Class, You should start to prepare for the blog projects required in class. Initiate your own learning initiative and read on! This kit is to assist you to do your blog correctly. It is presumed that the basic of good writing is already in you. The blog is written in the English language only. You can use Tagalog or Latin words as the case may be but it should be handled in accordance to proper English writing setup—if you cannot do it correctly do not attempt to use any other words except English. Definitely the mix of Filipino/Tagalog and English words in sentences are prohibited. You will need a PC and an Internet access for this project. This blog writing exercise is for you to learn to think correctly. When your thoughts are written you see it exist in the cosmos—outside of oneself or no longer in one’s mind. You can then better review and refine your thoughts. It is understood that not all are gifted with literary ability but all (referring to higher education students) are required to think and argue their points clear. This point is particularly required in business decision-making; it is an advantage to possess. Prose or ordinary/plain writing is acceptable. Be brave. Write! First, you have to setup your free (pay nothing) blog hosting site. I suggest you use wordpress.com. Here is the URL and work through the sign up steps. http://wordpress.com/ You have to think hard on how you wish your blog is to look and feel. Visit the examples given or seek for others outside wordpress.com. You can use your blog to illustrate yourselves to your future employers or whoever you see appropriate. However you need to do good enough to brag about it. Second, this course presumes that you have the ability to write correctly. However this is not a comfortable assumption. Below are reference sites to introduce you to academic writing. Hopefully it is a review of writing techniques and not an introduction. However it will work either way. There are more to find from the said site on the subject of academic writing, please explore and benefit from them. http://www.suite101.com/content/how-to-write-an-argumentative-essay-a149161

http://www.suite101.com/content/how-to-write-the-classic-five-paragraph-essaytips--techniques-a245526 http://www.suite101.com/content/how-to-write-an-essay-outline-a98961 The web pages given above cover argumentative essay writing, 5-paragraph essay writing format, and how to prepare an essay outline. Correct grammar is required and your English vocabulary should be enough to state clear your point(s). A 5-paragraph essay format is sufficient for the blog. Again, the essay should contain exactly 5 paragraphs, no more no less. It should follow the prescribed outline. Refer to the web pages above. For those in two classes under me only a single blogsite is required. Learn to differentiate your articles correctly. There is a topic/subject classification option available in wordpress.com for you to use. The blog topics are about the subject you taking under me. Blog triggers, (topics and theme) to help you write are discussed in class. The class discussions then and forthcoming are meant to prepare you to write your blog. Therefore your reading assignments and your participation in class discussion is very important. By participating actively you can test your thinking. You can therefore write effectively. There are expression of pain due to difficulty and the subsequent request to use simpler handouts or reading materials. These difficult materials are the sources of your points and argument for the blog. Simple materials are insufficient for this thinking and writing exercise. In anticipation of your cry of pain I emphasize the following: the degree of difficulty and pain one can handle determines the quality of his or her person. The student/person with the ability to address great difficulty and take on pain is the desired one by employers (for those who wish to join corporations) and by their customers (for those who wish to be their own boss). My role as your professor is to guide you through this simulated difficulty all for sake of your future success. In your career life the difficulty is far greater and there are no professors to assist you through. Note clearly, deadlines are to be met. Penalty will be imposed on late submission/posting. Far serious consequence will be imposed on non-submission. Your preparation for this project starts now. Cheers, Prof. L. San Juan

Your name here

Year, Section, & date

Blog address

Title

Why should the smaller business consider exporting? Certainly, to the untutored eye,

exporting can easily appear to be an unnecessary assault on a bridge too far. Apart from

the greater risks inherent in trading in foreign currencies, and the inevitable

administrative and language complications, the smaller business - almost by definition -

has yet to fully tap its domestic market. Why take the risk when there are lower-hanging

fruit at home?

Yet the allure remains. Products and services can command higher prices in foreign

markets than in domestic ones, particularly when what is being exported is new and

unfamiliar to the overseas customer. Currency movements can add to this, by altering the

terms of trade in favour of an exporter. And foreign travel, let's face it, is not without the

opportunity to add a little sparkle and glamour to everyday business life.

