Using MLA citation style (for which you can find instructions and examples at: https://library.senecacollege.ca/mla/citationexamples), provide an MLA Bibliographic Citation.
2. A Five-Sentence Annotation (in paragraph form; don’t number the sentences. You may need to split up the sentences for grammatical sense.)
Sentence One: Identify the source and summarize or paraphrase its major conclusion(s), without plagiarizing or simple quotation. [Note: A topic is not a thesis. Do not merely state the source’s topic.]
Sentence Two: Specify the kind(s) of research/evidence upon which its conclusions are based.
Sentences Three and Four: Explain why, in your opinion, the source meets the library’s Source Evaluation Criteria (CRAAP) [listed at https://seneca.libanswers.com/faq/196756]. These sentences should be persuasive in tone.
Sentence Five: Explain how you feel that the information or arguments in this source could be understood to agree or disagree with the information or arguments in any of the other three sources for which you are writing annotations.
Please note that every one of the sentences should effectively communicate a significant amount of information; rely on precise sentence structure and punctuation to keep your ideas organized and clear. Each annotation should take the form of an extensive, detailed paragraph.
Your entries will be graded according to a) the demonstrated application of source evaluation criteria in your selection of sources, b) the accuracy and precision of your interpretation of selected texts, c) the clarity and detail of the annotation’s claims, and e) correct application of MLA Bibliographic citation style. (1 mark each)
Some sample annotations:
Sentence One (summary of claims)
Weak: This text discusses the relationship between aggression in young women or the way that they think of their body and the number of tattoos and piercings that they have. [Why is this sentence weak? Because of a lack of detail – it says that the source discusses a relationship between two things, but it doesn’t identify what the relationship is.]
Strong: This article proposes that the number of tattoos or piercings that young women have correlates to their level of aggression and/or negative body image.
Sentence Two (evidence provided)
Weak: The authors conduct a study on the topic, and also refer to many other research studies that have been conducted, which helps them to use facts instead of opinion. [Why is this sentence weak? Because of a lack of detail. What research studies are referred to? What facts are introduced in this source?]
Strong: These conclusions are the result of a study of 300 young women in an American youth shelter, who were given different questionnaires as a means of determining their level of aggression and their body image, and were also interviewed regarding their tattoos and piercings, including their motivations for acquiring them.
Sentences Three and Four (source evaluation)
Weak: This essay is relevant because it relates to my topic of tattoos and current because it was written in 2013. It’s also authoritative because it is included in a library database and objective because the authors use facts and statistics.
Strong: This article’s claims provide recent support (from within the last 10 years) to the argument that body modification may be the result of personal dissatisfaction. Furthermore, the article was written by three professors at American universities, and was published in a peer-reviewed journal; it contains both a description of the specific research methodology and a list of the other research that has been cited in the article.
Sentence Five (comparison to other selected sources)
Weak: This source is similar to my other sources, because they all help me to understand my field of research better, and I can get a better understanding of why people get tattoos. [Why is this sentence weak? Because of a lack of detail – it’s merely saying that it’s on the same topic as the other sources, but makes no clear claim about how the sources’ information or arguments agree or disagree with any other specific sources.]
Strong: This article’s finding that the presence of tattoos in its sample correlates to negative body image provides a viewpoint that differs from that of Paglia, who concludes that her tattoo was an expression of self-confidence and self-affiirmation; it also may be contradicted by Johanssen et al.’s conclusion that increased body modification is primarily the result of fashion trends rather than individual alienation.
