ENGLISH 112: Guide to Preparing for Research Exam

1.         Be sure to understand key terms.  Some examples are the following (although this is not an exhaustive list): bibliography, (list of) works cited, index, summary, paraphrase, indirect source (or indirect quotation), isolated quotation, plagiarism, and so on.  (Some of these terms were defined in class.)

2.         Review the proper means of punctuating quotations: double quotation marks, single quotation marks, quotations within quotations, placement of periods and commas, square brackets, dots used to indicate an ellipsis, and so on.  You will be asked to correct the punctuation in sentences containing quotation.

3.         Review especially these sections in Keys for Writers (3rd ed.): 9d-e, 10b-f, 11a-b, 12 (items covered in class). Remember that ---. is used for repeated authors. Review also the library information booklet. You will be asked to identify types of information in a computerized catalogue entry and in a computerized index entry.

4.         Review the following scholarly abbreviations: bibliog. or bibl. (bibliography), c. or ca. (circa, about), ed. (edition, editor[s]), e.g. (for example), et al. (and others), i.e. (id est, that is), illus. or il. (illustrated, illustration[s], illustrator[s]), rev. (revised), sic (thus), trans. (translated, translator[s]), vol. (volume).

5.        Review the basic elements of an entry for a book in the electronic library catalogue: full call number, full title (including any subtitle), author(s), editor(s) if given, publication information (publisher, place, and date), life span of author.

6.        Review the basic elements of an entry for a periodical article included in a database: author(s), full title (including any subtitle) of article, title of periodical, volume of periodical (whether needed for a bibliographical entry or not), page numbers, date, suggestions for further reading offered in the database entry.

7.         IMPORTANT: Be prepared to write bibliography entries from information to be provided according to the four basic forms (book, popular or general periodical, scholarly periodical, website).  You should plan to arrange the entries into a works cited page in conventional style and order (there will be at least one example of two works by the same author).  Be prepared also to make proper use of in-text documentation.  You will be asked to work with scrambled information as if you were writing an actual research paper with both in-text documentation and a works cited page.  Review the three basic forms and the various means of using in-text documentation.

                  Take pains!  Be perfect!  --Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream

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