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Essay 1 – Research Assignment – “Truthiness” and Fake NewsDue: 2 FebruaryQuestions (choose one of the following questions to research)–What are “filter bubbles” and why are they dangerous?–How do social media platforms contribute to the spread of false information?Assignment Details–Find five sources on your chosen question and provide citation details for each. Your sources can be book chapters, online articles (from credible sources) or academic journal articles.–Provide a 200 word annotation for each source, summarizing its main ideas.–Begin your annotated bibliography with a 250 word introduction summarizing what you learned from your five sources. –Times New Roman size 12 font–MLA format Purpose of this assignmentFor this assignment, you will carry out your own research using open web and/or database sources and present your findings in the form of an annotated bibliography. A bibliography is just a list of sources or citations (often called a “works cited page”), organized formally in MLA style. An annotation is a short summary of the source which explains (in your own words) what the source is about. Researcherscommonly use annotated bibliographies to review the literature in a particular field, or as the basis for alarger research project. Summarizing/Avoiding plagiarismYour annotations must be written in your own words. This means that you cannot simply re-write words or sentences from the source in your annotation; you must either paraphrase (put a short passage in your own words) or quote (quotes should be no longer than one line) the source. The easiestway to avoid plagiarism is to make notes in your own words as you read the source and then use these notes as the basis for your summary. Plagiarism is very easy to detect and will result in a zero for the assignment, so come and speak with me if you need help. StyleYour citations should be written in appropriate academic style. “Academic style” means choosing moreformal words over slang terms (“women” is more formal than “gals,” for instance), avoiding cliches or idioms (“pull someone’s leg,” “raining cats and dogs” etc.), and using correct grammar and punctuation. Even if one of your sources is written in an informal style (some newspaper and magazine articles are quite informal), you must translate the language into academic style. Credibility
Your sources must all be credible. “Credibility” refers to the trustworthiness of the information contained in your source. Be careful to check that your sources are all credible (check the author’s credentials, cross-check any facts etc.) especially if you are using primarily open web sources.
