Introductory, Practice Comparison – the Instructions

What Is a Comparison and What Citation Is Required?

Reminder about Evidence and Citation and Its Use in Your Comparison

What Do You Prepare and Submit to Turnitin in Blackboard?

Reminder about Evidence and Citation

Where Can You See the Rubric for Grading Your Comparison?

What Are the Required Pages to Use?

What Are Your Possible Topics to Compare?

Reminder about the Requirements with Each of These Topics– Now in Yellow

Where Can You Find the File You Download to Use in Writing and Later Upload to Turnitin?

Where Can You Find the Instructions for Using Turnitin in Blackboard and the Turnitin Assignment Itself?

Where Can You Find the 5Ws Charts and the Exact Question to Copy into Your Paper?

Reminder about the Requirements with Each of These Topics– Now in Yellow

 

What Is a Comparison and What Citation Is Required?

Sometimes it is clearest start with what a comparison is not. A comparison in this class is:

·         Not a paraphrase of each sentence of a page of the required readings and not even a summary of that page

·         Not a formal English paper with specific requirements for number of quotations and your personal interpretation of those quotations

·         Not a comparison of the sets of pages of the required readings

 

This is a history class and the goal to help you learn history. One of the hardest things for students to understand about history is that it what was true at the beginning of a time period can be amazingly different at the end of it—sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. History changes! If it didn’t, humans could never have a consequence on the present and future. What makes history change is something worth noticing if you want to survive your present and, perhaps what is more important, if you want to try to maintain what is good in your present.

 

What is a comparison in this class? It is:

1.     Focusing on one of the listed possible Comparison Topics so you can observe how history changed over the time period on a specific issue or a specific group of people

2.     Using the exact pages of the required readings from our textbook and—with some comparisons—from primaries provided in the course

3.     Reading those exact pages FOR evidence (As the Good Habits for Evidence link shows, that means such things as no assumptions, no misreading, no embellishing, and no cherry-picking of atypical facts.)

4.     Examining the evidence so you figure out how history changed

5.     Deciding from that evidence what two or three things you would teach others if you were trying to help them understand how history changed on this issue or for this group in this time

6.     Writing WITH evidence one (1) page and using endnotes to cite following a very simple version of the Chicago Manual of Style, the standard used for the discipline of history. Disciplines vary, but history requires citations for both:

·         A quotation

·         A fact - You may not make statements of fact without a citation to a specific page from the required pages. (Don’t assume your version of common knowledge matches the textbook.)


In this course, when using a quotation or a fact, your endnote state a specific page from the required textbook (or primaries). For example, if you cite page 42 from our textbook for a fact, your endnote is simple: Ayers, p. 42.

 

Reminder about Evidence and Citation and Its Use in Your Comparison

In the Good Habits for Evidence link, you can find out how to reduce the number of those endnotes (Habit 3) while still clearly showing your evidence. The required citation method is the Chicago Manual of Style, the standard used for disciplines such as history. For how to cite using a simple version of the Chicago Manual of Style, use the example from the A paper provided here and from several locations within the Good Habits for Evidence, including its checklist. The checklist also provides a brief description of how to do an endnote.

 

Tip:  If you are concerned about writing a comparison, consider this approach with this 20-point assignment:

·         Write two summaries that are factually accurate. The “C” column of the Good Habits for Evidence rubric shows this qualifies for a C (70%).

·         Be sure you follow all of the 5 Good Habits for Evidence (no marks in the “D” and “F” columns of the rubric). This qualifies for 10 points on this Comparison.

·         If you have no marks in the “D” and “F” columns of the rubric with this 1st Comparison, you qualify for 20 points extra credit.

 

14 For writing 2 factually accurate summaries – 20 points X .7 (C) = 14 if the lowest C and 15.9 if the highest

10 For following the 5 Good Habits for Evidence

20 Extra credit points for following the 5 Good Habits for Evidence on the 1st comparison

44

 

What Do You Prepare and Submit to Turnitin in Blackboard?

The files differ for the Comparisons. For this Comparison, you must use the file provided in this folder as a template for what must be in your file from the heading area to the font and including any additional requirements (such as the 5Ws chart for this Comparison).

 

For the Introductory Comparison, you prepare in one file 2 pages:

1.     1st page of Your 5 Ws (Who, What, When, Where, Why, and sometimes How) chart comparing in short phrases (with the page numbers) the two things in the topic that you have chosen.
Where can you see an example? In Good Habits for Evidence or in this
direct link to the method provided there and to its 5Ws chart. From these charts you can determine what would be several possible comparisons. You choose the issues you want to examine. If you need help, ask.

Where can you find the 5Ws charts for the Introductory Comparison to copy into your file? Scroll to the bottom on this webpage.

2.     2nd page of your 1 page Comparison for the topic that you have chosen.
If your endnotes (and nothing else) extend to a 3rd page, that is OK.

Reminder about Evidence and Citation

The required citation method is the Chicago Manual of Style, the standard used for disciplines such as history. For more about these requirements, see above.

Where Can You See the Rubric for Grading Your Comparison?

You can find the rubric and how it is used for grading in the Good Habits for Evidence or in this direct link to the explanation of the rubric.

What Are the Required Pages to Use?

