Scholarship in Writing Workshop

When I was a kid… We used to have to do research projects They were AWFUL The library smelled bad… I could never figure out the card catalogue... We had to use this thing called microfiche It seemed like an exercise in library torture, rather than actually having anything to do with what we learned in class…

Our Workshop is NOT a “Research Skills” Course Our goal is not to learn “research skills” in a way that is totally disconnected from our curriculum. Rather, we want to learn how to write like a college student, not a high school freshman…and this inevitably involves using scholarship in our writing process – To help us understand a topic, craft a thesis, and gather evidence and supporting analysis. These skills will be essential to writing the junior thesis. And beginning next year, will be more and more of the writing that sophomores do When this gets boring…tell me!!!

Let’s Get Started… Topic One: Understanding Scholarship

What is Scholarship? When we talk about scholarship we are talking about the body of work produced by scholars (historians, political scientists, sociologists, etc). Who are scholars? – Professors!! They work in universities and are expected to teach courses and to conduct historical research. – Also: researchers at think tanks or with the government – This work is considered the most relevant and respectable work on a topic.

Writing Alone vs. Writing with Scholarship 1. You get a sense of the “field”2. You craft an original thesis statement 3. You gather evidence from a careful culling of primary sources and scholarship 4. You support your analysis with analysis made by scholars Most of the work we have done this year has been what I call, writing alone. o You craft a thesis statement and go through your notes and readings and readings looking for evidence to prove it. Writing with scholarship is different…

Soo…We are going to learn how to write with scholarship What type of historical research do scholars do? – Descriptive Tells events and facts – Analytical Analyzes events and facts Where do scholars publish their research? – Books – Journal articles! – Government and Organizational Websites – Working Papers – Reference Texts/Encyclopedias/Textbooks – NOT Corporate websites, magazines, or RANDOM WEBSITES (ask, yahooanswers, historylearningsite, etc.!) Random websites ARE NOT scholarship, because they are not produced by scholars Foner, Posner, and Hill Collins know what they are talking about because they have Ph.D. and work at top universities…yahoo answers does not know what it is talking about because it was written by a unemployed guy in his underwear living in his mom’s basement…do you really want to trust your paper to this guy?!

How do we find scholarship?: Books What are books? – Descriptive Texts: Useful for evidence only Reference books, encyclopedias, textbooks, “complete history of….” – Analytical Texts: “Monographs” Studies on a single, highly specific topic Useful for both evidence and analysis Print Books – On-line card catalog… Minuteman library network – WHS library – E-Books – On-line card catalog… WHS library – Need the password list Minuteman library network – Databases WHS library Google Books – books.google.com

How do we find scholarship? Journal Articles What are journal articles?? – Peer-Reviewed periodical in which studies related to a specific academic discipline are published JSTOR – Access through the Wellesley public library site – / – Use your library card number or the high school’s library card number Google Scholar – scholar.google.com

How do we find scholarship? Websites Websites by scholars tend to end in.org or.edu or.gov – Examples: Census Bureau National Institutes of Health The Smithsonian The best way to authenticate a website as scholarly is to review its author – They should be credentialed! Many websites also house working papers – Working papers are studies that are yet to be published – These can be strong sources – Examples:

BOOLEAN SEARCHING How it can help you do effective database and Internet searching

What is Boolean searching? It is based on a method of logic developed by George Boole, a 19 th century English mathematician. Most online databases and Internet search engines support Boolean searches. It allows you to do effective searches by cutting out many unrelated documents.

Basic Boolean Operators: AND OR NOT

AND Using AND narrows your search. It retrieves documents that contain both of the search terms or keywords that you specify. The more terms you connect with AND, the fewer search results you will find.

Example Using AND: Poverty AND Crime Documents are retrieved containing both search terms. Blue shaded area represents search results.

OR Using OR broadens your search. It retrieves documents that contain either of the search terms or keywords that you specify, but not necessarily both. The more terms you connect with OR, the more search results you will find. (Remember: OR gives you more!) Use it to search for similar terms.

Example Using OR: College OR University College OR University Documents are retrieved containing either search term. Gold shaded area represents search results.

NOT Using NOT narrows your search. It retrieves documents that do not contain a search term in your search. Use NOT to exclude a term from your search and to find fewer results.

Example Using NOT: Cats NOT Dogs Documents are retrieved containing only information on cats, and nothing on dogs. Purple shaded area represents search results.

Advanced Boolean Search Techniques “Quotation Marks” (Parentheses)

“Quotation Marks” Using quotation marks narrows your search. It requires words to be searched as a phrase in the exact order that you type them within the quotation marks. Helpful for searching multiple-word terms, places, or a person’s name. Examples: – “global warming” – “world war two” – “Nazi Germany”

(Parentheses) (Parentheses) allow you to combine any of the Boolean operators together in combination. Use NOT and OR together to limit your search. Use AND and OR together to expand your search. Using ( ) allows you to combine two possible searches into one, and it saves you time. Example: – “alternative energy” NOT (wind OR solar)

Topic Two: Analyzing Scholarship

What do we do with scholarship? Now that we know how to get scholarship, what do we do with it? Well...we do “step one” – get a sense of the field 1. You get a sense of the “field”2. You craft an original thesis statement 3. You gather evidence from a careful culling of primary sources and scholarship 4. You support your analysis with analysis made by scholars

To what extent was World War Two a total war? Circle Up! Take out our scholarship – “Cause of the Pacific War” – “Race, Language, and War in Two Cultures” – Hitler’s Willing Executioners – “The Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb” Start Getting a sense of the field: Argument (how do they answer: To What Extent was World War Two A Total War?) Evidence in support: Gaps/Weaknesses?Points of Similarity/Contrast with Other works…