These arguments would evidently have been familiar ones to many of the respondents to

last month's questions. To almost a quarter of them, Europe was a more significant

market than the UK, Looking ahead, 45% of them expected to see Europe become their

most important market, with fully a third of companies anticipating that markets such as

North America and Asia would comprise their most important outlet in ten year's time.

Why? Developments such as the Channel Tunnel certainly help to reduce freight costs.

The single European market further helps to minimise the legislative and financial

barriers to trade. But a huge fillip has come from improved technology: cheap, reliable

communications around the world - even when neither party is in their office. And the

Internet, too: not just websites and e-mail, but economical and effective e-commerce.

The good news is that technology is set to make exporting even easier. Exchanging high-

quality digital images with customers helps to short-circuit the selling and sample

approval process. Video conferencing makes talking to customers quicker and easier than

before. The bad news? Sadly, exporting in future may mean a little less glamorous

foreign travel.

-- end --

5 Paragraph OutlineCredit: Tracy O'Brien

article: How to Write an Essay Outline

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The Writing Center

Thesis Statements

What this handout is about

This handout describes what a thesis statement is, how thesis statements work in your writing,and how you can discover or refine one for your draft.

Introduction

Writing in college often takes the form of persuasion—convincing others that you have aninteresting, logical point of view on the subject you are studying. Persuasion is a skill youpractice regularly in your daily life. You persuade your roommate to clean up, your parents tolet you borrow the car, your friend to vote for your favorite candidate or policy. In college,course assignments often ask you to make a persuasive case in writing. You are asked toconvince your reader of your point of view. This form of persuasion, often called academicargument, follows a predictable pattern in writing. After a brief introduction of your topic, youstate your point of view on the topic directly and often in one sentence. This sentence is thethesis statement, and it serves as a summary of the argument you’ll make in the rest of yourpaper.

What is a thesis statement?

A thesis statement:

tells the reader how you will interpret the significance of the subject matter underdiscussion.is a road map for the paper; in other words, it tells the reader what to expect from the restof the paper.directly answers the question asked of you. A thesis is an interpretation of a question orsubject, not the subject itself. The subject, or topic, of an essay might be World War II orMoby Dick; a thesis must then offer a way to understand the war or the novel.makes a claim that others might dispute.is usually a single sentence somewhere in your first paragraph that presents your argumentto the reader. The rest of the paper, the body of the essay, gathers and organizes evidencethat will persuade the reader of the logic of your interpretation.

If your assignment asks you to take a position or develop a claim about a subject, you mayneed to convey that position or claim in a thesis statement near the beginning of your draft.The assignment may not explicitly state that you need a thesis statement because your

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instructor may assume you will include one. When in doubt, ask your instructor if theassignment requires a thesis statement. When an assignment asks you to analyze, to interpret,to compare and contrast, to demonstrate cause and effect, or to take a stand on an issue, it islikely that you are being asked to develop a thesis and to support it persuasively. (Check outour handout on understanding assignments for more information.)

How do I get a thesis?

A thesis is the result of a lengthy thinking process. Formulating a thesis is not the first thingyou do after reading an essay assignment. Before you develop an argument on any topic, youhave to collect and organize evidence, look for possible relationships between known facts(such as surprising contrasts or similarities), and think about the significance of theserelationships. Once you do this thinking, you will probably have a “working thesis,” a basic ormain idea, an argument that you think you can support with evidence but that may needadjustment along the way.

Writers use all kinds of techniques to stimulate their thinking and to help them clarifyrelationships or comprehend the broader significance of a topic and arrive at a thesisstatement. For more ideas on how to get started, see our handout on brainstorming.

How do I know if my thesis is strong?

