Reference no: EM133652138

(1.) First, select two sources that you have collected as part of your capstone project research: one primary source and one credible and reliable scholarly secondary source (i.e. a book with citations or an article with citations published in a scholarly journal).

(2.) Next, source and evaluate the primary source you selected.

Start by writing a basic citation for your source. (If you would like to practice writing correctly-formatted footnote or bibliographic citations according to the Chicago Manual of Style you are welcome to do so, but for now, a simple citation is just fine!) Your citation needs to include, at minimum:

The source's author / creator (if the author is not indicated, just write Author Unknown)
The source's title
The date when the source was published / created
The URL (if you accessed the source online)

Then, evaluate the primary source by answering the following questions from the S.O.C.C. procedure:

SOURCE:
What kind of source is it? What is its genre? (e.g. government report, photograph, poem, newspaper article or issue, novel, non-fiction book, memoir, etc.)
For what audience do you think this document was intended when it was originally published or created? (Remember: we in AMERSTD 101AC are not necessarily the intended audience of this document!) What evidence did you use to come to that conclusion?
Why does this matter? How does knowing the genre and intended audience shape the way you interpret this source?
OBSERVE:
Summarize the content of this source in one sentence.
What specific parts of the source support or verify the summary you just wrote? List 3-5 direct quotes (include the page number!) that exemplify your summary.
What did you learn about your object (and/or its context) from this source?
CONTEXTUALIZE:
Put this source into the bigger picture: what else do you know about the year or decade when it was published (i.e. its historical context). List 3-5 relevant pieces of information that you already know about the historical context.
Explain (briefly!) how this context helps you understand more about this source.
CORROBORATE:
What questions do you have that would help you understand this document better? List 3 questions you are curious about after reading this document.
What kind of information, evidence, or additional sources would you need to answer your questions? What would you do next?
NOTE: You do not need to actually answer your questions at this time; I just want you to reflect on and brainstorm potential next steps you will take as you continue to work on your capstone project!

(3.) Finally, source and evaluate the secondary source you selected.

Once again, start by writing a basic citation for your source. Your citation needs to include:

The book or article's author(s)
The book or article's title
(Journal articles only) The title of the scholarly journal in which the article was published
(Books only) The publisher
The year when the book or article was published

Then, evaluate the secondary source by answering the following questions from the S.C.F.F. procedure:

SOURCE:
What do you know about the author of this book/article as a scholar? (e.g. their education or training; their area(s) of expertise; the university, organization, or institution where they work; if they teach, in what department/program they teach, etc.)
For what audience do you think this book/article is intended? What evidence did you use to come to that conclusion?
Why does this matter? How does knowing about the author and its likely intended audience shape the way you interpret this document? (e.g. its trustworthiness, reliability, relevance, and/or timeliness)
CONTENT:
What is the primary subject or focus of this book/article? Summarize it in one sentence.
What is the author's argument: the main or most important interpretive point the author is trying to make in this book/article? Quote the sentence(s) in which the author makes their argument (include the page number!), or, summarize it in your own words.
What did you learn about your object (and/or its context) from this source?
FORM:
What kind of PRIMARY source evidence does the author use in this book/article? Look and the text and its citations, and briefly describe 2-4 of the specific sources and/or types of sources that the author references frequently. (e.g. interviews, memoirs, diaries, controlled experiments, newspaper articles, quantitative data they or someone else collected, qualitative data they or someone else collected, letters, court cases, political speeches, photographs, etc.)
NOTE: Depending on which sources you are using, the citations might take different forms. The author might use parenthetical citations, footnotes (at the bottom of each page), or endnotes (at the end of the document), and they may or may not also include a bibliography that lists all of the sources in alphabetical order. If your source does NOT include citations, ?? that is a red flag ?? that it may not be a reliable source.

FUNCTION:

What goal do you think this author was trying to achieve by writing this book/article?
Why is this book/article significant to YOU, as a fellow scholar?