INFORMATION ABOUT THE LONG REPORT:

To help you begin choosing an appropriate topic, conducting research, and developing the report

The following information is very important in getting you started with the Long Report, which will count a major part of your overall grade.  The following discussion covers work you will be doing for several weeks, begining with the Tentative Topic, due the third week of class, and then the Proposal, which will be due the sixth week of class.  You will need to come back to this information many times during this quarter as you develop the Proposal, Sentence Outline, Note Cards, and the Long Report itself.

Review the Long Report Information (especially the section on Sample Long Report Topics) for more information and some ideas about this initial topic. Consult the English 303 Internet Table of Contents for information about the Long Report, including examples of the Report sections.

The links below will take you to a discussion Researching the Long Report; it includes some Internet sources covering a wide range of topics.  As you review the long report information, notice that the Long Report is to be written as a comparison and contrast, with several possible solutions and several criteria, just as your first, in-class paper was done.   The content of that report must follow your Sentence Outline as to content, order, and subdivisions.

You must become familiar with ALL of the information explained the section on Researching the Long Report.


 

How to begin gathering data, drafting, and revising the Long Report:

Read the following material carefully and thoroughly to prepare you for researching and writing the Long Report:
 

As part of this course, you are to learn how to conduct and document research.  At this point in the course, it is necessary for you to be conducting library and internet research to collect the data needed for your 2000-word report. 

The following link will show you 

  • how research should be done to get the information for note cards, 
  • how information is transferred from the original sources to the note and bibliography cards, and 
  • how the information from the note cards is transferred into your paper, with the proper documentation. 
  • This link also lists sources of information that can be used for your report and lists several search engines to use for finding information.
Researching the Long Report

This information is critical information for your success in researching and writing the long report.

 
How to Make and Use Note Cards

As the first part of your research documentation, Note Cards are due.  You are to turn in the following as beginning source material for your paper: 

  • 5 bibliography cards
    •  
  • 15 notes from those 5 sources 
    •  
  • A photocopied page of the source used for one of the notes from each of the 5 sources; in other words, one photocopied page from each source 
    •  
  • Highlight or underline, on the photocopied page, the part of the text that you placed on the note card.  Put the card letter beside the underlined or highlighted text.
    •  
  • If Internet material is used, turn in hard copies of the source pages, with the part used on the note card highlighted.  Be sure to include the Internet address. 
The following link will show you specifically how to do these note cards and source copies: 

Instructions for Doing the Note Cards

If Internet material is used, turn in hard copies of the source pages; be sure to include the Internet address. 


 
Grading the Long Report

You must become familiar with ALL of the information in Researching the Long Report.  When the Long Report is graded, the following deductions will be made if the Long Report is not done according to the instruction given on the English 303 web site.  This information should help you see important areas of emphasis in developing and writing the Report.

If the instructions are not clear to you, email, call, or go by to see Dr. Minor.  This paper makes up a major part of your grade.  

LONG REPORT AREA OF IMPORTANCE: EFFECT ON LONG REPORT GRADE:
   
Note Cards not turned in to be checked before the paper is submitted: 1 letter grade (10 points) off the Long Report Grade
Paper not documented exactly according the instruction given in Researching the Long Report: 2 letter grades (20 points) off the Long Report Grade
Paper not subdivided as instructed in the material on the Long Report and the student's Sentence Outline 1 letter grade (10 points) or more, according to how much the paper deviates from the assigned structure
If the Long Report is undocumented (it has no citations in the text or they do not ACCURATELY show the sources used) Minimum:  Grade of F on the Long Report
Maximum:  Final Grade of F in the course