COMM 45 Informative and Persuasive Speech Assignments

Identifying a Topic

Select a topic of interest to you, which fits the scope and fulfills the requirements of the assignment. Express your topic as a statement or a question (for example, How Airplanes Fly).

Browse or skim through reference books to find background information and to get an overview of your chosen topic. Dictionaries help you to define unfamiliar terms and to identify keywords for further research. Encyclopedias provide a general introduction to or a concise summary of the main ideas of a topic.

Finding Information Sources

Make a list of keywords to use as search terms when researching your topic in depth (for example, aeronautics, airplanes, aviation). These keywords may need to be revised as you search for information, depending on the terminology employed in the different resources you use.

Search for the topic keywords that you formulated earlier in the research process. If your keywords don’t work, look for related search terms or subject headings in the relevant results that you do find.

Make sure to check the attached COMM 45 Research Guidelines below before citing or using a source in your outline or speech.  All sources must be published within the last 10 years.

• Books & E-Books
  The Library has collections of over 47,000 print books and 70,000 electronic books. To find out if the Library has a book on your research topic, do a keyword search in OneSearch, the library catalog.
• Databases
  The Library subscribes to nearly 80 research databases, covering a wide range of subjects.

Informative Speech Guidelines

Persuasive Speech Guidelines

Once you've selected a research topic that meets the requirements of the assignment, browse or skim through reference books to find background information and to get an overview of that topic. The Library has both print and electronic reference books. To use print reference books, you will have to visit the Library. Electronic reference books can be used online.

Useful resources for you to start your research are presented here. You can search three different reference databases right from this page.

For COMM 45, books or ebooks must be published within the last 10 years by a University Press.

To find books on your research topic, use the OneSearch search box below to look for title in the library catalog. You can search by keyword or by title.

General Search Strategy

• Identify keywords and synonyms for your selected topic
• Start with a keyword search to get an idea of what and how much information is available on your topic
• If a keyword search returns too few results, try a broader search term to retrieve more records
• If a keyword search returns too many results, try a narrower search term to retrieve fewer records
• To refine your search, consult the thesaurus for the descriptors or subject headings used for your particular topic

Governments (federal, state, and local) and educational institutions (universities and colleges) publish many informative websites on a wide variety of subjects. Websites with URLs ending in .gov and .edu (which stand for government and education) are generally trustworthy sources.

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Info On Demand

CDC works 24/7 to provide information that helps protect the health of individuals and communities. Order or download books, fact sheets, pamphlets, and educational materials at CDC-INFO On Demand.

National Institutes of Health (NIH) Publications List

You can search for any NIH publication by using one or more search fields. If you enter the publication title, or part of it, this tool will search the records and return information for the volume you seek. If you get too many results, you can narrow your search by specifying other criteria such as name of the institute or center, or the year of publication.

State of California Agencies

Find websites for California state agencies.

United States Congress

Congress.gov is the official website for U.S. federal legislative information. The site provides access to accurate, timely, and complete legislative information for Members of Congress, legislative agencies, and the public.

Thanks to a school-wide subscription, you have access to all the articles, breaking news, blogs, multimedia and more from The New York Times. You can enjoy access to NYTimes.com and the NYTimes mobile apps from wherever you are.

To Activate Your Account

• Visit https://myaccount.nytimes.com/verification/edupass
• Create a free NYTimes.com account using your school email address
• Check your email inbox and click on the link in your confirmation message to validate your email address and claim your Academic Pass
• Download your free NYT smartphone apps at http://www.nytimes.com/services/mobile, including the NYT Now app for iPhone®, giving you a quick look at all the day’s top stories

See the attachments below for more information about NYTimes.com.

Remember to cite all the sources that you use in your speech. Any ideas or words that are not your own that you quote or paraphrase must be included in the Works Cited list that you are required to submit. Citations must be formatted in the American Psychological Association (APA) style.

In-Text Citation Format

The study found that ninety-nine percent of students search Google for
information (author's last name, year).

Reference List Format

In general, sources cited in APA format adhere to the following patterns (based on the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th ed.):

Book

Author, A. A. (Publication year). Title of book: Subtitle of book.
     Publication city: Publisher.

Journal Article

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Publication year). Title of article.
     Title of Journal, volume #(issue#), page#.

Magazine Article

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (year, month). Title of article.
     Title of Magazine, volume#(issue#), page#.

Click on the attachment below to see more examples of APA-formatted citations.

Database Citation Tools

If you use the library databases and ebooks for your sources, there's any easy way to obtain the citation automatically formatted in APA style. Most databases have a built-in feature that provides citations.

Let's look at Gale Academic OneFile for example.

After you have searched for and chosen an article to use for your research, click on the Citation Tools.

In the pop-up window, select "APA 6th Edition" from the dropdown menu in the upper left corner. Click the Select button to copy the citation that appears in the window, then simply paste it into your Works Cited list.

The citation function may be found in different locations in other databases, so look around the page once you have selected an article.