Community Racism: The Minority Effect

Final Research Paper
By this point, you must have completed a personal reflection(Assignment 1), source work analysis on two sources(Assignment 2), and written out your Research Paper topic with source options (Assignment 3). If you have some commentary from me on Assignment 3, then you are ready to write this paper. (If necessary, you can start the Research Paper without having comments from me on Assignment 3, but be prepared to make changes and revisions if required.) Be sure you know the due date for the Research Paper. It will not be accepted late!
Here is a quick recap of the requirements:
• The topic needs to be broad enough that you can explain and explore it in at least four FULL pages, the Works Cited page does NOT count in the page requirement.(Don’t miss the sample Works Cited page on the last page of this handout!) The bulk of the paper will present your ideas and perspectives on your topic, but these will be further explained, supported or perhaps refuted by your sources.
• For the Research Paper you are required to use the film (as much or as little as necessary based on your topic) and at least TWO but no more than three other sourcesfrom the list provided for Assignment 2. For reference here are the possible sources you can use for quotes and paraphrases:
❖ “Racism Has a Cost for Everyone” TedTalk video by Heather McGee
❖ “What it Takes to be Racially Literate” TedTalk video by Priya Vulchi and Winona Guo
❖ School Segregation Video by John Oliver on YouTube
❖ “City that Once Guided a Nation Now Shows its Cracks” New York Times article by Michael Corkery (online version)
❖ South Peoria Series by the Peoria Journal Star (2021) contains several articles, but ONLY need to select one or two at most. (online version)
o Remember to go to the link and click on it. I have divided the articles in this series into categories based on use for the Research Paper. See the first category “Best article options for the Research Paper.” There are two articles there that would work well for the paper.
❖ Is Crash Truly the Worst Best Picture” The New Republic magazine article by Tim Grierson (online version)
❖ “Differing Views of Race in L.A. Collide in Crash” L. A. Times newspaper article by Cara Mia DiMassa (online version)
✓ There is a handout on Blackboard under the Writing Resources tab titled “City and Metro Area Demographics and Governing.com Findings.” It has Peoria area stats and a summary of the main areas from another article series. You may use this material in your paper for some quick facts, butIT DOES NOT COUNT AS ONE OF YOUR SOURCES. In the paper just credit me (Vance) with this information. (I constructed this material for a conference presentation.) This source will not be available until after Assignment 2 is due in order to avoid confusion. Questions about this? Be sure to ask!
Source Use and Citation: Some Notes and Tips
When NOT to Document:
1. Your claim (thesis) or any material explaining your own ideas and any place where you present your position, solution, etc. (depending on the type of paper). – Start the paper using your own words and ideas and perhaps an engaging situation or personal example. The opening (remember the organization for the persuasive paper) should be your own and not from sources. Use sources later to support or explain your ideas; provide a definition;or an example.
2. Explanations of borrowed material from a source– You are explaining material in your own words which is a good idea in most cases. (Remember that the borrowed material must be cited however.)
3. Examples that you have personally developed
4. Original ideas, opinions, conclusions that you have not directly consulted a source to produce– In other words, after doing your reading you may have an idea. You do not need to document this idea if you produced it on your own,and it is merely based on various other, outside information. However, if your idea is exactly or very close to one proposed in a source that you have consulted, you need to cite it.
When TO Document:
1. Direct quotes– The exact words of someone else from one of your sources must be in quotation marks.
2. Paraphrases– Someone else’s expert opinions, ideas, insights, or solutions that you are presenting in your own words. In other words, this idea or material is not yours.
3. Facts not regarded as common knowledge– Would average students or citizens know this information that you are presenting? If not, you should cite it or at least tell how you acquired this knowledge. (For example, if it is something specific that you know from a class, then state the class where you learned this material.) If someone is likely to question the truth of this fact or statement, then it is not common knowledge.
You do not want to “over” document, but if you did notoriginally have this idea, then it belongs to someone else and must be credited to that person. “Under” documenting and incomplete documentation are worse cases because plagiarism can result.
*Remember that you are documenting in two ways—in-text and works cited. Do not overlook the Works Cited page. Realize also that the documentation does not appear the same way in these two.
What is the difference between paraphrasing and quoting and how much of each do I use?
In most cases, you will be paraphrasing when including source material from articles (or even videos) and quoting infrequently. In fact, only about 15% or less of any paper contains direct quotes. Save quoting for material that is particularly noteworthy or well-stated in the original wording.
Be sure to smoothly incorporate both quotes and paraphrases. It should be clear where your ideas stop and the author’s begin. You need to provide a context for the quote or paraphrase and a lead-in. Here is an example:
Bloom, a noted psychologist, states, “The idea is that instead, within each brain, different selves are continually popping in and out of existence” (547). He explains how each of us has several parts to us and each part takes priority in varioussituations, which shows that…you continue to explain the quote and how it fits your point.
