Informational Texts

1. Informational Texts Copy the underlined material!

2. Topic Sentence • The topic sentence summarizes the main idea of that paragraph. It is usually, but not always, the first sentence in a paragraph. • The topic sentence acts as a kind of summary and offers the reader an insightful view of the writer’s main ideas for the following paragraph.

3. Topic Sentence - example • There are three reasons why Canada is one of the best countries in the world. First, Canada has an excellent health care system. All Canadians have access to medical services at a reasonable price. Second, Canada has a high standard of education. Students are taught by well-trained teachers and are encouraged to continue studying at university. Finally, Canada's cities are clean and efficiently managed. Canadian cities have many parks and lots of space for people to live. As a result, Canada is a desirable place to live.

4. Sources • People, documents, publications, or records that supply information • Primary Source - firsthand written evidence of history made at the time of the event by someone who was present • Secondary Source - written accounts of history based upon the evidence from primary sources • Tertiary Source - compilations based upon primary and secondary sources

5. Bibliography/Works Cited • In a Bibliography you list all of the material you have consulted in preparing your essay whether or not you have actually cited the work. • In Works Cited you only list items you have actually cited.

6. Bibliography example – do not copy • Fugard, Athol. “Master Harold”…and the Boys, First edition, New York: A.A. Knopf, Inc. 1982.  • Lewis, Leon. "“MASTER HAROLD” . . . and the Boys." Masterplots II: Drama (1990). Literary Reference Center. EBSCO. 07 Nov. 2008. • Nkosi, Lewis. “The Forbidden Dialogue”. UNESCO Courier. May-Jun. 1986. 24 Oct. 2008. • Payton, Brenda. “After the Absurdity of Apartheid”. Oakland Tribune. 25 Feb. 2007. 24 Oct. 2008. <http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4176/is_2007 0225/ai_n18633928>. • “South Africa under apartheid.” Wikipedia Encyclopedia. 2007. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 17 Oct. 2008. <http://en,wikipedia.org/wiki/Apartheid#Footnotes>.

7. Plagiarism/Paraphrasing • pla·gia·rismn.[pley-juh-riz-uhm] - the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work, as by not crediting the author. Synonyms: appropriation, infringement, piracy, counterfeiting; theft, borrowing, cribbing, passing off. • para•phrasen. [per-ə-frāz] - a restatement of a text, passage, or work giving the meaning in another form

8. Table of Contents • A table of contents is a list of the parts of a book or document organized in the order in which the parts appear. Table of Contents IntroductionBackground………………...................................2-1 Objective....................................................................................2-2 Methods.....................................................................................2-3 Review of Literature 3.1 Definitions.....................................................................3-1 3.2 Basic Concepts to be Understood................................3-2 3.3 Concept Model..............................................................3-4 Materials and Methods Used 4.1 Population and Sample.................................................4-1 4.2 Survey Development and Design.................................4-2 4.3 Data Collection Method and Analysis..........................4-5

9. Footnotes • Footnotes are reference notes at the foot of the page. • A footnote is normally flagged by a superscripted number immediately following that portion of the text the note is in reference to. Example - However, as great and as useful as this collection was, it was only the second of two related publications that appeared within a year of each other. Previously in 1905, Cannon published A History of Egypt,4 which was his new and comprehensive study of Egyptian political and social history. 4James H. Cannon, A History of Egypt: From the Earliest Times to the Persian Conquest (New York: Scribners, 1905).

10. Endnotes • Endnotes are reference notes placed numerically at the end of the essay on a separate page entitled Endnotes or Notes. • Example – 1Alan Dundes, "Taboo," World Book Encyclopedia. 2000 ed. 2 "Taboo," Occultopedia: Encyclopedia of Occult Sciences and Knowledge, Site created and designed by Marcus V. Gay, 18 Jan. 2005 <http://www.occultopedia.com/taboo.htm>. 3 Mary Douglas, "Taboo," Man, Myth & Magic, ed. Richard Cavendish, new ed., 21 vols. (New York: Cavendish, 1994) 2546.

11. Index • in·dex (ndks) n.pl.in·dex·es or in·di·ces (-d-sz) • An index serves to guide, point out, or otherwise facilitate reference, especially: • a. An alphabetized list of names, places, and subjects treated in a printed work, giving the page or pages on which each item is mentioned.

12. Glossary • A glossary is an alphabetical list of terms with the definitions for those terms. Traditionally, a glossary appears at the end of a book and includes terms within that book which are either newly introduced, uncommon, or specialized.

13. Thesaurus/Encyclopedia • A thesaurus is a book of words and their synonyms. • An encyclopedia is a type of reference work holding a summary of information from either all branches of knowledge or a particular branch of knowledge.