The Aristotelian Internet

Since everybody is relying on the blog as their main source of information, I’m adding a new form of post. Within the post, I’ll be adding the key points to the units that we’re covering and then, as an attachment, I’ll add the actual unit syllabus. We’ll start this with the upcoming unit.

Key Points for the Annotated Bibliography

For the annotated bibliography, you will create an MLA style bibliography with appropriate annotations. Within the annotations, I want to see three specific facets: a summary of the text, the way in which you foresee the text working in your argument, and a statement of the author’s ethos.

In class, we will discuss the specific format that I want with your essay. When I present this to you, I will add it to this blo as well.

• Within your annotated bibliography, you need to include five sources
  • two of which are scholarly articles
  • one of which is a book.
  • Consider your topic when searching for sources; a more recent controversial issue may require you look for a book outside the realm of your topic. For instance, if you want to write on the controversy of downloading free music (as we discussed with the earlier articles) you likely will not find a book on the controversy, so you will need to look for something related—such as a book on copyright laws.
  • With your annotated bibliography, you will need to turn in completely annotated copies of your source material. You may want to turn in a copy of this material so you can keep the original to continue work while I grade your annotated bibliography.

Key Points for the Research Prospectus

The research prospectus is designed to allow me to exhibit that your topic is both on target for the assignment and provide you with a means of conveying that you know what you are getting into. Additionally, the research prospectus provides you with a means of focusing your argument and preparing yourself for writing the researched essay.
Your prospectus should run between three and five pages. To organize your prospectus, use the topics provided below and use these as headers.

• overview of the argument
  • what issue are you examining and why is this issue important to you?
  • how recent is this argument? How easily can you find the materials needed for the research?
• summary of the pro side of the argument
  • For those on the pro side, what arguments do they use (Why should you be “for” this)?
• summary of the con side of the argument
  • Why should you be “against” this argument? What does the research say?
• • Are you pro or con? Why?
  • what you have learned in your research thus far?
• provide a brief summation of the research you have completed.
  • Have you found statistics?
  • Have you found support for your side of the argument?
  • Have you found counterarguments you can use?
• What you still need to find in your research?
  • What statistics do you still need to find?
  • What testimonies would be helpful?
  • Do you need to interview somebody to get an expert’s testimony?
• What is your timeline?
  • In this section, I want to have a detailed list of upcoming major deadlines for your other classes and I want to see how you plan to work your paper around these deadlines. I specifically want to see when you will have your research completed, rough draft completed, when you plan to revise, and when you plan to proofread your essay.

Unit Syllabus:

unit-iii-syllabus.doc