Professor Belli started the class with some reminders:
→ Submit Cover letters for First Draft of Research Essay. This will be useful for Professor Belli to know what she can help you with.
→ No Final Drafts will be accepted without Works Cited or Cover letter (1-2 pages)
→ FINAL Draft of Research Essay will be December 16th at 10:00 am. LATE WORK WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.

Followed by these reminders, Professor Belli asked us to re-read our first draft of the research essay and do some free writing. We had to write about what are the major issues do we have in our essays, what are the next steps that we need to take to finish it and what is it that is blocking us from completing this task.

Some suggestions from Professor Belli for us to fix in our essays:
Argument
Focus
Transitions/topic sentence
Incorporation of research
Signal/introduce quotes.

After the suggestions above, Professor Belli made us rip out three pieces of paper and write in each one of them one thing that is being an issue in our essay, a next step we will take to fix our essay and something that is blocking us from completing the essay. After that, three people collected the pieces of paper, went in front of the class and read out loud each paper meanwhile Professor Belli wrote on the board what each of the small papers said. The results:

Issues:
Procrastination
Focus
Writing the essay
Finish
Length
Repetitive
Sources
Orden of ideas
Topic sentences
English Class
Incorporating sources
Write research
Works cited
Background

Next Steps:
Conclusion
More Research
Finish topic/send for feedback
re-read/ proofread
Add more
Rephrase
Finish revision
Writing it
Incorporating feedback
Topic sentences

Blocks:
Time management
Myself
Everything
Negative thoughts
Work
Procrastination
Fear of failure
Personal life
Lack of time
Stress
Feeling stuffed
Time
Anxiety/unsure
Lack of concentration
Professor Belli

Some TIPS of how to make your research essay be successful:
Integration: integrate your sources effectively and ethically.
Synthesis: bring the essay together, connecting with each other the facts that you find and your argument.
Analysis: break down the information you provide for your readers.
DO NOT BE SUPERFICIAL WITH YOUR ANALYSIS OF SOURCES. (Don’t be vague).

Introducing quotes:
Make sure you don’t just throw in quotes without introducing them, citing them or analyzing them appropriately. Also, REMEMBER to contextualize your sources, meaning that you need to include in your paragraphs what is it that makes credible the person who you acquired the information from.

*When you paraphrase make sure that you also give credit to the source you got the information from.

Look at Signal Phrases (Links are in the schedule)
Signal phrases are to introduce your source.
Indicate where source material comes from.
Shapes your reader’s response to a source through appropriate word choice.

Good luck to everyone finishing their essay!

First Draft

– Essays we’ll be returned with comments on Tuesday

– Work without a work cited page will not be graded
Background Paragraph

– Most research intensive
– Broad overview of the topic
– Most in text citations
– You should be gathering your ideas and facts
– State what is relevant to you

*Narrow down and make your topic clear

****The back ground paragraph is not about the topic it’s focused on the argument

The sources you use in your final draft are not limited to the ones submitted on the annotated bibliography

When writing your essay look back at the introduction and background paragraph of your first draft and gather ideas from both to make a better final background paragraph.

It is important to review your work and maybe do some more peer reviewing over the next week.

• Final Draft of research proposal and annotated bibliographies due in portfolio

• First Draft of research essay due

Speaking on the remainder of the semester: a lot of the work is bulked up and left for the ending of the course so that we have the opportunity to produce better work because of the progress we’ve made. There are also a lot of chances to bring up your grade. If feeling stressed/overwhelmed see Professor Belli.

• What’s left of our semester

– 12/4: Peer review comments (might get comments from prof. Belli)

– 12/9: Writing workshop (all comments from prof. Belli will be recieved)

-12/11: Writing workshop

-12/16: Final draft of research essay. Party. Review on finals & practice for the final exam.

Final 10%   Essay 20%   Proposal/Annotations 10%

You can use the rest of this time to go to prof. Belli during her office hours and check on updated work or visit learning center.

If you don’t turn in a first draft to the research essay, you will not be able to receive feedback from Prof. Belli nor your peers. You can still come in to ask about the project but no direct feedback.