If there’s time, run it by your instructor or make an appointment at the Writing Center to getsome feedback. Even if you do not have time to get advice elsewhere, you can do some thesisevaluation of your own. When reviewing your first draft and its working thesis, ask yourself thefollowing:

Do I answer the question? Re-reading the question prompt after constructing a workingthesis can help you fix an argument that misses the focus of the question.Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose?If your thesis simplystates facts that no one would, or even could, disagree with, it’s possible that you aresimply providing a summary, rather than making an argument.Is my thesis statement specific enough?

Thesis statements that are too vague often do not have a strong argument. If your thesiscontains words like “good” or “successful,” see if you could be more specific: why is something“good”; what specifically makes something “successful”?

Does my thesis pass the “So what?” test? If a reader’s first response is, “So what?” thenyou need to clarify, to forge a relationship, or to connect to a larger issue.Does my essay support my thesis specifically and without wandering? If your thesis and thebody of your essay do not seem to go together, one of them has to change. It’s o.k. tochange your working thesis to reflect things you have figured out in the course of writingyour paper. Remember, always reassess and revise your writing as necessary.

Does my thesis pass the “how and why?” test? If a reader’s first response is “how?” or“why?” your thesis may be too open-ended and lack guidance for the reader. See what youcan add to give the reader a better take on your position right from the beginning.

Examples

Suppose you are taking a course on 19th-century America, and the instructor hands out thefollowing essay assignment: Compare and contrast the reasons why the North and South foughtthe Civil War. You turn on the computer and type out the following:

The North and South fought the Civil War for many reasons, some of which were the same andsome different.

This weak thesis restates the question without providing any additional information. You willexpand on this new information in the body of the essay, but it is important that the readerknow where you are heading. A reader of this weak thesis might think, “What reasons? How arethey the same? How are they different?” Ask yourself these same questions and begin tocompare Northern and Southern attitudes (perhaps you first think, “The South believed slaverywas right, and the North thought slavery was wrong”). Now, push your comparison toward aninterpretation—why did one side think slavery was right and the other side think it was wrong?You look again at the evidence, and you decide that you are going to argue that the Northbelieved slavery was immoral while the South believed it upheld the Southern way of life. Youwrite:

While both sides fought the Civil War over the issue of slavery, the North fought for moralreasons while the South fought to preserve its own institutions.

Now you have a working thesis! Included in this working thesis is a reason for the war andsome idea of how the two sides disagreed over this reason. As you write the essay, you willprobably begin to characterize these differences more precisely, and your working thesis maystart to seem too vague. Maybe you decide that both sides fought for moral reasons, and thatthey just focused on different moral issues. You end up revising the working thesis into a finalthesis that really captures the argument in your paper:

While both Northerners and Southerners believed they fought against tyranny and oppression,Northerners focused on the oppression of slaves while Southerners defended their own right toself-government.

Compare this to the original weak thesis. This final thesis presents a way of interpretingevidence that illuminates the significance of the question. Keep in mind that this is one of manypossible interpretations of the Civil War—it is not the one and only right answer to the question.There isn’t one right answer; there are only strong and weak thesis statements and strong andweak uses of evidence.

Let’s look at another example. Suppose your literature professor hands out the following

assignment in a class on the American novel: Write an analysis of some aspect of Mark Twain’snovel Huckleberry Finn. “This will be easy,” you think. “I loved Huckleberry Finn!” You grab apad of paper and write:

Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn is a great American novel.

Why is this thesis weak? Think about what the reader would expect from the essay that follows:you will most likely provide a general, appreciative summary of Twain’s novel. The question didnot ask you to summarize; it asked you to analyze. Your professor is probably not interested inyour opinion of the novel; instead, she wants you to think about whyit’s such a great novel—what do Huck’s adventures tell us about life, about America, about coming of age, about racerelations, etc.? First, the question asks you to pick an aspect of the novel that you think isimportant to its structure or meaning—for example, the role of storytelling, the contrastingscenes between the shore and the river, or the relationships between adults and children. Nowyou write:

In Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain develops a contrast between life on the river and life on theshore.

