Research
How many scholarly and popular secondary sources do you need to cite in the final draft of the Textual Analysis Essay?
One scholarly source
(where would you find this information?)
Do you need to provide a citation if you paraphrase an author’s words?
Yes.
“Although the wording may be yours, the ideas and information come from another source; be sure to name the author, and include documentation to avoid the possibility of plagiarism” (550).
Do you need a works cited page for your textual analysis essay?
Yes! See assignment instructions.
Is ethical use of AI (artificial intelligence) ever possible at the college level or is it always wrong?
Ethical use of AI is possible!
When is the final draft of your analytical essay due?
Monday, April 22 before the start of class
Where will you go to find a scholarly source?
The CRC Library website! (or the actual library)
What should go in the parenthetical citation?
In “Allegiance to Gratitude,” Kimmerer writes, “The Thanksgiving Address describes mutual allegiance as human delegates to the democracy of species” (____).
Page number only! Why?
In “Allegiance to Gratitude,” Kimmerer writes, “The Thanksgiving Address describes mutual allegiance as human delegates to the democracy of species” (____).
“If you mention the author in a signal phrase, put only the page number(s) in parentheses. Do not write 'page' or 'p'" (568).
Where should the works cited page go?
After the essay, on its own separate page
“Start your list on a new page” (607)
Is it appropriate to copy and paste something produced by AI (like ChatGPT) and submit it as your own work?
No!
From the Syllabus: The Council of Writing Program Administrators defines plagiarism in instructional settings as occurring “when a writer deliberately uses someone else’s language, ideas, or other . . . material without acknowledging its source.” In U.S. academic contexts, this form of academic dishonesty is usually considered a serious offense.
In a Textual Analysis Essay, how do you support your thesis? What kind of evidence do you draw on?
Mostly you will support your argument via textual evidence from the primary text and your analysis of said evidence. You can also use evidence from secondary sources, but the heart of this essay is your analysis of the primary text.
Does this citation look like a scholarly or a popular source?
Brubaker, Bill. "New Health Center Targets County's Uninsured Patients." Washington Post, 24 May 2007, p. LZ01.
Popular!
“Popular sources include just about all other online and print publications, from websites to magazines to books written for nonspecialists” (502).
What is the correct order of an MLA heading? (Hint: there are four items in an MLA heading)
Student name
Professor’s name
Course name
Date
How many entries will be in your works cited page (at minimum)? How will you order them?
At least two entries (one for your primary source and one for your scholarly secondary source)
“Alphabetize the list by authors’ last names” (607).
If you choose to use AI tools, do you need to cite them?
Yes. (see syllabus)
Does the Textual Analysis Essay assignment require you to make an argument?
Yes! You will be graded on your ability to come up with an original argument based on your analysis of the primary text.
“When you analyze a text, you are basically arguing that the text should be read or seen in a certain way” (134).
Does this citation look like a scholarly or popular source?
Clapperton, Jonathan. “Indigenous Ecological Knowledge and the Politics of Postcolonial Writing.” RCC Perspectives, no. 4, 2016, pp. 9–16. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/26241384.
Scholarly!
How can you tell?
“Scholarly articles are usually published in academic journals” (502).
What should go in the parenthetical citation?
Too often, the sort of botany taught in the American university system is “reductionist, mechanistic, and strictly objective” (………).
(Kimmerer 42)
“If you do not mention the author in a signal phrase, put the author’s last name in parentheses along with any page number(s). Do not use punctuation between the name and the page number(s)” (568).
How would you correct this citation?
Kimmerer, Robin. “Asters and Goldenrod"
Author, title of the source, title of container, publisher, date, location of the source.
Kimmerer, Robin Wall. “Asters and Goldenrod.” Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teaching of Plants, Milkweed Editions, 2013, pp. 39-47.
Are AI tools free of bias?
No.
Large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT are sophisticated statistical models that predict probable word sequences in response to a prompt, but they do not “understand” language in any human-like sense.
Through intensive mining, modeling, and memorization of vast stores of language data “scraped” from the internet, these text generators deliver text that resembles writing authored by humans.
The final draft of the Textual Analysis Essay is worth how much of your final grade?
Kind of a trick question. The entire project (first draft, peer review, final draft, and reflection) is worth 35% of your grade in the class.
Therefore, the final draft makes up 24.5% of your final grade in the class.
In any case, it’s worth a lot.
One major difference between scholarly and popular sources is that scholarly sources are “peer-reviewed.” What does “peer-reviewed” mean in this sense?
Peer-reviewed means “evaluated by other experts in the same discipline for their factual accuracy and lack of bias. They are also written largely for experts in a discipline, as a means of sharing research, insights, and in-depth analysis with one another; that’s why they must meet high standards of accuracy and objectivity and adhere to the discipline’s accepted research methods, including its style for documenting sources” (502).
What should be in the top right corner of an essay formatted in MLA?
Student last name, page number
“In the upper right-hand corner of each page, one-half inch below the top of the page, include your last name and the page number” (605).
How would you correct this citation?
Zubiri, Stephanie. “The Key to Bhutan’s Happiness”
Zubiri, Stephanie. “The Key to Bhutan’s Happiness.” BBC News, 25 Feb. 2022, www.bbc.com/travel/article/20210920-the-key-to-bhutans-happiness.
For an individual page on a Web site, list the author or alias if known, followed by an indication of the specific page or article being referenced. Usually, the title of the page or article appears in a header at the top of the page. Follow this with the information covered above for entire Web sites. If the publisher is the same as the website name, only list it once. (OWL at Purdue)
In this course, how should you acknowledge use of AI tools?
You must include a paragraph at the end of your works cited page that explains what you used AI for and the specific prompts you used to get your results. Failure to complete this step will be considered plagiarism.
What should a good concluding paragraph do in a Textual Analysis Essay?
Look back - Remind your reader of the argument you’ve just finished making.
Look forward - Broaden your focus outward. Assume that you have successfully convinced your reader that your argument is correct. Now you can suggest why it matters, broadly speaking, perhaps relating your argument to something going on in the world, a cultural movement, or something else.