• Getting into peer review groups

Group 1

Lily, Dominique and Indira

Group 2

Marie, Jocelyn and Tinika

Group 3

Kelsey, Jack and Arlene

Group 4

Mirna, Carina, Greys and Jacob

Group 5

Tanaye, Lucy, Dulce and Natasha

• Discussion on peer review

Peer review is very important. If you don’t do it completely and thoughtfully you will get a grade lower. If you come come late or don’t show up at all, you also get a grade lower. 

* Do not skip final comment! Most important part where you share what your thoughts were. Also make sure to have a works cited page.

Final grades are non-negotiable.

IF you truly believe there is an error, then email the professor.

Final exams are not returned, the school keeps them.

Final drafts are returned to you on thursday 12/18 with a letter grade, if you want to discuss the grade and how you got it, see professor Belli.

At the end of the course we will be writing a reflection of the course.

Prof. Belli: What were somethings you struggled with during this essay?

Class: Focused/narrowed down, defining terms, research, 3rd person, not all facts and citations.

Your research should continue even though the annotated bibliographies have been turned in.

* Experiences aren’t supposed to be incorporated but if you really wish to include one, speak to the professor.

Color coding: everything that sounds the same is highlighted so that they can be grouped together.

Often peoples ideas are jumbled together, so if it is color coded it can help the person put the same ideas together and regroup them. (could also do this on your own papers while doing peer review) Think about how to expand your own papers and ideas.

Peer review of research essay pre-drafts

1. Introduction: key terms, focus/ limit topic, arguement
2. Background info: relevant? complete?
3. Body paragraphs: topic sentences/claims; incorporation of sources/ transitions
4. in text citations/ works cited

• bring ideas from articles to incorporate into paragraphs
• final draft of proposal should be precise with essay intro
• background info: info readers need to understand essay
• background info should really be focused in last draft
• research should help to be well rounded expertise

vocabulary                                                                                                                       orient- sense of whats going on

• orient reader to topic
• cant assume readers understand topic
• decide what info is absolutely important

intro- introduction to entire essay and topic

Everyone try to make second paragraph of first full draft to be background

• set stage
• give readers info to understand topic
• clarification of key terms

introduce and signal quotes (analyze or support claim) no comma between name and date. Introduce and define topic. last sentence is thesis statement.

repetition in body paragraphs

• make sure main idea isn’t the same in each paragraph
• your argument is the way you connect
• analyze sources

reminder

• work cited pg
• in text citations

First off, let me apologize for my late post. I completely forgot about it and just got reminded by Professor Belli for the second time. Sorry for any inconvenience.

I hope everyone met with Professor Belli for there conference about our research projects. That  was time for us to go to her with any questions, concerns ideas and suggestions that you might have had. If you missed your conference it was considered as an absence!

Continue to focus on your topics. Any texts are accepted once you can raw a reference to your topic and it is supportive.

Make sure to define all terms and parameters in your proposal and paper. Explain any new information you might have mentioned.

Research project must have

-work cited page

-annotated bibliography

-six to eight pages of research

-cover page

(read the research project page under assignments for any further information.

Plagiarism

-Always cite

-When you write word for word (w/out credit) use quotations

-summarizing, paraphrase, quotations must all be cited otherwise considered as plagiarism.

To cite a rephrased idea of an author use an in text citation. Ex. (Belli 15)

Language- if you copy the word order it is considered plagiarism.

When in doubt cite. It is better to over cite than to not cite at all.

Due Dates

Tues 11/25 Pre draft of research project. (introduction and first three body paragraphs)

Tues 12/2 Final Draft of Research Proposal and 6 Annotated Sources

Research Proposal Presentations

The goal of today was to get feedback on your proposal.

The key of the presentation was to explain your topic, what specifically will you be studying, what is the relevance of your topic to you and others, show the research you found and answer questions.

Tinika:

Her topic had to do with how certain music can affect teenagers. In her research she found more negative research such as how violent music affects teenagers. She related to her own relationship with music and how much she loves it.

Her topic needs to be narrowed down to the type of music and if she wants to focus on the positive or negative impact music has on teenagers.

