Rhetoric II
Prof. G. Steinberg
Re-Search

Research is about finding information, evaluating sources, and corroborating what you have found.  You should never accept information from a source without double-checking to make sure that the information is accurate (unless the source is a really, really, really, really reliable one).

Sometimes an essential piece of information will be missing from your sources, or you’ll need to corroborate a piece of information that you've already found.  Below are some situations that you might find yourself in at some point in your research.  All the information requested in each situation can be found using our library’s home page as a start.  How many of the questions below can you answer?  How quickly can you answer them?

  1. You're trying to evaluate the accuracy of an article about Hispanic businesses in the U.S.  Is 475,000 an accurate figure for the total number of firms owned by Mexicans, Mexican-Americans, and Chicanos in 1997 in the United States?
     

  2. You're trying to corroborate information from an article about the Beatles.  Was John Lennon of the Beatles born in 1941, and was his middle name Winston?
     

  3. You used a book from our library (Acute Coronary Care, by Marjorie A. Boldt) in your research paper, but you forgot to write down in your notes what year it was published.  You need to know the year in order to finish your "References" page for your paper.  What year was Acute Coronary Care published?
     

  4. You're writing about the breakup of the Soviet Union, and you suddenly realize that you're not sure exactly when Belarus became independent.  When did Belarus attain its independence from the Soviet Union?
     

  5. You're writing about the World Trade Center tragedy and the relief laws passed in its wake.  What is the exact text of the Victims of Terrorism Relief Act of 2001?
     

  6. You come upon a word you don't know in an article about various medications.  What does "nebulization" mean?
      

  7. Different articles give different figures for the number of people killed in motor vehicle accidents in the U.S.  How many people were killed in motor vehicle accidents in the U.S. in 1999?
     

  8. You're reading an article written about horse racing, and it keeps referring to measurements in furlongs.  You don't know what that means.  How long is a furlong?

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