Fluent Essays

Touchstones are projects that illustrate your comprehension of the course material, help you refine skills, and demonstrate application of knowledge. You can work on a Touchstone anytime, but you cant submit it until you have completed the unit’s Challenges. Once youve submitted a Touchstone, it will be graded and counted toward your final course score. Touchstone 2.1: Evaluate a Source ASSIGNMENT: For this essay, you will select one of the sources you have found through your preliminary research about your research topic. Which source you choose is up to you; however, it should be substantial enough that you will be able to talk about it at length, and intricate enough that it will keep you (and your reader) interested. In order to foster learning and growth, all essays you submit must be newly written specifically for this course. Any recycled work will be sent back with a 0, and you will be given one attempt to redo the Touchstone. The introduction of this paper will involve introducing the source: Provide the author, the title, and the context (where you found the source, where it was originally published, who sponsored it, etc.) You will then go on to evaluate the source on two levels: Credibility: Using the information in this unit as a guide, evaluate the source’s authenticity and reliability. Look at all the information that you can find about the source to establish the author’s (or sponsor’s) trustworthiness. Usefulness: Using a combination of summary and analysis, examine the source on a critical level. Determine what the source’s purpose (thesis) is, and how it arrives at that goal. Examine its value to you and the project you are working on. How will it help you prove your own points? How might it come in handy to back up a claim (or address a counter-claim)? Finally, you will include a conclusion which shows your final assessments on both counts. Sample Touchstone A. Assignment Guidelines DIRECTIONS: Refer to the list below throughout the writing process. Do not submit your Touchstone until it meets these guidelines. 1. Source Identification The introduction of this paper will be introducing the source: ❒ Have you provided the authors name?❒ Have you provided the source title?❒ Have you provided the context (where you found the source, where it was originally published, who sponsored it, etc.)? 2. Source Evaluation ❒ Have you provided a judgment on the sources credibility?❒ Have you used specific examples from the source to illustrate your judgment on credibility?❒ Have you provided a judgment on the sources usefulness?❒ Have you used specific examples from the source to illustrate your judgment on usefulness? 3. Reflection ❒ Have you answered all reflection questions thoughtfully and included insights, observations, and/or examples in all responses? ❒ Are your answers included on a separate page below the main assignment? B. Reflection Questions DIRECTIONS: Below your assignment, include answers to all of the following reflection questions. What types of questions did you ask yourself when evaluating the credibility and usefulness of your source? (2-3 sentences) How do you feel this evaluation practice will help you as you continue to move through the research process? (2-3 sentences) C. Rubric Advanced (90-100\%)Proficient (80-89\%)Acceptable (70-79\%)Needs Improvement (50-69\%)Non-Performance (0-49\%) Thesis Statement Provide a clear thesis statement with sufficient support.The thesis statement consists of an original observation that is clear, focused, and well-supported.The thesis statement consists of an original observation that is adequately supported.The thesis statement consists of an identifiable main idea that is generally supported.The thesis statement consists of an identifiable main idea, but it is not not well supported or does not match most of essays content.The thesis statement is missing or completely unsupported. Evidence and Analysis Evaluate a single source based on the characteristics of credibility and usefulness.The analysis includes specific examples from the text as support; claims for credibility and usefulness are fully developed.The analysis includes examples from the text as support; claims for credibility and usefulness are adequately developed.The analysis includes some examples from the text, though they potentially vague or abstract; claims for credibility and usefulness are established but need further development.The analysis includes one or two examples from the text, but they are of a vague, abstract nature; claims for either credibility or usefulness are missing.The analysis includes little to no examples for support; there are no established claims for either credibility or usefulness. Organization Exhibit competent organizational writing techniques.Presents all of the required components of a source evaluation essay, including an engaging introduction with background information and a clear thesis, a body paragraph or paragraphs addressing the sources credibility, a body paragraph or paragraphs addressing the sources usefulness, and a conclusion with a concluding statement.Presents all of the required components of a source evaluation essay, including an introduction with background information and a clear thesis, a body paragraph or paragraphs addressing the sources credibility, a body paragraph or paragraphs addressing the sources usefulness, and a conclusion with a concluding statement.Presents nearly all of the required components of a source evaluation essay; however, one component is missing.Presents most of the required components of a source evaluation essay, but is lacking two components; sequences ideas and paragraphs such that the connections between ideas (within and between paragraphs) are sometimes unclear and the reader may have difficulty following the progression of the essay.Lacks several or all of the components of a source evaluation essay; sequences ideas and paragraphs such that the connections between ideas (within and between paragraphs) are often unclear and the reader has difficulty following the progression of the essay. Style Establish a consistent, informative tone and make thoughtful stylistic choices.Demonstrates thoughtful and effective