Mirna:

Her topic is positive psychology and how people arent assisted in achieving happiness. She talked about how doctors just give their patients pills instead of focusing on how to improve their happiness. She also discusses also how doctors misdiagnosis patients. She also brought up a interesting point of how doctors only ask two questions and tell if you are depressed or not and if you are your are just given medicine. She related her topic to her little cousin and how he deals with the same thing. She discussed a lot of things in one topic but it was able to be narrowed down to “Overuse and mistreatment of medicine by doctors”

Some comments were how doctors may have a different definition of happiness and what it takes to achieve it

Arlene:

Her topic is the affect an incarcerated parent has on the well-being of a child. She wants to focus on how it affects a child’s education. There are negative and positive to the topic but she hopes to focus on finding positive research since parents are incarcerated maybe it will motivate the child.  She also discusses how it affects a child overall, such as mental issues, PTSD, anger issues etc. which can affect their education. A question was brought up about the age group and she decided to choose children in elementary school.

Greys:

Topic is the positive affects of technology on kids. Research shows it improves the way of thinking and brain development. After doing research she believes technology has a positive affect.

During Greys presentation Professor Belli asked us all to write this down:

*THE PART OF THIS RESEARCH PAPER IS NOT TO AGREE OR DISAGREE, IT IS NOT TO CHOOSE SIDES AND IT IS NOT SIMPLY TO STATE POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE.

Back to Greys presentation she was asked what specific technology she was going to use and the specific age group. She wants to focus on video but needs to narrow it down to the age group.

Lucy:

Topic is how happiness is found more in third world countries then in developed countries. Her research compares things such as freedom and economy. She found a article that shows the Top 10 countries that are the happiest as well. She wants to also compare the lifestyles in different countries such as comparing New York to India. She was given a lot of comments of narrowing down her topic. She needs to narrow down which countries and lifestyles because it sounds as if she wants to research all of it which can be too much. Also to looking at different countries there are other factors such as religion, culture and race. She just needs to narrow down her topic more to specifics.

Jack:

Topic is if strict parents/Tiger parents have a good impact on a child’s education and success later in life or if its just a stereotype. Strict parents in Chinese culture are known as tiger parents. It was said that he needs to inform his readers abut what the Chinese conception of happiness is. During the questioning Professor Belli brought of the question, What information does my reader have to know? The reader needs to know exactly what your talking about in order to understand it. Jack needs to explain the Chinese culture conception of happiness in order to better understand his topic.

Jocelyn:

Topic is how the absence of a parent can affect the life of a child. Research showed fathers have a bigger impact on the child. A child’s personality is something that can be affected by the absence of a parent. She knows she wants to focus on the father and on abandonment.

Kelsey:

Topic is well-being on children in foster care. These children deal with things such as anxiety, stress and feelings of confusion. There is a lot of negative aspects on foster care. She needs to narrow down what kind of foster care she will be focusing on and the age of the children. She should discuss foster care more and how the system works so the reader can know more about it.

*Become and expert on the big picture of your topic.

Marie:

Topic is how technology affects your emotions, specifically social networking. She wasn’t sure on the type of technology she was focusing on, first she discussed social networking but then brought up apps. She needs to narrow down her topic to the technology being used and the specific people. She finally said the topic she really wants to focus on which is Why is it so important to feel we need all these forms of technology? 

REMINDERS:

Meetings with Professor Belli are coming up.

THURSDAY: Peer review on as well as discussing annotations/citations and how to incorporate sources as well as discussing plagiarism. ESSAY #2 IS DUE.

*Key is to make connections among your various points. Biggest grade is how well you are proving your point and the structure.

Openlab is looking for a student blogger. It starts next semester and it is a paid position. Applications are due December 1st.

Announcements for Essay 2:

– For individual feedback from Professor Belli, make an appointment for Wednesday or Thursday.

-Every essay needs a tittle. (Specifically a two part tittle with a colon ( : ))

-Work cited page: make sure to have one for the final draft. (All the sources used HAVE to be cited including the apps)

-The essay is 3-4 FULL pages. It has to be a fully developed essay.

-Cover letters should be fully revised with a reflection of the whole process took to write the final draft. (Mention changes, meeting with the Professor and writing what you worked on, etc.) Also a short cover letter won’t give you full points.

-Remember to edit and proofread. (Professor Belli is looking for a well polished essay and if not done, points will be taken off)

-Even though you might be talking about a different number of apps, make sure that your not just summarizing the apps but you need transitions and you need to show how & why all these apps fit together in your argument.

