Writing
choose any social issue topic and write about it
–4+ pages
–5+ sources primarily or only through your UT library
–MLA citing style (always work closely with an MLA guide: this is the only way. Nobody memorizes this stuff & citing programs get it wrong while enabling you to learn nothing about citing.) Use the MLA guide in your Prentice Hall Reference Guide and/or the Purdue OWL online. just make sure to use an MLA guide as your main guide for citing correctly & well. thank you.
MLA citing (please, please work closely with an MLA guide: this is the ONLY way for you to learn citing. Citation programs get it wrong & you do not learn anything.)
[for what it is worth, the previous sentence is, in fact, a run-on sentence. for what it is worth…]
Simply analyze your topic focus: is it too broad? Too narrow? its better too narrow or specific than too broad & vague. see how narrow/specific you can make your focus & you can always broaden it back out as needed. the reasons behind this: if the focus of your topic is too broad you will drown in 1 billion results when searching & acquiring sources. if its too narrow you’ll get 1 or 2 results only. see? so work with the exact framing, wording & targeting of your topic while also searching on it using your UT library (ask me or library staff for any help doing research). e.g. “The decline of coral reefs & subsequent negative effects in Dominican Republic over the last 20 years.”
use the journalistic questions to target & craft your topical focus: what, when, where, how, why, who. In the example above, we have the what: decline of coral reefs & negative effects of this decline. the where: Dominican Republic. the when: last 20 years. we even have an implied who: residents of D.R., both human & marine life, fishers, et al.
