How to create Source / Note cards

Step #1 & #2 Source Cards: On your 3x5 card write down

your complete MLA citation on your card, then in the top (center or corner) assign a numerical value or color to that card.

i.e. if it is the first card that you have completed you should label it source card number 1. You will have to have at least 4 source cards since you are required to have at least 4 sources

Repeat step #1 for each source you have.

Step #2 You have been assigned a multi-

paragraph paper. That means your body paragraphs need to be divided into topics.

So, divide your general topic: Dropouts into four possible areas you want to explore: Attendance history, psychological/physical health, peer/family relationships, and family educational history

Step 2# cont.

Now assign an abbreviation, symbols, or colors for each of these categories for example:

A = Attendance history H = psychological/physical health R = peer/family relationships F.H. = family educational history

Step #3

You need a minimum of 40 completed note cards. So, when you find information from one of your sources that you think will be useful copy it to a 3x5 card

Step #4 Once you have placed on your note card

valuable information you will use in your research paper you need to categorize that card, so when you start writing your paper you know exactly where you want that information to go.

Each note card should have a source # at the top

A category abbreviation next to or near the source #.

Maybe I will have a card that is labeled 4-R Meaning it came from source #4 and the

information on that card will be used in the paragraph about peer and family RELATIONSHIPS

Source Card Example

Source #1Gleick, James. Chaos: Making a New

Science. New York: Penguin Books, 1987.

Text note would be: (Gleick #).

Note Card example:

3-A“Studies show that those who are

bullied and harassed at school have poor attendance and higher dropout rates than those students who feel safe and accepted on campus” (Jacobs 148).

THE NOTE CARD TECHNIQUE Process: Take a series of colored note cards (or color code them with

a marker) For each encompassing topic, have a different shade.

Then write down every Paraphrase, Summary, Quotation, Para/Quote Combo, and Personal Comment which falls into that topical area.

When you are done data collecting, use the back side to write down your analysis, commentary or explanation.

When it comes time to draft your essay, take the cards and place them in the order which fits best for you.

Benefit: Essay chunks will have very easy mobility. Can easily complete small chunks of your essay in a single

class period.

3 ways to do a text note… 1) Exact quote “Verbatim means you

copy the information word for word, so all you have to do is use quotation marks and punctuate outside the citation” (Lacey 73).

2) Paraphrase…requires no quotes. James Baldwin’s influence on the Harlem Renascence was profound and inspired by other black writers (Lacey 81).

3) In text citation….According to Jeffery Lacey James Baldwin’s influence on the Harlem Renascence was profound and inspired by other black writers (81).