Library / Eng. Pro Con

English Pro Con Contemporary Issue Paper

STEPS

1) Choose your topic.

2) Look at Pro-Con for various points of view on your topic. Choose the ones that are most interesting to you.

3) Use your points to write your working thesis.
ex. Some people feel that school uniforms limit personal expression, but they save money for families, lower incidents of bullying, and increase focus in the classroom.

4) Go to SIRS and eLibrary.

5) Using keywords, locate articles that support each of your arguments.
ex. I would need an article about uniforms saving money, an article talking about less bullying, and one about increased focus. I also need an article that mentions the counterargument about limiting expression. It would also work to have articles that mention saving money, bullying, and focus all at once.

6) Take notes and organize them by point.

7) Write a rough draft using your notecards and supporting your thesis.

8) Make any changes, and polish your paper.

WEBSITE:

Use only for collecting ideas and points you may be interested in arguing. You can't cite this as a resource, it is only for your personal background and organization purposes.

SEARCH ENGINE:

Using Google Scholar eliminates the need for source evaluation. If you use Google by itself, you have to evaluate several things. When the site was last updated, who the authoring publisher is, what their purpose is, where their bias lies, are the sources of their information valid and reputable (which means you have to check those as well).

Databases:

Subscription information sources are provided by the MVHS library. The resources are reviewed and checked so you can trust the validity of your results. Databases also provide a citation you can copy and paste into your Works Cited page as opposed to having to generate one from scratch. you CAN use and cite the articles/images/graphics/etc. you find here, unlike procon.org, which you can't put in your Works Cited.