For this project, you will write a commentary that integrates source material. You can use the same topic as you used for your original commentary project. You will expand and develop your topic by using material found in outside sources. This information can include case studies, statistics, statements made by experts in the field, factual background, historical information, actual documented examples, and so on. The point of doing research is to find information that illustrates the points that you want to make.

Most of this paper should be your own text. That is, the source material should be supplemental to the development of your ideas. Because of the variety of responses and ways in which writers in our class might address this assignment, I hesitate to say specifically how many sources or what type of sources you should use. However, be careful when taking information off the Internet or from the popular media. You want your commentary to rest on credible sources. Be sure that the information that you use comes from reputable sources. Check the credentials of the authors. Generally, information coming from reputable newspapers such as The New York Times or The Washington Post is credible because the writers are responsible for checking their sources of information. On the other hand, be careful of magazines that print stories using sensationalism and web sites that are commercial sites selling a product or presenting information in a bias way because they have a political interest at stake. Keep the writer's purpose in mind when you try to determine the credibility of your sources. Should your source be suspect, your paper will be suspect! That is, it will rest on a case that is weak. Check your sources carefully. Just because something is in print, it is not necessarily a source worth using for a college paper.

In doing this project, you will want to integrate outside material seamlessly into your text. You should be composing most of your paragraphs using your own points and looking to the sources merely as a sidelight or way to punctuate a point you want to make. If you overuse your sources, you have gone astray in doing this assignment. This project is NOT a research paper per se; rather you are writing a commentary that represents your views and ideas on your selected topic, a topic which you are passionate about and supposedly have thought about considerably. Thus, you should find that you are in control of what is being written and the material from your sources does not take over the paper. You should feel that you want to write this paper because you have something that you really want to say about this topic. If your paper has the feel of copying information from sources and patching it together in summary format, you have done this assignment incorrectly!

You will document your sources using the MLA documentation method. Please see handouts and your two textbooks for guidance on using this format. You will also need to devise a note taking and outlining method that works for you. I will suggest and teach a few approaches in class. Whatever approach you use, it is important for you to demonstrate that you can stay organized and come up with an efficient way to do research and collect ideas for using in a paper. Please be sure to keep copies of all the sources and to systematically organize your notes, outlines, drafts and so on. You will be submitting all of this material to show the cumulative stages you followed in doing this project. If necessary, acquire a small box to collect your materials.