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English 110 - Foege: Topics & Background Info

This guide provides students with tips and suggested resources for finding sources for their argumentative essay for English 110 with Professor Foege

Finding Background Information

Library reference sources are a great place to get unbiased background information on controversial topics. They can also help you narrow your topic and discover keywords for further searching.

Online Reference Sources

To access this reference database from off campus, you will be prompted to log in with your Pipeline username and password.

Print Reference Sources

These reference books are available in the Luria Library. Stop at the Reference and Information desk for help finding them.

  • Violence in America: An Encyclopedia -- R 303.6 G685v
  • Encyclopedia of Racism in the United States -- R 305.800973 M663e
  • Encyclopedia of Contemporary American Social Issues -- R306.0973 S528e 2011
  • American Countercultures: An Encyclopedia of Nonconformists, Alternative Lifestyles, and Radical Ideas in U.S. History -- R 306.1 M678a 2009
  • Encyclopedia of Politics: The Left and the Right -- R 320.03 C283e
  • Encyclopedia of Social Problems -- R 361.1 P261e
  • Encyclopedia of Crime and Punishment -- R 364.03 L665e

Choosing a Controversial Topic

Pro/Con databases and websites are great places to get ideas about current, controversial environmental and social issues.

Narrowing a Topic

How to Narrow Your Topic

This tutorial covers how to choose a topic, how to explore it through strategic searching, and how to narrow it into a research question.

If you have trouble accessing this tutorial from off campus, try logging into My.SBCC.edu in a different browser tab, then reloading this page. If that doesn't work, follow the direct link above to open the tutorial outside of this guide.