Prison Living Conditions And It’s Ineffectiveness

Prison Living Conditions And It’s Ineffectiveness

CITATIONS
Each bibliography entry should begin with the works cited information for the source. Follow MLA 8 guidelines strictly! Citations that have more than two errors in them will receive no points on the grade rubric. Please see this site for extensive examples of how to cite various sources (Links to an external site.). EasyBib is also helpful; just be aware that if you enter the information incorrectly, your citation will also be incorrect, so check it against the examples in the book if you use this type of citation generator.

ANNOTATIONS
For the annotations, in SEER paragraph form, address the following aspects:

STATE: For the statement, provide a summary and description of the purpose/audience/author: Your annotation paragraph should provide a BRIEF summary of the source, including mentioning (briefly) the genre (type of text) it belongs to—i.e., newspaper or magazine article (online or print), academic journal article, article on an advocacy website, documentary film, interview, etc. Include in the first or second sentence a description of the author’s purpose using an action verb—i.e., what is the author DOING with this text? What is the author’s purpose? To relay information, to convince? To demand change? To shock? Who is the intended audience—what type of reader is the author trying to reach, and how does he/she want to affect this reader?

ELABORATE: Use the next sentence or two to elaborate on what this source offers to contribute to the conversation about its topic–its key information, observations, or arguments. Also, you may want to remark on the credibility of the author–what makes him or her qualified to write about this topic? You may need to research the author a bit to answer this question, if info is not provided in the publication itself. Also relevant might be the reputation of the publication and its affiliations or potential biases, particularly if it is not widely familiar.

EXEMPLIFY: As the example portion, use a particular detail, quotation, or fact from your source–something you think you will also use later in the research essay itself. Introduce any quoted material, and provide an in-text page reference for sources that have page numbering.

REVISIT: What contribution does this resource make to the conversation about its topic? Has the author achieved his/her goal(s)? What evidence has been given in support of the overall purpose? What biases may be present? What is not convincing? What has been left out? Is the resource useful for understanding the issue? Will it be helpful as you put together this project? Why?

Examples of aspects to address in your annotations (you do not necessarily need to hit all of these):

4. FORMAT AND ORGANIZATION

Double-space ALL text and use 12-point font. Provide an MLA heading in the top left corner of the first page only. Under the heading, center a title OR a phrase that describes your basic topic—i.e., The War on Drugs, Literacy Programs in Prison, etc. Under that, begin your bibliography entries for each source. List the sources alphabetically according to the first word of each citation. Use a hanging indent format for the citations, just as you would on a works cited page.

Paragraph 1:

Introduction: Write an introduction that grabs the reader’s interest and makes clear the issue you are addressing in the paper.

Statement of claim/thesis: Your claim or thesis is the argument you will support throughout the paper. It should appear at the end of the introduction. Remember that your claim/thesis provides an answer to your research question.

Paragraph 2:

You may want to use paragraph 2 to address any background, definitions, or history that may be relevant or necessary: Background of the issue: what is the background of the issue you are investigating? Is there any history of the issue that readers need to know? Any key concepts or terms you might need to define?

Paragraphs 3-4,5:

In these paragraphs, you should convey information that you have learned from your research. making sure each body paragraph has a specific focus and purpose that supports the claim made in the thesis. Your essay should showcase your own careful investigation into the issue that makes claims in each paragraph based on what you have learned in your research. Each body paragraph should consist of a topic sentence that expresses an aspect of the issue, followed by material from your research that supports this sub-claim or idea. Use the SEER method for these paragraphs, and carefully frame your research material using introductory phrases with adequate context and in-text citations to acknowledge any words, facts, or ideas gathered from another text.

Paragraph 5 or 6: Conclusion: emphasize your most important point and remind the audience why your claim is important—what is at stake in this argument (the “so what?” question). What are the implications and consequences of this issue?

Works cited page including MLA citations for at least four sources–plus a citation for the visual image mentioned below (a total of five sources). THESE CITATIONS MUST BE CORRECT and use hanging indent, double-spacing, with sources organized alphabetically according to the first word in each citation.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

The body of your essay MUST include one (and ONLY one!) block quotation–that is, a quoted portion of your research that runs longer than four lines–in MLA style, this length necessitates indenting each line and removing the quotation marks. Please see the rules of formatting block quotations in the MLA section of your textbook. As with short quotations, this quote MUST be properly introduced with sufficient context, AND be followed up with a comment or explanation from you–DO NOT begin or end a paragraph with a block quote!

Somewhere in your essay, you must include a visual image that enhances readers’ understanding of the text you have provided. This image can be a photograph, a chart or graph–anything that helps readers to understand the topic better or captures their attention. This image MUST HAVE A CAPTION immediately below it AND have a works cited entry appearing on the works cited page among your other sources.