Paper #1 Invasive Species - ENC 1101 - Professor Siler

Paper #1 Florida's Invasive Species

Comparison and Contrast Paper Guidelines

Write an INFORMATIVE Compare & Contrast essay, exploring a specific aspect within the broad topic of Florida's Invasive Species. Minimum length is a 5 paragraph essay.

This paper should be a synthesis of your research supporting your thesis.
You will need to cite at least 2 sources within your paper.
Include proper in-text citations and a correct Works Cited page.
Each body paragraph MUST cite at least one source.

Only papers that include both parenthetical and bibliographic references to at least 2 sources will be evaluated. Papers that fail to include assigned research will be returned to the writer for revision and assessed the standard late-penalty.

What Information do I need?

1. Select your general topic, including what you will compare & contrast.

2. Gather the facts: Species information, what, when to Florida, why, what happened, what is the threat, etc...

3. Develop your (informative) thesis, decide what additional information you need, and search some more :-)

Tip: When searching, you will get better results using keywords or synonyms instead of full sentences.
Tip: Keep track of where the information you might use is coming from. Start creating a working works cited document in Word, even if it only includes URLs.
Tip: Use the library's databases when possible, emailing articles to yourself and copying the database generated citations as you go. This will save you a lot of work later!

Almost done? Time for a fresh look at your paper.

Before you turn in your paper, take a moment to verify your paper meets these requirements from the instructions in canvas, including the grading rubric.

Does your essay:

Explore a topic related to one or more species invasive to FL.
Compare and contrast without presenting one side as superior or inferior.
Present specific details and examples.
Provide evidence for discussion points.
Exhibit understanding of your topic.
Follow MLA guidelines.

Consult the rubric in Canvas for additional guidance.

Writing & Citing Tutors

FREE Tutoring is available! Enroll in the Canvas tutoring course (this is a service NOT a graded class) by going to https://canvas.polk.edu/enroll/ENYJRB

Writing tutors are available to work with students on the writing process for Polk State College course assignments. During the interactive session, the tutors can assist with specific questions about the writing process, including brainstorming and planning, revising rough drafts, preparing citations, and formatting a document.

On Campus Tutoring Schedules:

https://www.polk.edu/teaching-learning-computing-center-tlcc/tutoring/tutoring-schedules/

To view Online Tutoring Schedules, sign into the TLCC in Canvas.

Tutoring is available to currently enrolled Polk State College students at no cost.

Catalog and Database Search

Search Polk State College's library resources here:

Recommended Websites

These websites might come in handy when researching your invasive species topic. You are not limited to these websites, they are just a possible starting point.

Note: Refer to the websites tab in this library guide for guidance on selecting a reputable website.

Recommended Databases

The databases below are the most likely to have information related to invasive species. The top two are very eclectic databases. They have information on a wide variety of topics. The remainder have a narrower scientific focus.

Sign in using your Passport credentials:

Your Student ID number & Password (default password = two-digit month and two-digit year of your birth).

Hover over the "i" to learn more about a particular database.

Academic OneFile (Gale) This link opens in a new window The premier source for peer-reviewed, full-text articles for academic libraries from the world's leading journals, this comprehensive resource covers the physical and social sciences, technology, medicine, engineering, the arts, technology, literature, and many other subjects.
Academic Search Complete (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window Academic Search Complete, designed specifically for academic institutions, is the world's most valuable and comprehensive scholarly, multi-disciplinary full-text database, with more than 5,300 full-text periodicals, including 4,400 peer-reviewed journals. In addition to full text, this database offers indexing and abstracts for more than 9,300 journals and a total of 10,900 publications including monographs, reports, conference proceedings, etc. The database features PDF content going back as far as 1865, with the majority of full text titles in native (searchable) PDF format.
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More options:

Applied Science and Technology (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window Offers a diverse array of full-text and indexed content that covers the full spectrum of the applied sciences and computing disciplinesfrom acoustics to aeronautics, and neural networks to nuclear engineering. Focuses on traditional engineering challenges and research, as well as research concerning the business and social implications of new technology.
Environmental Studies in Context (Gale) This link opens in a new window A new online resource that offers authoritative content on the development of emerging green technologies and discusses issues on the environment, sustainability and more.
Gale eBooks This link opens in a new window Virtual Reference Library. Gale eBooks offers reference sources including encyclopedias, series and more. Numerous subject areas include the arts, business, education, history, law, literature, multicultural studies, the sciences and world religion.
GreenFILE (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window This comprehensive resource draws on the connections between the environment and a variety of disciplines such as agriculture, education, law, health and technology. Topics covered include global climate change, green building, pollution, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, recycling and more.
Opposing Viewpoints in Context (Gale) This link opens in a new window The premier online resource covering todays hottest social issues, from capital punishment to immigration, to marijuana. This cross-curricular research tool supports science, social studies, current events, and language arts classes. Its informed differing views present each side of an issue, allowing you to draw your own valid conclusions.
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Sage Journals (Sage) This link opens in a new window SAGE is the worlds 5th largest journals publisher. Our portfolio includes more than 645 journals spanning the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Science, Technology, and Medicine, and more than 280 are published on behalf of 225 learned societies and institutions.
Science in Context (Gale) This link opens in a new window Science In Context features authoritative information covering all major science topics. Includes topic overviews, biographies, periodical articles from noted publications, images and videos, detailed experiments from Experiment Central, biographies, and dictionaries.
Florida Newspaper Database (Gale) This link opens in a new window Newspapers from across the state of Florida.
Florida News Sources (Newsbank) This link opens in a new window Explore Florida history through local news, events and people with the Florida News Sources. Search current and archived issues with full-color newspaper pages, full-text articles and content only published online.

You will notice many of our databases say Gale or Ebsco at the end of their names. Most of those databases have similar search features and tool boxes.

In your ENC1101 classes you learned how to search in Academic OneFile (Gale) and Academic Search Complete (EBSCO). For a quick refresher on searching in Gale, select the link below.

For tips & tricks on using the Gale databases Click Here!