You must use the exact pages for each item. Those pages are provided in the Content link.

What Are Your Possible Topics to Compare?

Reminder about the Requirements with Each of These Topics– Now in Yellow

You do 1 of the 3 choices exactly as written. In each these 3 choices for Comparison topics, make sure you meet the listed requirements above:

 

  1. African Americans in the South from 1865 to 1867 compared with their condition from 1867 to 1872.

  2. African Americans in the South from 1865 to 1867 compared with their condition from 1872 to 1877.

  3. African Americans in the South from 1867 to 1872 compared with their condition from 1872 to 1877.

Tip: Any comparison involving 1865 to 1867 is the hardest because the content is spread over so many page numbers and because many students have assumptions about this period.

Where Can You Find the File You Download to Use in Writing and Later Upload to Turnitin?

In this folder, the last item is the file you download so you know such things as the margins, font, and heading for your paper, and the sections required for this paper. You must use this file. The files differ with the Comparisons so always download the current one.

Where Can You Find the Instructions for Using Turnitin in Blackboard and the Turnitin Assignment Itself?

As shown in the Course Schedule, you use a separate folder for:

·         Planning a Comparison, such as Comparison: Planning Your Introductory Comparison

·         Submitting a Comparison, such as Comparison: Beginning to Submit Your Introductory Comparison
Tips about submitting:
- The Course Schedule tells you the day that Turnitin opens (at 12:00 am) and the day it closes (at 11:59 pm).
- You can—and should—submit your initial drafts to Turnitin assignment when it opens so you get feedback.
- Submit your final submission a minimum of one hour before Turnitin closes.

 

The Submitting folder includes Turnitin’s instructions for uploading your file. You can:

1.     Submit your Comparison early to Turnitin so you can have Turnitin’s feedback:

·         on language use

·         on originality (plagiarism or “half-copy” plagiarism if you have not used quotation marks correctly with another’s words)

2.     Correct your work before the final submission date

 

In general, the Turnitin assignment for one Comparison closes and on the next day the folders for the next Comparison open. Although the Submitting folder opens, its Turnitin assignment does not open until the date in the Course Schedule.

 

Where Can You Find the 5Ws Charts and the Exact Question to Copy into Your Paper?

To save yourself busy work, you can copy the exact Comparison Topic and the 5Ws chart into your downloaded file for your paper.

 

In the 5Ws chart, you write short labels for what you have observed and the page number where you can find it.
Where can you see an example? In Good Habits for Evidence or in this
direct link to the method provided there and to its 5Ws chart. From these charts you can determine what would be several possible comparisons. You choose the issues you want to examine. If you need help, ask.

Reminder about the Requirements with Each of These Topics– Now in Yellow

You do 1 of the 3 choices exactly as written. In each these 3 choices for Comparison topics, make sure you meet the listed requirements above:

 

1. African Americans in the South from 1865 to 1867 compared with their condition from 1867 to 1872.

Trait

African Americans in the South from 1865 to 1867

African Americans in the South from 1867 to 1872

Who?

Your reminder phrases on who (page #)

Your reminder phrases on who (page #)

What?

Your reminder phrases on what (page #)

Your reminder phrases on what (page #)

When?

Your reminder phrases on when (page #)

Your reminder phrases on when (page #)

Where?

Your reminder phrases on where (page #)

Your reminder phrases on where (page #)

Why?

Your reminder phrases on why (page #)

Your reminder phrases on why (page #)

and sometimes How?

Your reminder phrases on how (page #)

Your reminder phrases on how (page #)

 

 

2. African Americans in the South from 1865 to 1867 compared with their condition from 1872 to 1877.

Trait

African Americans in the South from 1865 to 1867

African Americans in the South from 1872 to 1877

Who?

Your reminder phrases on who (page #)

Your reminder phrases on who (page #)

What?

Your reminder phrases on what (page #)

Your reminder phrases on what (page #)

When?

Your reminder phrases on when (page #)

Your reminder phrases on when (page #)

Where?

Your reminder phrases on where (page #)

Your reminder phrases on where (page #)

Why?

Your reminder phrases on why (page #)

Your reminder phrases on why (page #)

and sometimes How?

Your reminder phrases on how (page #)

Your reminder phrases on how (page #)

 

 

3. African Americans in the South from 1867 to 1872 compared with their condition from 1872 to 1877

Trait

African Americans in the South from 1867 to 1872

African Americans in the South from 1872 to 1877

Who?

Your reminder phrases on who (page #)

Your reminder phrases on who (page #)

What?

Your reminder phrases on what (page #)

Your reminder phrases on what (page #)

When?

Your reminder phrases on when (page #)

Your reminder phrases on when (page #)

Where?

Your reminder phrases on where (page #)

Your reminder phrases on where (page #)

Why?

Your reminder phrases on why (page #)

Your reminder phrases on why (page #)

and sometimes How?

Your reminder phrases on how (page #)

Your reminder phrases on how (page #)

 

 

Copyright C. J. Bibus, Ed.D. 2003-2015

 

WCJC Department:

History – Dr. Bibus

Contact Information:

281.239.1577 or bibusc@wcjc.edu

Last Updated:

2015

WCJC Home:

http://www.wcjc.edu/