Week 11

Before class on Wednesday, November 3, do the following:

• Read my Announcement.
• Respond to the Discussion Question “Antigone in Ferguson” (click on the red text).
  • What is the tragic connection between Antigone and Ferguson?
  • What kind of research do you think the theater artists had to do to connect this ancient Greek tragedy to a real-life, modern-day one?
  • Just hit “reply” and answer the questions.

• Write a Post titled Full Name, Response to Antigone in Ferguson and saved under Unit 2 Work that responds to the following questions:
  1. The creators of Antigone in Ferguson wanted to attract people who would not ordinarily attend a production of a Greek play. Why do you think this was important to them?
  2. They also included people from the police force in the preparation and discussion of this version of Antigone. Why do you think they did this?
  3. Did watching Antigone in Ferguson change your view of the original play? Explain your answer.
• Publish the post by class time on Wednesday, November 3.
• Hit “reply” to your “Social Justice Brainstorm” and write your REVISED research question by class time on Wednesday, November 3.
  • Remember, this question shouldn’t show bias, be too broad for a 1,500 word annotated bibliography, or be a “yes/no” question.
  • For example, a biased question might be: “Why are teachers such jerks?” This is a biased question that already suggests an answer, is way too general, and that the writer isn’t open to learning about the topic.
  • A non-biased question might be: “How can we improve student-teacher relationships in college?” This doesn’t let teachers off the hook, but it shows that the writer is open to learning about multiple sides of this issue, plus narrows the scope to college, rather than K-12 and college student-teacher relationships.
  • “Yes/no” questions are not helpful for this writing project, because it isn’t exploring the topic. Remember, this isn’t a traditional research paper where you’re trying to prove a point. You are asking an open-ended question that will have a lot of answers.
  • For example, a “yes/no” question might be: “Are teachers jerks?” The question shows bias and the writer would just be looking for evidence to support their bias.
  • For an example of a non-yes/no question, please refer to the non-biased question above!

• Research your question over the weekend! Use the City Tech library’s online databases or the internet to locate at least one reputable source that helps you respond to your research question. Some useful databases are LexisNexis, Academic Search Complete, and Opposing Viewpoints. Please note: The first source you come across will not necessarily be the best one! You will have to look at multiple sources to find one that is truly useful for your specific question. 
• Read your source carefully a couple of times and take notes. (Either take notes directly on the article or write down ideas and quotes from the text that you find compelling.)

During Part 1 of class on November 3, we will be visited by a librarian from City Tech!

Before their visit, review the following RESOURCES:

• The City Tech Library’s “Citation and Formatting Guide.”
• Purdue OWL, “Handout: Quoting Others”

During their visit, be sure to have on hand:

• Your Research Question
• Any sources you’ve found
• Questions

During Part 2 of class on November 3, we will WRITE:

Research Prep Day (Writing Workshop)

• Spend 15 minutes writing a substantial paragraph answering the following:
  • How did you get interested in your research question?
  • Why are you interested?
  • What answers and information do you expect to find in response to your research question? 
• These notes are for you and will not be posted at this time, but you should keep them to help you write your Introduction for the Annotated Bibliography.
• The next activity depends on where you are in your research:
• Option 1: If you have found a source that answers your research question, you will write a Post with the first entry for the Annotated Bibliography Project. You will title it Full Name, Annotated Bibliography Sources and save it under the category Unit 2 Work.
• Remember, each citation has four parts. Look here for detailed directions:

• Option 2: If you haven’t found any sources yet, spend this time researching!
  • Use the City Tech library’s online databases we’ve reviewed during Part 1 or the internet to locate at least one reputable source that helps you respond to your research question.
    • Useful databases are LexisNexis, Academic Search Complete, and Opposing Viewpoints. 
    • Please note: The first source you come across will not necessarily be the best one! You will have to look at multiple sources to find one that is truly useful for your specific question. 
    • Read your source carefully a couple of times and take notes. (Either take notes directly on the article or write down ideas and quotes from the text that you find compelling.)
• For both options, you must write the Post outlined in Option 1 by 11:59 PM on Friday, November 5. (And keep on researching!)

After class, students will continue to do the following:

Drafting the Annotations

• If you haven’t done this yet, write a Post with the first entry for the Annotated Bibliography Project. You will title it Full Name, Annotated Bibliography Sources and save it under the category Unit 2 Work.
• Once you’ve completed the above assignment, continue researching and looking for sources.
  • Find two additional sources for your annotated bibliography by class time on Wednesday, November 10.
  • Try to explore a variety of genres for this assignment: consider journal articles, TED Talks, podcasts, Op-Eds, letters, or news reports.