English 104 Research Guide
Sarah McLemore
Summer 07
The World's Worst Dictator
- How to Find Books
- Subject Headings & Keywords
- Circulating Books
- Reserve Books
- Databases
- Other Research Guides | Class Assignment
How to Find Books
When searching for books in the GCC Library, use the online catalog. This database tells you what resources the Library owns, where they're located, if they're available, etc. Most of our books are published in print, although we do also have a growing electronic book collection. When you're looking at a book's record, look under "location" to see if the book is a print or electronic publication, or if it is a web site, rather than a book.
If you're searching by subject, but don't find anything, try doing a keyword search. This is a broader search, which could pick up something helpful. If you find a title that looks promising, take a look at the full record and review the subject headings listed. These terms can be used when doing a subject search. Unlike Internet search engines or databases, the online catalog uses Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) to describe a book's contents, so if you're not using the correct term, you may come up with no hits—even if the library owns books on your topics. If in doubt, ask a reference librarian.
Below are some Library of Congress subject headings related to your topic:
- authority
- censorship
- communism
- despotism
- dictators
- elections
- imperialism
- obedience
- political corruption
- power (social sciences)
- pragmatism
- slavery
- totalitarianism
- the name of your dictator or country
When searching for articles in databases, consider using the subject terms above. You can also use keywords that are not official Library of Congress terms, such as:
- colonialism
- egalitarian
- police state
- politics and power
- regime
- tyrant, tyrannical, tyrannies
- the name of your dictator or country
Circulating Books
Below is a list of circulating titles related to your topic. Circulating books can be checked out for two weeks and are located upstairs on the third floor of the library. If you’re looking for one of the books below, first check the online catalog to make sure it's available.
Anti-American Terrorism and the Middle East: A Documentary Reader
(303.625 A629)
Blood and Splendor: The Lives of Five Tyrants, from Nero to Saddam Hussein
(920.02 M996b)
Chain of Command: The Road From 9/11 to Abu Ghraib
(956.704437 H572c)
Darfur: The Long Road to Disaster
(967.4304 B968d)
Dealing with Dictators: Dilemmas of U.S. Diplomacy and Intelligence Analysis, 1945-1990
(327.73009 D279)
Dictators, Democracy, and American Public Culture: Envisioning the Totalitarian Enemy, 1920s-1950s
(321.9 A456d)
Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy
(321.8 A173e; also available as an electronic book)
Modern Tyrants: The Power and Prevalence of Evil in Our Age
(321.9 C541m)
Rogue Regimes: Kim Jong Il and the Looming Threat of North Korea
(951.93043 B395r)
Talk of the Devil: Encounters With Seven Dictators
(909.820922 O69t)
Reserve Books
The books below have been placed on reserve for your class this session. By putting these books on reserve, your instructor has ensured there will always be resources available when you come to the library to do research. Reserve books are located behind the circulation desk (this is where you check out books) and are available for use in the library only (but you can photocopy them). Most reserve books can be checked out for a two-hour period.
The Dictators: Hitler’s Germany and Stalin’s Russia
(RESERVE 943.086 O96d)
The Man Who Shocked the World: The Life and Legacy of Stanley Milgram
(RESERVE 302.092 B644m)
Modern Tyrants: The Power and Prevalence of Evil in Our Age
(RESERVE 321.9 C541m)
Origins of Totalitarianism
(RESERVE 320.53 A681o, 2004)
Totalitarian Dictatorship and Autocracy
(RESERVE 321.64 Fri)
Tyrants: The World’s 20 Worst Living Dictators
(RESERVE 909.825 W196t)
Databases
Use the subscription databases below to search for articles and research reports on your topic:
CQ Researcher |
FACTS.COM |
Opposing Viewpoints |
ProQuest |
Research Guides
| Avoiding Plagiarism Guide Tips on how to avoid plagiarism when writing your research paper. |
| MLA Style Guide for Citing Print Resources Quick reference sheet to citing print resources in MLA format. |
| MLA Style Guide for Citing Electronic Sources Quick reference sheet to citing electronic resources in MLA format. |
| Evaluating Web Pages Guide An overview of the questions you must ask when considering if a web resource is appropriate to use in a research paper. |
| Annotated Bibliography Guide - Coming Soon! |
English 104 Research Assignment
English 104 Research Essay Assignment: The World’s Worst Dictator
Introduction and Overview: As part of your Research Essay Portfolio you will be asked to write an 8-10 page Times New Roman double spaced paper on dictatorship using sources from our class, outside sources that you’ve researched using the GCC library, and appropriate sources from the Internet. This paper will also build on the information that you’ve gained from earlier parts of our course. Your final essay will be a culmination of many smaller assignments and drafts which will help you to prepare for the final essay which is due on the last day of our class.
