1. Locate a total of 6 sources for your research essay (use the sources from the library orientation as well) 

2. Do your sources pass the CRAAP test? Explain how each source passes the following steps: Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose. 

3. Select at least one quote from each source that would be useful to include in your research paper and include a proper in-text citation. Use the “They Say, I Say Template” and Little Seagull Handbook signal phrase suggestions. 

4. Create a Works Cited entry containing each source. 

If you finish early, carefully read your sources and take detailed notes. It will help you get ahead on next week’s big assignment.

GROUP A: 

1. Bouie implies that “instability” not only hinders people from voting but actually “defines” the lives of many young people (2). What does he mean by “instability,” and how common is it, in your view? Explain. 

2. Bouie does not mention political parties by name in his essay. As a result of this apparently bipartisan approach, is his analysis stronger or weaker in your view? Why do you think so? 

GROUP B: 

3. What distinction is Sapolsky making when he says, “Adolescents feel the allure of jumping off things. Middle-aged adults just recklessly cheat on their diets” (2)? Explain. 

4. For all its “stupid-risk-taking and hideous fashion decisions” (5) says Sapolsky, adolescence has many “pulses”, one of the biggest of which is “that it allows the frontal Cortex time to develop.” Why is this such a big deal? Explain. 

GROUP C

5. Some people fail to vote, says Bouie, because they lack “the confidence to participate in the political process (5). In your opinion, is this true? Why or why not? 

6. Along with enlightened self-interest, what else is necessary, according to Bouie, for building “a culture of voting and high turnout?” (17). How and how well does he make the case that this can and should be done?

GROUP D: 

7. “An open mind is a prerequisite for an open heart” (6). What does Sapolsky mean by this statement? What particular characteristics of typical adolescent behavior does he have in mind, and how, according to him, do they work together to embody this principle? 

8. “Dude,” “lousy,” “dumb ass”: how would you describe the type of language Sapolsky uses? Is it effective for his subject and audience? Explain. 

• Works Cited list must contain 6 sources; two must be peer reviewed

• Annotate two peer-reviewed sources and then two other sources (four sources total) 

• Each source summary must be at least 150 words.  

• The Works Cited entry list must be in MLA format.  

• 25 points total 

• Source Summaries: 5 points each (20 points total) 

• Proper MLA format and remaining sources: 5 points 

• Around 1500-2000 words 

• MLA format; Double-spaced; 12 point; Times New Roman Font; Works Cited page 

• Contains 6 reputable sources; Two of which must be scholarly peer-reviewed articles; The other four sources must be credible and reputable; Does it pass the CRAAP test that we discussed in class? 

• Identify a Topic based on a research question; Address a specific research question of personal interest; Demonstrate an understanding of the complexity of the topic 

• Explore Various Perspectives; Identify 3-5 positions/ views on your topic; Each position must be supported by data/ research; Explain the complexity and uncertainty behind the issue 

• Include a self-reflection; What positions did you find the most compelling about the topic? What perspective has influenced you the most? 

• Engagement with the content of the prompt 

• Quality of description, including focus, detail, vocabulary, precision, example(s), context for quotes 

• Organization 

• Grammar/sentence structure/style 

• Format and length 

1. Why does the bus driver threaten to drive to the police station, according to Mebane? What was his official duty under segregation? 

2. Why does Mebane claim a national significance for the events of her private life as narrated here? Is her claim justified? How does this claim relate to her purpose for writing? 

GROUP B: 

3. List several passages in Mebane’s text that seem to be told from young Mary’s point of view. Then list others that are told from the point of view of the adult author looking back at an event in her youth. Besides time, what is the main difference in perspectives? 

4. Why does Mebane refer to the seat across from the exit as a “no-man’s-land” (13)?  Look up the meaning of this term. What did it originally refer to? Does knowing this background give you any additional insight into the significance of the use of the term here? Explain.  

5. A quick preview of Vuong’s essay would suggest that he is writing an immigration story. How does the narrative develop the basic idea of moving from one territory to another? Explain. 

6. “Reading and writing, like any other crafts, come to the mind slowly, in pieces” (1). Based on your experience, is Vuong right about this? What are some specific examples, in your own case, of the process of learning to read and write happening “slowly” and “in-pieces” or otherwise? 

GROUP D:

7. At the end of his narrative, Vuong speaks directly to his audience. How effective is this strategy? Why might he use it, and who is his intended audience?  

8. “I was a writer,” says Vuong at the end of his narrative. By Vuong’s definition what makes a writer a writer? How and where does he indicate that defining the term is not an easy task? 

1. “The formation of new species,” says Sussman, “usually occurs slowly over a long period of time” (4). How long? Why is this process so slow? 

2. To develop Sussman’s thesis that race is a cultural myth rather than a scientific fact, Sussman launches immediately into a scientific definition of “the concept of race” (4). Why might he begin this way? 

GROUP B: 

3. Over the last 200,000 years, modern humans have been separated by distance and other factors. Why have humans nevertheless remained a single species? 

4. In scientific classification systems, races are not species but “subspecies” (5). Where and how does Sussman develop this distinction? 

5. As a child, Sotomayor and her family lived, she says, in “a state of constant tension punctuated by explosive discord” (1). As Sotomayor analyzes them here, what were some of the main causes of that tension and discord? 

6. As she was growing up, Sotomayor struggled with material poverty, illness, and after the early death of her father, a mother who remained emotionally distant from her. What, according to Sotomayor, allowed her to overcome this adversity?

GROUP D:

7. Sotomayor recalls overhearing a conversation that had a “lasting effect” on her (15). To what extent might her account of this conversation be said to represent the entire chapter?

8. In the preface to her book, Sotomayor writes, “People who live in difficult circumstances need to know that happy endings are possible.” Why, then, do you think she ends her prologue with a scene of tension, where “all hell broke loose” (16)? 

1. How and where does Noah himself define who he is? What part does language play in his decision to belong to one racial category rather than the other? 

2. At times, Noah divides his classmates into three groups: White, Black, and colored. In his account of “how boundaries were drawn,” what were the distinguishing features of each of these racial and social categories as constituted “back then” in South Africa (7,10)?  

GROUP B

3. In Watt’s article, does associating “acting white” with specific behaviors such as studying reinforce stereotypes? Why or why not. 

4. What are some of the socioeconomic factors that Watts references that create barriers for progress for racial equality.  

5. In “Chameleon,” Noah uses a shifting set of categories to categorize race. Does this confirm what he says about being a chameleon? Why or why not? 

6. Noah says that “at some point life will force you to pick a side,” because “the real world doesn’t go away” (4). How is he defining “real world” here? Is his argument valid? Why or why not? 

GROUP D

7. Watts states, “some black adolescents still believe success is a white prerogative—the “white turf.” Explain why this is harmful and the meaning behind the “white turf.” 

8. How does Watts’ use of historical context add to his argument? Give specific examples.