* Note the use of an effective lead-in! Does the above example need more citation? (NO because the author and page number are provided. See the next section for more explanation.)
Quoting tips
-Vary your verb choices when introducing quotes. (not just “states” or “says”)
– Use ellipses (…) to indicate when a significant section of material is missing from your quote because though it may be good it is not important to the point you are making. Do notoveruse them though!
– Use long quotes (quotes over FOUR typed lines) RARELY and probably at most one for the Research Paper. Indent each line 10 spaces from the left margin.
Paraphrasing tips
-Readers should be able to tell where your original ideas stop and your paraphrasing begins. Remember that a lead-in lets readers know that you are about to use a source.
-With paraphrases your writing needs to be VERY different from the original wording. It is much easier and safer to paraphrase a long or even several paragraphs rather than one or two lines from the original. Remember how you did the summaries. Now you are doing this for a shorter amount of material.
Two Ways to Cite Source Material
(This is the most important information!)
In-text Citations (aka parenthetical citations)
These citations come after the paraphrased or quoted material. It includes the author’s last name and the page number without a comma unless the source is from a personal or telephone interview (not to be used for the Research Paper though) OR is from an online source then just include the name. All of this is in parentheses.
However, if you included the name at the beginning introducing the paraphrase or quote (using a LEAD-IN), then nothing is in parentheses but the page number (which you will not have for online sources or interviews).
Example of quote from an online source with lead-in including author’s name:
Regarding audience responses to the film Crash, DiMassa effectively explains, “Some are particularly turned off by the explicit dialogue in which many conversations between characters devolve into ugly exchanges of prejudice and stereotyping.”
*NOTE: The above example is correctly cited. There isNO NEED for an in-text citation or parentheses since the lead-in included the author’s name, and since it is an online source there is no page number!
Example of a paraphrase from an online source with lead-in NOT including author’s name:
The L.A. Times article explains how some viewers do not engage with the film or its message due to the cursing and crude language which makes these diverse characters seem very stereotypical and not like real people (DiMassa).
*NOTE: The above example is correctly cited. There is a lead-in here but without the author’s name in it. Therefore, an in-text citation IS NECESSARY containing the author’s name in parentheses.
One exception to this standard way is if your article’s author quotes or paraphrases from another source. This is an in-direct source. In these cases, what goes in parentheses is this: (qtd. in ________). The last name of the article author goes in the space. A page number is also included unless this is an online source.
Here is an example from an online source:
Regarding his film Crash, Paul Haggis comments, “I knew if we did it right, it would get under people’s skins, and they would react one way or another” (qtd. in DiMassa).
*NOTE: The above example is correctly cited. There is a lead-in here including the person who stated the quote. However, Haggis is not the author of the article, so an in-text citation IS NECESSARY containing the author’s name in parentheses after the words “qtd. in.” Remember DiMassa wrote the article not Haggis!
I know this is a lot, but the three examples I used above are the most common uses of quotes, paraphrases, and in-direct quotes that you are very likely to use. Do the best you can with this information, and remember it is much better to over-document than to under-document.
Works Cited Page
• This is the last page of your paper and DOES NOT count as one of your required pages. It lists all the sources from which you actually quoted and/or paraphrased.
• The sources are in alphabetical order with the second and following lines indented. Remember all of this is still double-spaced.
• See the sample on the next page. Keep in mind it has MORE SOURCES than you are allowed to use, BUT everyone will have the first citation. Also, notice the access date is the date you went online and looked at the material. I am giving the actual correct citations, so use these to guide you. You may need to only make very little changes like the access date.
Garcia 5
Works Cited
Crash. Directed by Paul Haggis, performances by Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Ryan Phillipe,
Sandra Bullock, and Thandie Newton, Lionsgate, 2005.
DiMassa, Cara. “Differing Views of Race in L.A. Collide in ‘Crash.’” Los Angeles Times.
2 March 2006, www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-mar-02-me-crash2-story.html.
Accessed 19 May 2021.
Grierson, Tim. “Is Crash Truly the Worst Best Picture?” The New Republic. 24 February 2016.
https://newrepublic.com/article/130381/crash-truly-worst-best-picture. Accessed 5 May
2021.
McGee, Heather. “Racism Has a Cost for Everyone.” TED.
https://www.ted.com/talks/heather_c_mcghee_racism_has_a_cost_for_everyone?utm_source=tedcomshare&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=tedspread. Accessed 8 May 2021.
Oliver, John. “School Segregation: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO).” YouTube,
uploaded by LastWeekTonight, 30 Oct. 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8yiYCHMAlM.
“South Peoria’s Problems are the Regions Problems…” Peoria Journal Star. 14 April 2021.
https://infoweb-newsbank-com.eu1.proxy.openathens.net/apps/news/document- view?p=AWNB&docref=news/181DE464D5052250. Accessed 9 May 2021.

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