Topic: Imagine that you are an American policymaker who has been asked to present a plan to government officials to help eradicate dictatorships and totalitarian regimes. Your assignment is to make a compelling argument which explains your answer to the following questions: 1. Who is the world’s worst dictator? 2. Given your understanding of the dictator, what steps can the American government take to stop his or her despotic rule? While you may choose to select a contemporary dictator such as someone listed in Parade Magazine’s “Annual List of the World’s 10 Worst Dictators” you may also choose to select a dictator from the past (such as Mussolini). If you select a dictator from the past, then your essay should explain how understanding your dictator’s tyrannical rule may help to stop future instances of dictatorship.
Your essay should be informed by your use of outside sources (obtained from the GCC library and appropriate Internet research) and resources taken from our class. To begin this assignment your research you should consult the following websites: Human Rights Watch (http://www.hrw.org/); Amnesty International (http://www.amnesty.org/) and Reporters Without Borders (http://www.rsf.org/)
Details: Your essay must make use of summaries, quotations, and/or paraphrases from three sources from our course (two of the sources must be print sources and your third source can be another print source or a film we’ve watched in our course). Additionally, you must also use three print or electronic resources such as Proquest from the GCC library or appropriate Internet resources. You should also visit the research guide for our assignment which is available through the GCC library homepage. To access the research guide for this class please visit the GCC library homepage (http://www.glendale.edu/library/). Under the Research column, select Research Guides. From here, click on English Research Guides. The link to our course’s research guide will be available under English 104.
You may also include an image (photograph, painting, drawing) or a chart or a graph. However, including an image will not take the place of the six other sources that you will need to include.
Your essay must be 8-10 pages in length. In the first 6-7 pages you should clearly and convincingly explain your selection of the world’s worst dictator. In the last 2-4 pages of your essay you should explain your plan for how our government may help stop his or her dictatorial rule using your knowledge of the themes we’ve discussed in our class such as terror(ism), technology, obedience, and identity.
Reminder: When writing a paper that uses many sources, you should be mindful of avoiding plagiarism. Please review our class handouts “Avoiding Plagiarism” and “Documenting Sources” and review your quiz on MLA citation information before beginning this assignment. Remember that you can ask me any questions that you have about citation methods. All rules regarding source citation apply to ALL work you turn into course.
Research Essay Timeline
In Class: Discuss a definition of dictatorship by analyzing the following articles: “Annual List of…the World’s 10 Worst Dictators” (Parade Magazine), “On Modern Tyranny” (Chirot) and “The General Characteristics of Totalitarian Dictatorship” (Friedrich and Brzezinski).
Research Essay Assignment 1: Write a 1-2 page, double spaced definition of “dictator” using the articles and your own ideas and our class discussion of the issue.
See Syllabus for Due Date
In Class: Peer Review and Discuss definitions you wrote; synthesizing definitions with other sources and issues from our class: terrorism and obedience.
In Class: Discuss dictatorship and resources for researching dictators and dictatorship. Review of MLA documentation principles.
Research Essay Assignment 2: Write a 1-2 page “Discovery Draft” of your essay. We will discuss this assignment in greater detail in class but, at the very least, your Discovery Draft should clearly answer the following questions: 1. Who is the world’s worst dictator? 2. Given your understanding of the dictator, what steps can the American government take to stop his or her despotic rule?
See Syllabus for Due Date
Research Essay Assignment 3: Research and Write an annotated bibliography for your research essay. Your Annotated Bibliography must include 6 sources: 3 sources from our class and three sources that you’ve researched on your own. Each entry should be approximately 150 words in length. Each entry needs to summarize the source’s content and comment on the source’s content.
See Syllabus for Due Date
In Class: Review and Discuss your annotated bibliography with your Peer Reviewer.
Research Essay Assignment 4: Write your research essay outline.
See Syllabus for Due Date
In Class: Review and Discuss your research essay outline with your Peer Reviewer.
Research Essay Assignment 5: Write your final draft of your research essay.
See Syllabus for Due Date
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Last Updated 6/22/07 sa
