TAKING NOTES FOR YOUR TERM PAPER

1. TAKING NOTES FOR YOUR TERM PAPER

2. STEPS IN TAKING NOTES 1 Develop A Preliminary, Preliminary Thesis 2 Let The Thesis Guide Your Research 3 Develop “SLUGS” Based On Your Thesis (And Some Skimming And Scanning) 4 Properly Format Each Notecard 5 Use A Variety Of Notetaking Methods

3. SAMPLE PRELIMINARY THESIS In The Crucible, Arthur Miller emphasizes characterization, dramatic structure, and style to lead to his theme that moral courage is a necessity in any era.

4. LET THE THESIS GUIDE YOUR RESEARCH • Based on your preliminary thesis, as you take notes from your critical sources, emphasize notes on the elements you have picked and on the theme(s) of the main work. • However, feel free to: 1. Make changes as you need to 2. Broaden the scope of your research logically

5. NOTETAKING EXERCISE Characterization DramaticStructure Style Moral Courage For the sample thesis about The Crucible, what topics discussed by these critics should be included in your notes? Iska Alter: 1. Feminine power in play 2. Feminine sensuality in 3. Character archetypes in the play E. Miller Budick: 1. Historical accuracy 2. Theme of moral tyranny 3. Miller’s perception of reality 4. Theme of moral flexibility

6. A “Slug” is alabelthat you will develop to identify the general contents of EACH individual notecard Use your thesis to guide you in choosing these slugs DEVELOP “SLUGS” BASED ON YOUR THESIS Characterization Note that the slug belongs in top lefthand corner of your 4 x 6 card

7. DEVELOP SUB-SLUGS BASED ON SKIM READING Characterization-- John Use a “Sub-Slug” to identify the SPECIFIC content of the card Choose your sub-slugs by skimming and scanning each paragraph in your critical essay before you take notes Your critic* is discussing John Proctor and the decisions he makes, so ALL notes on this card concern John *E.M. Budick, for example

8. DEVELOP “SUB-SLUGS” BASED ON SKIM READING Elizabeth Characterization-- Use a “Sub-Slug” to identify the SPECIFIC content of the card Choose your sub-slugs by skimming and scanning each paragraph in your critical essay before you take notes Now your critic* begins a discussion of Elizabeth. YOU change cards, reuse the main slug, and change the sub-slug. *E.M. Budick, again

9. AND, ONE MORE TIME. . . . Characterization-- Elizabeth In other words, the combination of slug and sub-slug ORGANIZES your research into small “card bites” of info so that you will be able to arrange the cards in TOPIC order later on. A NEW critic* is discussing Elizabeth Proctor . The slugs DO NOT change. *Iska Alter

10. PROPERLY FORMAT EACH CARD Structure--Reversals Slug, subslug Bib Card Number and “failsafe” i.d. Exact page number where info appears 16 Budick, “History” 95 96 Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.

11. BE CERTAIN THAT YOU DO NOT PLAGIARIZE • Each time you start a notecard, be certain to put the Bib card number, the failsafe info, and the page number(s) in place. • Put “BIG Quotation marks” around all sentences, words or phrases that you copy from the original essay. • When you summarize or paraphrase information, be certain to use only your own words.

12. Plagiarism Defined • ANY use of another person’s research paper • Using information from ANY source without giving credit through appropriate MLA documentation rules and through correct punctuation (in the final paper) • Borrowing another person’s words without placing quotation marks around them on the notecard

13. USE A VARIETY OF NOTETAKING METHODS • Outline the information • Summarize the information • Paraphrase the information • Directly quote the information • Mix methods on the same card

14. Work from beginning to end of essay Read all bold face print Read first and last sentences of paragraphs Pick one or two sentences in the middle to skim Think “What topics are covered here?” “What is this critic’s thesis or theory?” As you take notes, skim and scan each paragraph Reminder: Look Before You WriteUse Skimming And Scanning Skills

15. SAMPLE NOTECARD • These are quotation notes. Use exact words, spelling of original. • Use an ellipsis to indicate words that are left out. An ellipsis equals . . . Theme--moral flexibility 16 Budick, “History” 97 “Miller’s play, . . . , is an argument in favour of moral flexibility. The funda- mental flaw in the natures of the Puritan elders and by extension of the McCarthyites, . . . , is precisely their extreme tendency toward moral absolutism.”

16. SAMPLE NOTECARD Characterization--the girls 17 Alter “Betrayal” 127 Alter’s view that the girls are “dangerous” 128 --they are “distrusted adolescents” --so they denounce the weak first to gain community sympathy 129 --Abby’s sexuality is now “publicly useful” --Mary is “curiously revolutionary” These notes are Mixed-- part quote, part summary, part informal outlines

17. SAMPLE NOTECARD Characterization--link to plot 7 Martine, Politics 48 Martine quotes John Gassner: “’. . . if there are obvious weaknesses in the play, they result mainly from the fact that Proctor and his wife are swamped in a multiplicity of secondary characters.’” 49 Martine disputes Gassner because xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxmy summary xxxxxxx. ONE CRITIC QUOTES ANOTHER

18. SAMPLE NOTECARD Main work Style--Language Motifs--cannot 10 --First use of “I cannot” 15--Two people use the phrase 30--Increasingly complex references 1 Miller, Crucible

19. SAMPLE NOTECARD Personal Structure--Reversals Doesn’t Miller overdo the reversals in Act 4 in an effort to appear like Shakespeare or a Greek playwright? Keeping Track of BRIGHT Ideas

20. ADD BIBLIOGRAPHY CARDS AS NEEDED PHS 10 Bloom, Harold, editor The Crucible Modern Critical Interpretations Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 1999 Essay in 10 16 Budick, E. Miller “History and Other Spectres in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible” pp. 95-112 Original Card for the volume Additional card for Budick’s essay. Notice that it refers back Bloom’s card for the volume.

21. REMEMBER: EACH TIME YOU USE AN ESSAY IN A VOLUME, YOU MUST ADD A NEW BIB CARD Essay in 10 17 Alter, Iska “Betrayal and Blessedness: Explorations of Feminine Power in The Crucible” pp. 123-151 PHS 10 Bloom, Harold, editor The Crucible Modern Critical Interpretations Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 1999 Original Card for the volume

22. Remember: • Each time you find a new source--one you don’t already have a bib card for--you must make that card. • Create a new card for each essay that you use from a volume of essays.

23. Honors English Assignment • 1. You will demonstrate “substantial progress” in notetaking by turning in a minimum of 20 notecards on Friday, March 7, 2014. • 2. You must take notes from at least 2 different sources (50% of minimum requirement of 4) • 3. You may use up to 3 cards as Personal or Main Work cards. • 4. Include a thesis card on top of the stack. • 5. Sources=critics, other researchers

24. Congratulations! You have completed another step of your research paper