Persuasive Essay Research

How do you find solid, unbiased information online?  Easier said than done!  Here are some suggestions:

1.  Middle School Debate Research : GREAT information.....for some of the topics!  Take a look to see if your topic is covered.

2.  CMCH - Cell phones in School : Excellent resources for this subject.

3.  Michigan Electronic Library (MEL) :  The best place to do serious research.  Here are a couple of databases recommended for this project.  Hint:  Use a variety of terms to search, then "search within results" using the word "opinion."

IMPORTANT!!  When you click on these links using an EGRPS computer, the IP address is recognized and it goes right to the database.  At home, you may be asked to enter a Michigan driver's license number (use parents' with permission.....it encodes it so there's no security risk) or KDL library card number.  You can also just enter one letter followed by 12 numbers (pretty tricky, huh?).  Try these databases:

     Educator's Reference Complete:  Designed especially for educators, many of your  
     topics will be found in this database.

     General Reference Center Gold : Millions of articles from journals, interviews, etc.

    InfoTrac Student Edition: Articles from thousands of newspapers.

    

   

Literary Criticism - Mrs. Smith's Classes

Finding unbiased, credible book reviews online can be difficult.  Authors' own sites are NOT a good source because they will, of course, only include positive reviews. A Google search will usually result in finding sources for purchasing the book.

MEL (Michigan Electronic Library)

You should use databases available through the Michigan Electronic Library or MEL. These are collections of articles from magazines, journals, newspapers, and reference books.

MEL contains a lot of databases, so below are a couple which are especially useful for locating critical reviews of literature.

IMPORTANT:  No matter which database you use, in the search bar type the author or title PLUS the word "revew" (no quotations marks).  Your search inquiry should look something like this:  hunger games review

Expanded Academic (Gale)

Infotrac Newsstand :  Newspapers, especially in large cities, have excellent book reviews.  This database only contains newspaper reviews.

Novelist : Database completely devoted to literature.  Type title in first search bar and "review" in search bar following the word "and."   Scroll down to locate reviews from sources such as Booklist, Kirkus, and Library Journal.

ECO Advanced :  This is very scholarly, but excellent source for reviews.  In search bar, type full title as a "keyword" then scroll down and check the box that says "limit to full text."  Otherwise, you may just get abstracts (short description of actual article).


VERY IMPORTANT FOR HOME USE:  When you link to these databases on any school computer, the IP address is recognized and goes directly to the database.  At home, however, you may be prompted to type in a Michigan driver's license, state id, or library card number.  You can type in your library card number from KDL (public library) or use your parents' license number (with permission) without any fear of privacy issues because the numbers are immediately encrypted.  The only reason it asks is because MEL is funded by Michigan tax dollars so the state tries to ensure that only MI residents use it.  However, here's a little trick:  you can also just type in a letter followed by 12 random numbers and that usually works, too!


Literary Criticism from IPL : This site is not part of MEL, but does have some good information.  You have to evaluate results carefully to make sure that they're unbiased, academic-based sites or documents, but it is worth a try.




 

Great Depression Research - Mrs. Hart and Mr. Coffill

You are getting ready to read Bud, Not Buddy and, in order to learn more about the times in which it takes place,  you're selecting something interesting to research.  Here are some places to look for information that will impress even Mrs. Hart and Mr. Coffill:


*First of all, try an ENCYCLOPEDIA.  You know.....those sets of books that make a picture when they're put on the shelf correctly.  Look up your subject and you be amazed at what you'll find!  This is a great starting place and will give you some names, places, and terms to look up.


*BOOKS....Look!  There's a cart FULL of books!  Some have even come over from the high school, so there are quite a few.  Hint:  if it's a general book on the 1930s, use the INDEX.  It's in the back and lists the topics and the page numbers where you can find information about the topic.


MEL - Hurray for MEL (Michigan Electronic Library)!  This is the VERY best place to go for research.  There are resources for everyone from preschool through college!  There are many databases to choose from, but here are direct links to a couple that will really help with research for this project (bonus: if you use MEL database articles, the citation is included at the end....just copy and paste!):


          InfoTrac Junior :  Lots of articles, books, magazines, and multimedia 
        resources!