Here’s a working thesis with potential: you have highlighted an important aspect of the novelfor investigation; however, it’s still not clear what your analysis will reveal. Your reader isintrigued, but is still thinking, “So what? What’s the point of this contrast? What does itsignify?” Perhaps you are not sure yet, either. That’s fine—begin to work on comparing scenesfrom the book and see what you discover. Free write, make lists, jot down Huck’s actions andreactions. Eventually you will be able to clarify for yourself, and then for the reader, why thiscontrast matters. After examining the evidence and considering your own insights, you write:

Through its contrasting river and shore scenes, Twain’s Huckleberry Finn suggests that to findthe true expression of American democratic ideals, one must leave “civilized” society and goback to nature.

This final thesis statement presents an interpretation of a literary work based on an analysis ofits content. Of course, for the essay itself to be successful, you must now present evidencefrom the novel that will convince the reader of your interpretation.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing the original version of this handout. This is not acomprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your ownresearch to find the latest publications on this topic. Please do not use this list as a model forthe format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. Forguidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial.

Anson, Chris M. and Robert A. Schwegler. The Longman Handbook for Writers. 2nd ed. NewYork: Longman, 2000.

The Writing Center · Campus Box #5137 · SASB North Suite 0127 · UNC-CH · Chapel Hill, NC 27599 · CSSAC Home · http://cssac.unc.edu/

phone: (919) 962-7710 · email: writing_center@unc.edu

© 2010-2012 by The Writing Center at UNC Chapel Hill.

Hairston, Maxine and John J. Ruszkiewicz. The Scott, Foresman Handbook for Writers. 4th ed.New York: HarperCollins, 1996.

Lunsford, Andrea and Robert Connors. The St. Martin’s Handbook. 3rd ed. New York: St.Martin’s, 1995.

Rosen, Leonard J. and Laurence Behrens. The Allyn & Bacon Handbook. 3rd ed. Boston: Allyn &Bacon, 1997.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs2.5 License.You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout (just click print)and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

If you enjoy using our handouts, we appreciate contributions of acknowledgement.

Encourage Your Children to Attend School Parties A Sample Blog by Prof. L. San Juan

Professor’s Note: This is a sample Blog essay. Do not bother about the content but analyze “how” the content was handled. The “how” is termed method—5 paragraph essay format. The content depends on what your class is and the theme given to you to work on. The content used here should be of common interest to young people like you. But this is not the primary concern. This is the complete representation of the example shown in class. Please notice the author’s point contained in the first paragraph and how the paragraph #2, 3, & 4 was written with the quotes/citations to prove the point correct. Paragraph 5 is only the summary and conclusion. In your own Blog you must do the same. Good writing (a.k.a. communication skill) is required to effectively illustrate one’s point. Never allow the reader to misinterpret you. Be clear with your point and prove its validity. Allowing the reader to impose his/her point on your work defeats the purpose of your Blog that is to illustrate your point and offer proof of its correctness. The author, you, must impose upon the reader to either agree or disagree with your point. It is the synergy between the thesis (that is yours) and the antithesis (the counterpoint of the reader) that brings out greater wisdom from the exercise. Learning this method allows you, the student, to properly disagree by coming out with a logical counterpoint. This skill is important in working in business organization. Be brave. Just do it. Only then will you learn to write correctly. Good luck.

Parents should allow their children to attend school supervised parties and social events as it assist in the proper formation of personality traits required in later life. Effective personality trait is important when the person ages and acquires greater responsibility in his profession. The personality trait useful in later adult life is about social and political skills—the ability to relate to individuals of equal stature, to one’s subordinate, and to those of authority. This is useful to persons working in organizations or as self-employed entrepreneurs. This essay only support school supervised events given the restriction it implements to eliminate misbehaviors among students. Private parties without or minimal adult supervision is dangerous to young people. Schools have organized parties and social events and require their students to attend. The school’s tasked is no longer exclusive to education. The article Socialization and Modern Education in Post Modern Times: The School--Limited Sphere of Integration said, “schools does not only solve problems of education but socio-political ones.” Recognizing this point the schools have co-curricular and extra-curricular activities that promotes socialization among its students. The junior and seniors prom is a long established school sponsored parties that allows students to experience a formal dress party. There are students councils in schools with make-believe politicians, electorate, and a campaign period that aims to simulate the political exercise found in democratic societies. Dr. Ralph Perrino said in his article The Socialization Process and its Impact on Children and Learning that the family is “the primary agent of socialization” aside

