Navigating America

by Moton, David; Dumler, Gloria

• ISBN13: 9780073383705
• ISBN10: 0073383708
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-03-10
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education

Summary

Navigating Americawas created to serve a research class�s needs in one textbook. Its unifying focus on information competency will help students make intelligent decisions not only about what to quote, paraphrase, or summarize in a research paper, but how to avoid plagiarism and about what ideas and evidence to trust in the world at large. Navigating America engages students. Every chapter and reading will get them closer to one overall objective: the ability to distinguish the different levels of reliability and relevance of the competing sources of information they consume. ..From the Preface .Having taught composition and research writing for over twenty years, we both noticed two major drawbacks when choosing textbooks to use for a course teaching freshmen how to write research papers: inadequate coverage of the skills needed for research in the world today (with its unprecedented proliferation of information), and the high cost to students of having to buy multiple texts for the class. . The Proliferation of Information .The first issue we wanted to address is the proliferation of information. Most texts focus on the skills needed to find academic information. There is so much more to modern day research, however, that we were always left wanting when reading most textbooks. We wanted a text that would address how to cope with the vast amounts of information�both academic and mundane�from diverse media faced by our students, as well as the skills to uncover pertinent materials in their own research and, perhaps more importantly, to evaluate and qualify the sources they find. . AnAll-in-OneApproach to the Research Paper . The other issue we wanted to address was the cost to students of having to buy a number of textbooks to cover MLA/APA format, research tips, punctuation and grammar rules, and an anthology of readings. Aside from the cost of buying multiple texts, these books were also invariably guided by differing pedagogies and voices, and it was frustrating and time-consuming trying to blend these divergent books into a cohesive whole in our classes. . We wroteNavigating America: Information Competency and Research for the 21st Centuryto overcome these drawbacks and to give a focused and guided approach to the different types of materials found in the study of popular culture�and to do this in a voice that students will find friendly and accessible. -David Moton.

