Overview

You have to produce an academic argument paper, which means you need to be able to do two things, at least: identify the kind of problem that academics would argue about and find scholarly sources that contribute to those arguments. Your collection identified an important conversation taking place in secondary sources and a civic forum. All of those sources relied directly or indirectly on research and concepts created by scholars.

To write your papers effectively you will will need to do the following:

• Identify the components of an argument
• Identify features of effective claims
• Identify how scholars contribute to your argument
• Identify what makes a source “scholarly”
• Navigate scholarly sources so you can find information
• Identify what makes a source valuable to your topic

Instructions

Before you read.

In your notebook, set up a page for the reading.

Label the top of the page with bibliographic information– page number, book, etc.

Preview the Text and Look for Organizational Cues. As with any reading you do, skim the whole first quickly with the bullet points above in mind so that you’re asking yourself where you might find information that would contribute to accomplishing what the bullet points describe.

While you read.

Annotate and Code. Keep in mind how you might use the ideas in your work. So marking places to remind you of interesting ideas or thoughts could be helpful. That’s why you’ve been asked to re-read that section of the assignment sheet– so you have the assignment in mind. (If you are renting the text book or planning on returning it, just use post-its. If you are working with something on screen, write down a few words to remind you of your place in the text.)

After you finish reading.

List five main points that you want to remember from each assigned reading. Quote and use bullet points, but supply yourself with enough information that you could refer to your notes, rather than than the book if you wanted to use the information.

Next, write a few sentences that summarizes how the reading might help you understand any of the bullet points from the overview section of these instructions.

Overview:

We are going to combine note taking techniques as you read your articles. These techniques have four purposes which will intersect when you begin to compose drafts of annotations and other documents.:

• They allow you to become fluent in the subject matter you’re studying
• You develop a view of the whole conversation around your topic by connecting the individual parts
• You start generating text you can use
• You focus your topic as you go

Instructions:

Know/Want to Know/Learn

Resource: Norton Field Guide, p. 20 to 22

• Set up a page for the article
• Follow the instructions for K/W/L before you read the article– K and W.

What is my initial response:

Resources: NFG, Reading Strategically, p. 11; Previewing the Text, Adjusting Your Reading Speed, Looking for Organization Clues, Thinking about Your Initial Response, p. 11-14; Annotating, p. 17-18, Coding, p. 19; Summarizing, p. 19; Considering the Larger Context, p. 31-32.

Before you read.

• In your notebook, set up a page for the reading.
• Label the top of the page with bibliographic information.
• Add the reading to RefWorks
• Preview the Text and Look for Organizational Cues (see our reading from last week). Write a few sentences describing how the text is organized and laid out, noting any features– headings, terms, transitions, opening and closing paragraphs.

While you read.

• Annotate and Code. If the reading is online, use Hypothes.is. Just login, choose “Paste a Link” and make sure you are in your account (rather than our class). Keep in mind how you might use the ideas in your work. So marking places to remind you of interesting ideas or thoughts could be helpful.

After you finish reading.

• In your notebook, answer the questions you find in NFG, Thinking About Your Initial Response (our reading last week). There are two parts to the process– describe your initial response then trace the source of the response.
• Write a one paragraph summary. Keep it simple, don’t agonize over it. Describe what the goal of the chapter is, as you see, how it’s structured, and what you understand its main points to be.
• Write a one paragraph evaluation of the source based on NFG, p. 470 to 471, Considering Whether a Source Might be Useful. Use the terms you find there to write down evaluation.  

Keywords

Resources: NFG, p. 439

• As you read or after you read, supplement your list of keywords with anything new or relevant

Links and Leads

• You may do this on a separate sheet or in the keywords. List the names of experts, organizations, or other articles who are mentioned or interview in an article.
• Follow links in an article if it’s online and save it in refworks.

Slight Return: Know/Want to Know/Learn

Resource: Norton Field Guide, p. 20 to 22

• Follow the instructions for K/W/L before after (or while) you read the article– What did you learn?

Update Your Conversation Chart

• Conversation Chart One: Update Conversation Chart One with your sources. Use BEAM Chart
• Conversation Chart Two: Complete Conversation Chart Two for each source.
• Conversation Chart Three: Complete Conversation Chart Three to help you clarify your topic.

Resources: Review these resources before you begin taking notes.NFG, Reading Strategically, p. 11; Previewing the Text, Adjusting Your Reading Speed, Looking for Organization Clues, Thinking about Your Initial Response, p. 11-14; Annotating, p. 17-18, Coding, p. 19; Summarizing, p. 19; Considering the Larger Context, p. 31-32.

Before you read.

• In your notebook, set up a page for the reading.
• Label the top of the page with bibliographic information.
• Preview the Text and Look for Organizational Cues (see our reading from last week). Write a few sentences describing how the text is organized and laid out, noting any features– headings, terms, transitions, opening and closing paragraphs.

While you read.

• Annotate and Code. Keep in mind how you might use the ideas in your work. So marking places to remind you of interesting ideas or thoughts could be helpful. That’s why you’ve been asked to re-read that section of the assignment sheet– so you have the assignment in mind. (If you are renting the text book or planning on returning it, just use post-its. If you are working with something on screen, write down a few words to remind you of your place in the text.)

After you finish reading.

• Answer the questions you find in NFG, Thinking About Your Initial Response (our reading last week). There are two parts to the process– describe your initial response then trace the source of the response.
• Next, write a one paragraph summary. Keep it simple, don’t agonize over it. Describe what the goal of the chapter is, as you see, how it’s structured, and what you understand its main points to be.

When we take notes, we need to consider the purpose.

The instruction manual technique is a simple technique especially useful when you’re meant to follow guidelines or take particulate principles into account.