from being the first educator. Perriono adds, that the school too is another major agent of socialization. The school takes over from what the family could not provide such as a bigger circle of friends and acquaintances. Schools allows the students of varied interest to mingle, socialize, and develop their interest in different fields--the arts, politics, law, science, technology, and others. Well-being relates to health as John Rowe and Robert Khan in their article Successful Aging. Rowe and Khan said “more participation in social relationships the better overall health for seniors.” This statement illustrate the value of socialization to the well-being, a.k.a. better quality of life, of the aged, sick, and dying. It is clearly pointed out here that socialization is beneficial all throughout a person’s life from young to old. There is a synergy between socialization and well-being given that socialization brings forth well-being that in turn allows for better socialization. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy states in the article Well-Being by Roger Crisp published in Dec. 2008, “ that a person's well-being is in some sense constituted by their virtue, or the exercise of virtue.” Virtue in this sense is about the practice of the general principles of “love God,” “honor your parents,” and “do not harm your neighbor” as given by St. Bonaventure in his point on conscience. Well-being in the philosophical sense is about a person’s good life that is lived with socializing with others. It is best to socialize with a person of virtue or moral character. Whoever wants a friend that is a “thief in the night” or a backstabber? Parents are the primary source of socialization skills of their children and must not abandon this role. Allowing children to learn how to effectively socialize has a long impact on their personality that reaches out until their later years. Schools now have an added role aside from education. Schools also build socio-political skills among its student. School supervised parties are the best form of building proper socialization skills for young people. The school has the supplementary role to build socialization skill that parents should recognize. Parents should work with the school by encouraging their children to join in school-sponsored parties and other forms of social event.

September 10, 2011 Class,

Subject: Proper use of quotes and citation The two (2) materials attached here illustrate the proper use of quotes and citations for your Blog writing. The materials are from the Internet. Please disregard points mentioned by these materials that are not applicable to our class. To be clear, Wikipedia states:

“A quote is the repetition of someone else's statement. Quotation marks are punctuation marks used in text to indicate the words of another speaker or writer. Broadly, a citation is a reference to a published or unpublished source (not always the original source). A prime purpose of a citation is intellectual honesty: to attribute prior or unoriginal work and ideas to the correct sources, and to allow the reader to determine independently whether the referenced material supports the author's argument in the claimed way.”

I wish to enable you to meet my requirements so you can gain a good score/rating for your Blogs. Yours truly, PROF. L. SAN JUAN

HOW TO USE QUOTES IN A RESEARCH PAPER

(See section on rules for parenthetical references in this book.)

Identifying Sources in the Body of Your Paper

The first time you cite a source, it is almost always a good idea to mention its author(s), title, and genre (book, article, or web page, etc.). If the source is central to your work, you may want to introduce it in a separate sentence or two, summarizing its importance and main ideas. But often you can just tag this information onto the beginning or end of a sentence. For example, the following sentence puts information about the author and work before the quotation:

Milan Kundera, in his book The Art of the Novel, suggests that “if the novel should really disappear, it will do so not because it has exhausted its powers but because it exists in a world grown alien to it.”

You may also want to describe the authors if they are not famous, or if you have reason to believe your reader does not know them. You should say whether they are economic analysts, artists, physicists, etc. If you do not know anything about the authors, and cannot find any information, it is best to say where you found the source and why you believe it is credible and worth citing. For example,

In an essay presented at an Asian Studies conference held at Duke University, Sheldon Garon analyzes the relation of state, labor-unions, and small businesses in Japan between the 1950s and 1980s.