word choices, avoids redundancy and imprecise language, and uses a wide variety of sentence structures.Demonstrates effective word choices, primarily avoids redundancy and imprecise language, and uses a variety of sentence structures.Demonstrates generally effective style choices, but may include occasional redundancies, imprecise language, poor word choice, and/or repetitive sentence structures.Frequently includes poor word choices, redundancies, imprecise language, and/or repetitive sentence structures.Consistently demonstrates poor word choices, redundancies, imprecise language, and/or repetitive sentence structures. Conventions Follow conventions for standard written English.There are only a few, if any, negligible errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, capitalization, formatting, and usage.There are occasional minor errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, capitalization, formatting, and usage.There are some significant errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, capitalization, formatting, and usage.There are frequent significant errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, capitalization, formatting, and usage.There are consistent significant errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, capitalization, formatting, and usage. Reflection Answer reflection questions thoroughly and thoughtfully.Demonstrates thoughtful reflection; consistently includes insights, observations, and/or examples in all responses, following or exceeding response length guidelines.Demonstrates thoughtful reflection; includes multiple insights, observations, and/or examples, following response length guidelines.Primarily demonstrates thoughtful reflection, but some responses are lacking in detail or insight; primarily follows response length guidelines.Shows limited reflection; the majority of responses are lacking in detail or insight, with some questions left unanswered or falling short of response length guidelines.No reflection responses are present. D. Requirements The following requirements must be met for your submission to be graded: Composition must be 2-3 pages (approximately 500-750 words). Double-space the composition and use one-inch margins. Use a readable 12-point font. All writing must be appropriate for an academic context. Composition must be original and written for this assignment. Plagiarism of any kind is strictly prohibited. Submission must include your name, the name of the course, the date, and the title of your composition. Include all of the assignment components in a single file. Acceptable file formats include .doc and .docx. E. Additional Resources The following resources will be helpful to you as you work on this assignment: Purdue Online Writing Labs APA Formatting and Style Guide This site includes a comprehensive overview of APA style, as well as individual pages with guidelines for specific citation types. Frequently Asked Questions About APA Style This page on the official APA website addresses common questions related to APA formatting. The References, Punctuation, and Grammar and Writing Style sections will be the most useful to your work in this course. APA Style: Quick Answers—References This page on the official APA Style website provides numerous examples of reference list formatting for various source types.Sophia Pathways for College Credit – English Composition II SAMPLE TOUCHSTONE AND SCORING Logan Stevens English Composition II December 20, 2016 Source Evaluation on “Salmon: Their Fight for Survival” by Anthony Netboy. In my research paper I am arguing that there is a dire need for extra protection of wild salmon and steelhead on the west coast; particularly in Washington, Oregon, and northern California, where once very large wild fish stocks are dwindling near extinction. Hatcheries have helped slow the decline of these fisheries, but are not a substitute for truly wild fish. In my research I came across a book entitled “Salmon: Their Fight for Survival” by Anthony Netboy. I found this to be an unreliable source for my essay due to its broadness, its tendency toward bias, the inaccuracy in information, and its age. Netboy’s book has several problems with it; the first of which being its broadness. I am looking for information about fisheries of the pacific coast. This book gives information on “[s]almon catches in Norway” (Netboy 152) and “[s]almon in Great Britain” (45) as well as some tidbits about pacific salmon catches, and some information about dams on the Columbia River, however it was mostly things that were not backed up by another source. Another problem I saw in this source is some of the way it was worded made it feel Commented [SL1]: Good thesis. It explains your stance on its credibility and the reasons why you believe it to be unreliable. Commented [2]: See note below on organization. Sophia Pathways for College Credit – English Composition II SAMPLE TOUCHSTONE AND SCORING biased and opinionated rather than presenting straight hard facts. For example; in one section they are talking about the decline of the California salmon fisheries. The language the author uses seems biased in my eyes. I agree with his opinion, but I’m not looking for an opinion, I’m looking for facts. The fate of California’s salmon mirrors the state’s use and misuse of many of its natural resources. In the last half of the century a serene land of indefinetly varied landscapes… was invaded by hordes of people from the ends of America and abroad seeking riches...In the process rivers and watersheds were turned topsy- turvy, farmlands were bulldozed and covered with towns, cities, and Cyclopean highways…Like other forms of aquatic life, many of the salmon became victims of this unparalleled destruction. (Netboy 235) The use of several words and phrases, such as “hordes” and “this unparalleled destruction” say to me that he is using his own opinion and not fact, thereby making the source somewhat biased, and not very useful. Also, in some of this work, there are tables, showing salmon catches in different regions. I noticed that the numbers are not matching up with some of my other research. I have records of fish counts from the Bonnevelle Dam on the Columbia