On Tuesday, January 30th, you’ll be taking notes intended to help you how to create the annotations, which are essentially summaries, for the Collection with Introduction. You’ll want to make connections between what’s required for the assignment– the context for your note taking– and the guidance provided by NFG.

Before you read.

In your notebook, set up a page for the reading.

Label the top of the page with bibliographic information– page number, book, etc.

Preview the Text and Look for Organizational Cues (see our reading from last week). Write a few sentences describing how the text is organized and laid out, noting any features– headings, terms, transitions, opening and closing paragraphs.

While you read.

Annotate and Code. Keep in mind how you might use the ideas in your work. So marking places to remind you of interesting ideas or thoughts could be helpful. That’s why you’ve been asked to re-read that section of the assignment sheet– so you have the assignment in mind. (If you are renting the text book or planning on returning it, just use post-its. If you are working with something on screen, write down a few words to remind you of your place in the text.)

After you finish reading.

List five main points that you want to remember from each assigned reading. You are welcome to quote and use bullet points, but supply yourself with enough information that you could refer to your notes, rather than than the book if you wanted to use the information.

Next, write a one paragraph summary. Keep it simple, don’t agonize over it. Describe what the goal of the reading is, how it’s structured, and how it can be used to help you with the assignment.

Overview

Sometimes, you’re asked– or decide– to re-read something for a project or a class. You may re-read for a very specific purpose, like answering a particular question that is part of a project or test, or you may want to re-familiarize yourself with a subject. Whatever the case, you want to take time to note how your thoughts have changed, remained the same, or how information you might not have noticed may have become newly useful.

Re-reading for Tuesday, January 30

Today, you’ll be re-reading two pieces from NFG that pertain specifically to how you will complete your Collection with Introduction. One section contains models and examples. The other contains instructions. You’ve already taken notes using the Instruction Manual technique.

At the bottom of your notes from last week (or with an additional page) put the date and “Re Read January 30”.

Today, you’re going to be reading with two things in mind, the Collection with Introduction and the seed article you chose. You’re now reading with one question in mind: How can this information contribute to my understanding of how to do the assignment?

Review the assignment sheet

Review your notes from last week

Re-read the selection from NFG. In your notes add any new “instructions” (a la the instruction manual) that you might need or may seem interesting or useful based on what you’re learning you will have to do.

Write a few sentences that answer the questions: What is my current response to this reading? How can I make use of what is found here? What else do I need to know or learn or be sure of?

Overview of the Technique:

Sometimes, when you are taking notes, a way to identify what’s most important. If you’re trying to summarize or paraphrase, you’d looking forward a way to note what’s important in such a way that later, when you write the summary or paraphrase, you’ll rely mostly on your own language, quoting only as necessary.

Says/Does helps prepare you for the summary part of your annotation because it helps you see the pattern of big ideas in a piece of writing as a whole. “Names/Oppositions/Definitions” can help you identify the key ideas in each paragraph, which is especially important if it’s a difficult text. Also, it’s a technique that can help you develop key words you will use to search for articles.

Instructions:

After you read a paragraph, but before you write the “Says” or summarize, identify the following:

Names: Think of names as special terms. They can be proper names, like the name of a person, organization or place, as well as jargon– the specialized language of a field. But they can also be a phrase or term used to identify a concept or an idea.

: Try not to think of “oppositions” as “opposites” (hot and cold) but as ideas, concepts, opinions, facts, or other things that the writer sets in opposition to one another. For example, in this paragraph, I opposed “oppositions thought of as opposites/oppositions thought of as ideas set against one another”. By setting one thing against another, we can make discriminations that helps us understand each better. Paragraphs are often built around oppositions.

Definitions: Think of definitions not only as (here comes another opposition) you might in a language or language arts class, but also as a way of making a point or argument. For example, you might define a problem, or define a concept, or define the roles that two people play in an argument.  

Example:

Every day, more than 90 Americans die after overdosing on opioids.1 The misuse of and addiction to opioids—including prescription pain relievers, heroin, and synthetic opioids such as fentanyl—is a serious national crisis that affects public health as well as social and economic welfare. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that the total “economic burden” of prescription opioid misuse alone in the United States is $78.5 billion a year, including the costs of healthcare, lost productivity, addiction treatment, and criminal justice involvement.2 (from https://www.drugabuse.gov/drugs-abuse/opioids/opioid-overdose-crisis)

Names:

• Americans
• opioid
• overdose
• prescription pain relievers
• heroin
• synthetic opioids
• “national crisis that affects public health social and economic welfare”
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• economic burden
• lost productivity
• addiction treatment
• criminal justice

Oppositions:

• Public Health/Social and Economic Welfare
• Health and mortality of an individual/economic burden (Notice that this is implied, but not stated directly)

Definitions:

Crisis that affects social and economic welfare= “economic burden”  $78.5 billion a year= “costs of healthcare, lost productivity, addiction treatment, and criminal justice involvement.”

Says:

The opioid epidemic is a public health crisis in that United States that both affects the health and welfare of individuals and has serious economic costs.  

Does:

The paragraph demonstrates the economic costs of the epidemic by acknowledging the personal costs, then explaining and illustrating the economic impact.

Instruction Manual: Scholarly Sources and Databases

These videos are meant to provide information to you so that you can accomplish the task that you have: to write a researched argument paper that requires credible sources, some of which need to come from peer reviewed, scholarly sources.

For each video, do the following in the policy paper section of your notebook:

• Write down five to seven important points that you think you– or someone else– should remember so that they (or you) don’t have to watch the whole video again.
• Write a seventy five to hundred fifty word evaluation of the video that answers the following questions:

What is the purpose of the video?

What kind of information does it contain?

How is it structured and designed (visuals, voice, etc.)?

Was it engaging and useful?

Would you recommend it to college students who need to write papers that require this information?