If you have already introduced the author and work from which you are citing, and you are obviously referring to the same work, you probably don’t need to mention them again. However, if you have cited other sources and then go back to one you had cited earlier, it is a good idea to mention at least the author’s name again (and the work if you have referred to more than one by this author) to avoid confusion.

Quoting Material

Taking the exact words from an original source is c alled quoting. You should quote material when you believe the way the original author expresses an idea is the most effective means of communicating t he point you want to make. If you want to borrow an idea from an author, but do n ot need his or her exact words, you should try paraphrasing instead of quoting.

How often should I quote? Quote as infrequently as possible. You never want your essay to become a series of connected quotations, because that leaves little room for your own ideas. Most of the time, paraphrasing and summarizing your sources is sufficient (but remember that you still have to cite them!). If you think it’s important to quote something, an excellent rule of thumb is that for every line you quote, you should have at least two lines analyzing it. Document provided by Turnitin.com and Research Resources. Turnitin allow free distribution and non-profit use of this document in educational settings.

How do I incorporate quotations in my paper? Most of the time, you can just identify a source and quote from it, as in the first example

above. Sometimes, however, you will need to modify the words or format of the quotation in order to fit in your paper. Whenever you change the original words of your source, you must indicate that you have done so. Otherwise, you would be claiming the original author used words that he or she did not use. But be careful not to change too many words! You could accidentally change the meaning of the quotation, and falsely claim the author said something they did not.

For example, let’s say you want to quote from the f ollowing passage in an essay called “United Shareholders of America,” by J acob Weisberg:

“The citizen-investor serves his fellow citizens badly by his inclination to withdraw from the community. He tends to serve himself badly as well. He does so by focusing his pursuit of happiness on something that very seldom makes people happy in the way they expect it to.”

When you quote, you generally want to be as concise as possible. Keep only the material that is strictly relevant to your own ideas. So here you would not want to quote the middle sentence, since it is repeated again in the more informative last sentence. However, just skipping it would not work – the final sentence would not make sense without it. So, you have to change the wording a little bit. In order to do so, you will need to use some editing symbols. Your quotation might end up looking like this: In his essay, “United Shareholders of America,” Jacob Weisberg insists

that “The citizen-investor serves his fellow citizens badly by his inclination to withdraw from the community. He tends to serve himself badly. . . by focusing his pursuit of happiness on something that very seldom makes people happy in the way they expect it to.”

The ellipses (. . .) indicate that you have skipped over some words in order to condense

the passage. But even this version is still a bit lengthy – there is something else you can do to make it even more concise. Try changing the last sentence from

“He tends to serve himself badly. . . by focusing his pursuit of happiness on something that very seldom makes people happy in the way they expect it to.”

to

“He tends to serve himself badly. . . by focusing his pursuit of happiness on [money].” The brackets around the word [money] indicate that you have substituted that word for

other words the author used. To make a substitution this important, however, you had better be sure that “money” is what the final phrase meant – if the author intentionally left it ambiguous, you would be significantly altering his meaning. That would make you guilty of fraudulent attribution. In this case, however, the paragraph following the one quoted explains that the author is referring to money, so it is okay. Document provided by Turnitin.com and Research Resources. Turnitin allow free distribution and non-profit use of this document in educational settings.

As a general rule, it is okay to make minor grammatical and stylistic changes to make the quoted material fit in your paper, but it is not okay to significantly alter the structure of the material or its content.

Quoting within Quotes When you have “embedded quotes,” or quotations within quotations, you should switch from the normal quotation marks (“”) to single quotation marks (‘’) to show the difference. For example, if an original passage by John Archer reads: The Mountain Coyote has been described as a “wily” and “single-minded” predator by zoologist Ima Warner.

your quotation might look like this: As John Archer explains, “The Mountain Coyote has been described as a ‘wily’ and ‘single-minded’ predator by zoologist Ima Warner.”