        Kids InfoBits : Although this looks like it's for little kids, there is some
        really excellent information here, including copyright-free pictures.

        ELibrary : OK, OK, we know the graphics are a little weird, but this is  
        an EXCELLENT resource!




WEB SITES:  Here are some Mrs-McCaffrey-Approved Web sites. Believe me when I tell you that THESE are good web sites, with accurate and reliable information. To go directly to the site, just click on the first part of each entry (different color):


American Experience - The Great Depression:  This is a PBS site, with links to many articles, lots of pictures, and firsthand accounts of life during the 1930s Depression.  Here are links to more specific topics:
     *Surviving the Dust Bowl
     *Stock Market Crash of 1929
     *Riding the Rails (rail riding)
      *Orphan Train
     
Great Depression from the FDR Presidential Museum (good information on the New Deal here)


Stock Market Crash from PBS Series "The First Measured Century."


1930s Dust Bowl from the Cimaron Heritage Center in Oklahoma.


The Migrant Experience - From the Library of Congress


Foster Care History from the Adoption History Project


Hoovervilles in Washington State (although this focuses on Washington, there is some good general information here about Hoovervilles).


Overview of Great Depression : Good article with information about several topics, including unemployment and labor unions.


Jazz Roots - Extensive amount of information about the history of jazz.


American Cultural History 1930-1939 : Good links to many different topics.  This is a "pathfinder" from Lone Star College, so there are lists of books from their library that we do not have access to, but there are very good links to Internets sources, too.


Labor Union History:  Wow!  Brand new resource from MEL!  The Walter Reuther Collection has a lot of information about the history of labor unions, which were really important in Michigan, where Bud, Not Buddy takes place.

Imagine That! It's Science Fiction and Fantasy!

Get ready to travel through time, talk to animals, become invisible, or face dangerous creatures....in the pages of a fantasy or science fiction book!  Here are some sites that describe or recommend some great titles:

YABC : There is so much happening on this site that it's almost hard to know where to begin.  Hint:  click on "books" on the left-hand side and then click on "book directory."  You can then find books by filling in the author or title or genre or age.

Books and Authors: It is hard to imagine a better site for finding reviews, descriptions, and recommendations.  You can browse by genre and limit to "young adult" to get specific titles.


Novelist : This outstanding source from the Michigan Electronic Library has many features to help you select a book, find titles like others you've liked, and read reviews and comments.

Scholastic Book Wizard :  Just type in the title of a book you want to know about and you'll get an easy-to-read description....and more!

Click HERE to see a video book talk for Museum of Thieves by Lian Tanner.

Click HERE to see an interview with Cornelia Funke, author of the Inkworld  series and HERE to take a tour of her home, where she writes.

Mrs. Clay and Mrs. Smith's Author Study Links

Lucky you!  You are going to study an author of  your choice, read books by the author, and share what you've learned.  Here are some links to excellent, well-researched information about the authors and their books:

Proquest Learning Literature:  This is an outstanding resource with detailed author biographies, complete lists of books, reviews, and much more information related to literature.  Because it is a subscription database, please get the URL and user name/password from the library desk.

Books and Authors:  From MEL (Michigan Electronic Library), here is a new resource with all kinds of information about authors and books. This fantastic source provides in-depth information about authors, along with book recommendations, read-alikes, awards lists, and too many other features to list.

YABC (Young Adult Books Central):  Very active site, with some biographical information, but lots of reviews, lists of authors' books, and suggestions.

CLB :  Wow!  There is sooo much on this site....author interviews, book recommendations, events, and tons of links!

Biography.com :   This site features really famous authors, like J.K. Rowling, but give it a try, especially if your author is well known.

Read On: Author's Blogs and Sites:   A well-designed, exciting source for author information.

For magazine and newspaper articles, try InfoTrac, which has many articles, images, book excerpts, etc.

Also, many present-day authors have their own sites and they often are just their own name, like Joan Aiken (joanaiken.com).  You can either give it a try by typing in your author's name in the URL bar at the top of the browser page or use a search engine like Google or Bing to type in the author's name. Make sure that it is the author's OFFICIAL site and not a "fan" site because the information might not be accurate on a fan's site.