complete the research worksheet completely. Any sections left blank will result in  zero for the assignment or at best, reduced points. Be sure to not use UWire or PRWire stories and to read over (again) the information on citing and finding credible sources in your syllabus.

Despite what your book says, blogs are not acceptable as one of the 4-6 credible sources required for the persuasive speech. For those 4-6 sources, you may use ONE website. If you exceed the 4-6 sources, however, you may use blogs, other websites or brochures, as long as they are credible and not biased.

There is some doubt about what constitutes a *stand-alone* website. Simply put, it is a website that functions as the main way the organization, person or agency disseminates information. NYT.com, for example, is not a stand-alone website. Its primary media platform for distributing its stories is through the print copy of the paper.

The problem is, in terms of research, we are in limbo-land thanks to digital disruption. If you did a survey of New York Times readers, you would discover that more people read it online than in hard copy form, but it is still considered legacy media and a PRINT platform, not an electronic one. Then there are news publications, such as ProPublica.com, that are newspapers, but are only distributed electronically. ProPublica would be considered a stand-alone website.  When in doubt, ask a research librarian or go to the About tab of the publication and find out what its history is.

So, to recap:

A stand-alone website is one that disseminates information ONLY  via the web. Other examples of these are the Center for Disease Control, The American Medical Association and the U.S. Copyright Office.

The New York Times, Time magazine and books are PRIMARILY  print sources in hard copy form, although they have secondary websites for their information. In those cases, as noted in the syllabus instructions on sources (pages 15-16) cite the source as if you got it from the hard copy platform.

I am looking for authored, print sources for the first two sections of the research worksheet, with a summary of either the source’s credibility or the article, and stand-alone sites for the Internet sources. Please bring a copy of the worksheet to class and I will stay afterward and give you pointers if you need them. Once you submit the worksheet, you will not be entitled to a revision unless I specifically ask for it.

           These should be easy points to help you make the optimum grade on the persuasive speech, which counts for a whopping 225 points: Research worksheet & outline (50 points); Full persuasive speech manuscript with properly formatted (MLA/APA-style) Works Cited page (50 points-due on the day or at any point before you give your speech); Power Point (25 points); and delivery of the speech (100 points).

         Please review the persuasive speech outline rubric, located under Content/Handy Handouts, as well as the persuasive speech evaluation sheet on the Content page.