Note the double quotes surrounding the entire quotation, and the single quotes around the words quoted in the original.

How do I include long quotes in my paper? The exact formatting requirements for long quotations differ depending on the citation style. In general, however, if you are quoting more than 3 lines of material, you should do the following:

o Change the font to one noticeably smaller (in a document that is mostly 12 point font, you should use a 10 point font, for example)

o Double indent the quotation – that means adjusting the left and right margins so that they are about one inch smaller than the main body of your paper.

o If you have this option in your word-processor, “left-justify” the text. That means make it so that each line begins in the same place, creating a straight line on the left side of the quotation, while the right side is jagged.

o Do NOT use quotation marks for the entire quotation – the graphic changes you have made already (changing the font, double indenting, etc.) are enough to indicate that the material is quoted. For quotations within that quotation, use normal quotation marks, not single ones.

o You might want to skip 1.5 times the line-spacing you are using in the document before you begin the quotation and after it. This is optional and depends on the style preferred by your instructor.

Document provided by Turnitin.com and Research Resources. Turnitin allow free distribution and non-profit use of this document in educational settings.

Sociology 3 AC | Principles of SociologyMary E. Kelsey | Fall 2005

University of California, Berkeley

Essay Structure and Citation Guidelines

What comprises a logically constructed essay? In general, good essays have a clear,overarching argument that is developed and substantiated in the body of the paper. Sub-themes need to be related in some way to the main argument and you need to make theconnections between sub-themes clear. By the conclusion, the reader should have a newperspective on the topic at hand.

ORGANIZATION OF THE PAPER

Introduction (Theme and Thesis)

The most important functions of the introduction are to introduce your topic and to presentyour position on the relevant issues of the topic. The essay questions give you the topic ortheme for your paper (in this case, evidence that class inequality affects the quality ofpublic education offered our children). Your particular position on the topic should beexpressed as broadly-stated argument or thesis statement. For example, “In this paper Iwill show how education is not always ‘the great leveler’ of inherited class differences, butopens opportunities for some while closing opportunities for others.” Or, “In this essay, Iwill explore how educational institutions can either create or take away opportunities fromtheir students. I will argue that in the absence of a class-based understanding of educationinequality, we as a society will continue to see success in individualized terms.” Notice thatthe second example has two sentences. Your argument should be brief, but it doesn't haveto fit into a single sentence. If you are not sure whether you have an overarchingargument, try inserting this phrase--"In this paper I will argue that"--before the sentencethat you think is your thesis statement.

If you don't have a clearly formulated argument when you begin your paper, relax. Manyscholars begin their work with only a vague conception of their main argument. Jot downan idea on what you think you will argue in the paper, and start on the body of your draft.Once the essay is in draft form, you can rewrite your introduction with a clearer formulationof your position. While it is not necessary to do so in this assignment, scholars often finishtheir introductions with a brief overview of the paper. This part of the introduction is alsoeasier to write once you have a draft of your entire essay.

A word of caution: you might be tempted to use your own experience as the basis for yourargument about class structure and schools. As sociologists, we are looking for generalpatterns. There are always individual exceptions to any general pattern, but individualexceptions are not sufficient to support generally applied conclusions. Therefore, if youwant to write about your school experience as “exceptional,” make sure you acknowledgethe general social trends. For example, “Although most sociological evidence documents acorrelation between poor communities and less effective public schools, a well-organizedpoor community can lobby for and often get meaningful educational reforms.”

Body

For the purposes of this essay, you don't need to have formal subsections in the body of thepaper, but you might want to organize your writings so that you move from a brief reviewof relevant points in the readings to your analysis of the material. For example, the readershould clearly understand what sociologists mean by the term “class” and how it is

2

measured. You might also want to introduce some ideas from the readings on therelationship between class and education. The data/statistics you use from yourworksheet will have more meaning if you create an interpretive context for your data.

As you reread your draft, make sure that the paragraphs in the body of the paper are insome way related to the main argument. And, when you change topics, make sure to usetransitional sentences that clarify the link(s) between your new subject and old.