-Also review the Essay 1 assignment because it is relevant to Essay 2.

Announcement for the Research Essay:

-You have your choice of topic and it has to have something to do with well-being/happiness but you have full liberty on your topic.

-The first draft of the research proposal is due Wednesday night at 12am because it is a blog. It is the hardest part of the essay but it is a really important process to go through. (Professor Belli wants a 100% participation on the blogging this week because if its not done, you’re going to fall really far behind in class)

-In addition to the proposal, you also have to write an annotated source. This is an annotated bibliography in which you have to annotate the sources you used. It is important because it makes the reader know what were the sources about and it also forces you to think about the sources you are using. When doing it, you have to have the summaries of the sources and you have to have a critical evaluation. Remember to do both.

-Mandatory individual conference next week with the Professor about the research paper. It is to make sure that you’re on the right track on your essay. (Look at the time available and pick choices on the sign-up sheet that will be given on Thursday)

-Read the assignment carefully.

-Remember that the essay is 30% worth of your final grade.

I hope I covered everything and that you can understand what I wrote. Farewell!

Todays class was held in the library. We went over basic services that are available and for the most part free. We were also given a brief tour and were shown how to uses references within the City Tech Library Website.

                                                                      1st Floor

Activating you library card

• Can get you books
• Access to computers which are located all around the library. Including the multimedia lab up the stairs towards the back of the library near the exit sign.
• You can also print up to 25 copies per day 

Copy Machine

• Is the only service that is not free
• It cost $1 to purchase copy card
• 10 cents per copy

“Reference Desk” Where librarians are located

They can help with

• Research
• Finding references
• Detecting plagiarism

                                                                              2nd Floor (quite place)

• Outlets are available along the walls and some between book selves
• Group study rooms are available with 3 or more people( ask librarian for key)
• Class room space available as well

                                                                          Discussions

Handouts

• Avoiding plagiarism
• Good internet/research sources

City Tech Library Website

• Why is Google a good search engine ?

– “It has EVEYTHING”

Wikipedia

• Why not ?

– Anyone can edit it

– Sources aren’t reliable

– People make mistakes its only natural

What can you find in the library that you cant find on Google ?

• Free books/text books are available (some for 2 hour periods in library use only)
• Its part of tuition use it !
• It is legal

Essay Topics

• If your topic is too general you will be overwhelmed with hundreds of results
• Narrow down your topic
• Be specific !

Books

• Every book has a call number ( Letter followed by number on the side of the book)
• You can find books by

-Looking it up on library website

-Ask a librarian

– Look it up on iPads around the library

• Why are book a better reference?

– They are written on one specific topic unlike general articles

Library Catalog

• Use specific key words
• you will receive irrelevant answers if key word is too general

EBooks

• Search for book
• Click on the book you want then

Click CUNY→  URL and DOWNLOAD

• Can download full book or specific chapters
• You can also Email wanted chapters or entire book

Subject Headings

Gives you different words to look up according to the topic you are already searching. Its sort of the synonyms of the topic.

More Results

In order to get more results from other than the City Tech library

at the bottom left corner Click LOCATIONS Select ALL CUNY LIBARIES

• If the book you need is located at a different CUNY school you can have it delivered to a location near you (if its not City Tech)

Click LOCATION →CALL NUMBER→ REQUEST A COPY

• You will need

– A library number which is located at the bottom left corner of you City Tech ID

• You will receive an email at your City Tech email when the book has arrived

Data Basis ( When writing a research paper)

Click RESEARCH TOOL tab

select DATABASES (articles & more)

Click on ACADEMIC SEARCH COMPLETE

Type in KEY WORD and begin your search

• ABSTRACT: gives a 3-4 sentence description on article/book

Source Types

• You are able to chose where you receive articles/books from ( magazines, academic journals etc.)
• You can also limit the publication dates to more current or older texts

Citations

• To cite your source look on the right side of you screen and click on CITE once you have selected this a list of formats, including MLA, are available Copy and Paste into your paper ( some of the formats might be incorrect recheck formatting on Openlab ) https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/

 Vocab

Serendipity– When something happens almost by accident