Summary

I found this entire assignment to be very helpful and completely useful for future projects. Although Wikipedia may not be a good source to research information, it is a wonderful site to help brainstorm ideas and provide a lot of keywords. The Database was also helpful to me, because I prefer using them over Google. I know researching over the web can be quite tricky, because you never know if you are using a credible source, but that is why databases come very handy over a typical search engine. I would also like to add, that by using a search engine you tend to get a variety of sites and articles that have nothing to do with the subject and most of the time can be likely to try and sell you a product. I love research databases for this reason, it's nice to be able to broaden a topic and find the right information you are looking for without scrolling through hundreds of irrelevant websites. I also found researching to be easier when I brainstorm ideas for a topic, because I know searching by one word essentially isn't going to get me anywhere valid. The tutorials helped guide me in the right direction when researching a topic and finding the right information. I also liked the tips it gave me for helping organize information in order to cite my sources efficiently.

Research Questions: Internet

What effect does content control have on the internet and society?

When does social networking become a problem?

How safe is shopping on the internet?

Using Wikipedia

 Topic: Internet

Source: Wikipedia


 Wikipedia contributors. "Internet." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 26 Apr. 2012. Web. 30 Apr. 2012.

Internet and...

-email

-supply chains

-artisans

-commercialization

-online shopping

-discussion forums

-social networking

-computer security

-smart phones

-YouTube

-multiplayer gaming

-activism

-content control

-video calling

Internet

Article: Teen use of Internet

Internet, Teen Use of. Amanda B. Lenhart. Encyclopedia of Community. Ed. Karen Christensen and David Levinson. Vol. 2.  Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Reference, 2003. p785-788. Word Count: 2016.

 Source: Gale Virtual Reference Library

Internet and it's effect/ impact on...

 -Teens

-Addiction

-Technology

-Higher education

-Politics

-Privacy

-Plagiarism

-society

I have used data bases such as Ebsco and ProQuest in the past for my English 101 class and have learned to broaden my search terms to fit the exact topic I am researching. Although, I have never used the GVRL before and am happy to have discovered a new database I can use in the future to find valid information. I even find this database to be easier then the others I often use. I had fun with this and also enjoy my article I found, I'm looking forward to doing more research in the future. 

Unit 2: Plagiarism

1. Last summer, my family and I traveled to Chicago, which was quite different from the rural area I grew up in. We saw the dinosaur Sue at the Field Museum, and ate pizza at Gino's East. 

This is not an example of plagiarism; the writer is simply explaining where she traveled with her family and where she visited in Chicago.

2. Americans want to create a more perfect union; they also want to establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty for everybody.

This is an example of plagiarism, because it is not the writers own words and ideas, but taken from the constitution and therefore needs to be cited using MLA or another citation depending on where it was taken from.

3. I find it ridiculous that 57% of high school students think their teachers assign too much homework.

Although the student seems to be voicing her own opinion in this sentence, she is also using a statistic and therefore she needs to cite it.

4. Martin Luther King was certain that nobody would want to be contented with a surfacy type of social analysis that concerns itself only with effects and doesn't deal with root causes.

The student needs to cite this sentence, because he/ she seem to be summarizing Martin Luther King’s opinion and direct words from the letter to Birmingham jail. Contented and social analysis should each have quotes.

5. Martin Luther King wrote that the city of Birmingham's "white power structure" left African- 

 Americans there "no alternative" but to demonstrate ("Letter from the Birmingham Jail" para. 5).

In this example, the student has cited the information correctly. The author and source are included and so is the direct paragraph number.

6. In "Letter from the Birmingham Jail," King writes to fellow clergy saying that although they "deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham, your statement fails to express a similar concern for the conditions that brought about the demonstrations."

In this example, the student cited the sentence correctly, because the author and source are included in the sentence.

7. My friend Kara told me that she loves living so close to the ocean.

This sentence does not need to be cited, because it is merely explaining how the friend feels about the ocean, it is a general opinion and her name is already stated anyway.

8. Americans are guaranteed the right to freely gather for peaceful meetings.

This sentence is not an example of general information, but taken from the bill of rights. Although it is not written word for word, it is still not the writer’s own opinion or information. 

 

                I have learned that plagiarism is a serious offense and is not taken lightly. I realize how easy it can be to plagiarize easily by mistake, such as summarizing a work by rearranging words the author used or simply taking few of the authors own words. I realize how detrimental plagiarism can be and understand why everyone should be educated on the topic. Looking back on previous papers I’ve written I can honestly say I committed plagiarism simply by mistake. I know that while summarizing an author’s factual point of view I had taken some of his/ her own words directly into my writing and did not cite the information. I know now to watch closely for plagiarism in my papers and make sure I am writing in my own words or am using general information when I do not cite and to cite anything that is not my own. I plan to utilize sources that can help me with citing information if I am unsure on how to cite the sources I use.

Blogging

This assignment was interesting for me because I have never blogged before and never really knew what the point was before. But of course as I've gotten older I realized blogs can be very important and fun depending on the subject. I enjoy voicing my own opinion on subjects and aspects I enjoy. I think I will have a lot of fun discussing my views and factors I am quite passionate about. Currently I use Facebook as my way of sharing my opinion and feelings toward things, but I find this a better source, because it is not a community website to connect and follow friends on and slightly focuses on personal status which tends to be irrelevant when the main focus is on a subject or point of view.