Conclusion

By the conclusion of the essay, the reader should have more or new insight into the topic athand. An unwritten rule of conclusions is that they shouldn't include radically new material.While your conclusion should re-emphasize the most important argument of your paper in aclearly stated manner, you can enhance the sense of completion if you return to a majoridea—now in more nuanced form—initially presented in the introduction.

OTHER CONCERNS

Collaboration vs. cheating

You will be asked to work with people in small groups. I ask that you work with peers inorder to exchange ideas and experiences, help each other clarify key concepts, and ingeneral make the process of writing an essay more fun. You may create some commonideas for your essays, but it is very important that you write your essays in your ownwords. If we find essays that have identical sentences (including identical sentences indifferent order), we will consider the identical sentences as evidence of cheating and markdown your grade accordingly.

Definitions

It is always a good practice to define a discipline-specific term (e.g., “cultural capital” or“socioeconomic status”) the first time you use it in your essay.

Grammar note: I find that some students still confuse “it’s” and “its.” If you use theapostrophe, you are writing a contraction for “it is.” Since we avoid contractions in formalwriting, spell out “it is” if this meaning is appropriate. If you mean the possessive form ofthe pronoun “it” the correct form is “its”—with no apostrophe (e.g., Each school in the studyhad its own additional measures to assess student achievement). By all means, use spellcheck (and even grammar check) before you turn in your final draft. In either case, thereshould be no “it’s” in your final paper—only “it is” or “its.”

CITATIONS

If you use direct quotes in your text (a good idea), make sure you cite the author(s), yearof publication. Include page number when you quote directly from the work or refer tospecific passages.

Note, if you are using material from the course reader, cite the name of the actualauthor (available from the syllabus as well as the table of contents in the reader) and theyear of publication (available from the table of contents of your reader). Use the originalpage number from which the quote was taken rather than the stamped page number of thecourse reader.

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Citing quotations in the text

Quotations in the text (where the quote is four lines or less) begin and end with quotationmarks.

Example one: If author’s name is in the text, follow it with the publication year inparentheses. The beginning and end of the quote is enclosed in quotation marks. The pagenumber(s) is placed at the end of the quote—outside the closing quotation mark andpreceding the period.

In her study of childrearing patterns and social class, Lareau (2003) argued“whiteand Black middle class children in this study exhibited an emergent version of thesense of entitlement characteristic of the middle class. They acted as though theyhad a right to purse their own individual preferences” (p. 6).

Example two: If the author’s name is not in the text, enclose the last name and year ofpublication in parentheses at the end of the sentence. The page number follows the year ofpublication after a colon. Note that there are no spaces between the date, colon, and pagenumber.

One study found middle class black and white children both shared “an emergentversion of the sense of entitlement characteristic of the middle class. They acted asthough they had a right to purse their own individual preferences” (Lareau 2003:6).

Block quotations

Block quotations (for quotes longer than four lines) are presented in smaller type and areset off in a separate, indented paragraph. They are not enclosed in quotation marks.

Example one: If author’s name is in the text, follow it with the publication year inparentheses. The “P” for “page” is capitalized when the page number is cited alone withoutauthor and date in formation, as in the example below.

As stated by Lareau (2003):Educators believe parents should take a leadership role in solving theirchildren’s educational problems. They complain about parents who do nottake children problems “seriously” enough to initiate contact with educators.In short educators want contradictory behaviors from parents: deference andsupport, but also assertive leadership when children had educationalproblems. (P. 27)

Example two: If the author’s name is not used in the text, then the author’s name, year ofpublication and page number follows the period in a block quote.

Some scholars noted teachers’ inconsistent expectations of parents:Educators believe parents should take a leadership role in solving theirchildren’s educational problems. They complain about parents who do nottake children problems “seriously” enough to initiate contact with educators.In short educators want contradictory behaviors from parents: deference andsupport, but also assertive leadership when children had educationalproblems. (Lareau 2003:27)