Table of Contents

Preface for Instructors

Introduction for Students

Researching and Writing

Finding a Topic

Understanding the Assignment

Prewriting

Developing a Working Thesis

Conducting Traditional Academic Research

Navigating the Library

Library Catalog Searches

Online Periodical Databases

Government Publications

The Internet

Interviews, Surveys, and Field Research

Conducting Other Types of Research

The World Wide Web

Print Media and News

Television, Radio, and Broadcast News

Evaluating Sources and Reading Critically

Types of Sources

Popular vs. Scholarly: How to Tell the Difference

Evaluating an Author

Evaluating a Periodical

Evaluating a Book

Evaluating an Online Source

Evaluating Content

Active Reading

Finding Main Ideas

Annotating a Text

SASE

Double-Column Note Taking

The Rhetorical Précis

Understanding Argument and Persuasion

Inductive and Deductive Arguments

Approaches to Argument and Persuasion

Ethos, Logos, and Pathos

The Toulmin Method

The Rogerian Argument

Logical Fallacies

Navigating the Writing Process

Learning Styles

The Writing Process

Prewriting

Researching and Note Taking

Outline

Drafting

Revising and Editing

Revision Checklist

Editing Checklist

Know Thyself

Organizing the Essay

Introductions

The Body of the Essay

Conclusions

Visual Paper Structure

Rhetorical Modes of Writing

Integrating Sources into Writing

Summary, Synthesis, and Critical Thought

Presenting Information: Summaries, Paraphrases, and Direct Quotations

How to Incorporate Sources into Your Papers

Introducing Your Sources

Analyzing and Interpreting Information from Sources

Understanding and Avoiding Plagiarism

Types of Plagiarism

Avoiding Plagiarism

Common Knowledge Exceptions

Improving Style, Punctuation, and Grammar

Punctuation Pattern Sheet

Twenty-Five Common Punctuation and Grammar Errors to Avoid

Recognizing Independent Clauses

Punctuating Independent Clauses

Common Conjunctions

Recognizing and Punctuating Dependent Clauses and Phrases

Punctuating Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Elements

Using Commas

Using Semicolons

Using Colons

Using Apostrophes

Using Quotation Marks

Using Dashes

Using End Punctuation

Using Hyphens

Using Ellipsis Marks

Using Parentheses and Brackets

Using the Slash

Making Subjects and Verbs Agree

Using Correct Verb Tenses

Understanding Pronouns

Suggestions for Improving Writing Style

Web Address For Exercises

Handbook for Documentation

Formatting the MLA Style Paper

MLA Document Guidelines

Sample Student Paper

Creating MLA Style Parenthetical Citations

When You Should Use Parenthetical Citations

Placement of Parenthetical Citations

Directory of Sample Parenthetical Citations

Preparing the MLA List of Works Cited

Directory of Sample Works Cited Entries

Arrangement of Entries on the Works Cited Page

Works-Cited Entries for Books, Works in Books, and Plays

Periodical Print Publications

Works Cited Entries for Works from Reference Databases

Works Cited Entries for Internet Sources

Works Cited Entries for Other Sources

Annotated Bibliographies

Using APA Style

Formatting the APA Style Paper

Creating APA Style Parenthetical Citations

Preparing the List of References

Sample Student Paper

Anthology of Readings

Introduction to Anthology of Readings

Information Competency and Popular Culture

Television

"The Triumph of Popular Culture: Situation Comedy, Postmodernism, and The Simpsons."

"Real or Not, It Doesn't Matter."

"The Fast-Forward, On-Demand, Network-Smashing Future of Television."

"Entertainment Wars: Television Culture After 9/11."

A Casebook on 24:

"Does '24' Encourage US Interrogators to 'Torture' Detainees?"

"Stranger than Fiction: Does 24 Inspire Real Life Torture?"

"Watching Torture in Prime Time."

Film

"Are Movies Art?"

"To Kill A Mockingbird."

"The Godfather Goes Interactive."

"From Nerds to Napoleons: Thwarting Archetypical Expectaqtion in High School Films."

"Sex and the Cinema: What American Pie Teaches the Young."

"Raising the Dead: Unearthing the Nonliterary Origins of Zombie Cinema."

The Internet

"Network Economics" from Out of Control: The Biology of Machines, social Systems, and the Economic World.

"Cyber-Bullying: Creating a Culture of Respect in a Cyber World."

"You Tube: The Evolution of Media?"

"Can Grand Theft Auto Inspire Professors?"

"A History Department Bans Citing Wikipedia as a Research Source."

"The Amorality of Web 2.0"

"Educators Explore ‘Second Life' Online."

"Second Life Just Like the First."

"Harsh Words Die Hard on the Web: Law Students Feel Lasting Effects of Anonymous Attacks."

Advertising

"New Branded World" from No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bulllies

"The Future of Advertising is Here."

"But First a Word from our Sponsors."

"Stealth TV: Channel One Delivers News and Advertising to the Classroom."

"Students for Sale - How Corporations Are Buying Their Way into America's Classrooms"

"Group Wants Shrek off Anti-Obesity Campaign" and Barbara F. Meltz, "Fighting Obesity but Fronting for Junk Food."

Media Multinationals

From: Corporate Media and the Threat to Democracy

"Address to the Third National Conference on Media Reform."

"Grand Theft: The Conglomeratization of Media and the Degradation of Culture: (25 Years Of Monitoring The Multinationals)."

"Rupert Murdoch's Cool New Thing (MySpace.com)."

"Statement of Commissioner Jonathan S. Adalstein."

"Remarks of Commissioner Michael J. Copps: FCC Hearing on Media Ownership: Los Angeles, California, October 3, 2006."

News Media

"War Takes up Less Time on Fox News."

"AP: We Ignored Paris Hilton." And John Rogers, "US Weekly Blacks out Hilton Coverage"

"Rediscovering the World: 9/11 Showed all Too Clearly What a Terrible Mistake it was for America's News Media to Largely Ignore Foreign News."

"What the Mainstream Media Can Learn from Jon Stewart."

"Address to RTDNA"

"Address at RTDNA Awards Dinner."

Corporate America

"The Most Dangerous Job," From Fast Food Nation.

"The Unofficial History of America™" from Culture Jam

"Business as Usual" from The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power.

"Industrial Diarrhea" from Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic.

"Junk Food's Health Crusade: How Ronald McDonald Became a Health Ambassador, and Other Stories."

"Bottom Line: What are the True Costs of Wal-Mart's Low Prices?"

"Wal-Mart Sets the Record Straight."

Appendix: List of Commonly Confused Words and Phrases

Appendix or Inside Cover: Common Essay Correction Marks

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