Directions for Writing an Article About Life Under Stalin

1. You will assume the role of a Soviet journalist in the 1950s to write an article describing life in the Soviet Union under Stalin. The article will be smuggled out of the country and published in a western newspaper.

2. Write your article for the citizens of a western nation who are largely unfamiliar with the Soviet Union under Stalin. Use the information you gathered on Student Handout 2.3B and the secret information you received from your classmates to help you. Follow these guidelines:

a. Give your article a headline that reflects your point of view about life under Stalin.

b. Structure your article this way:
Introduction: Provide a brief introduction to your investigation of daily life under Stalin.
Section 1: Include a section that explains what the government says about different aspects of life in the Soviet Union. Your section should begin like this: "What the Soviet government would like people to believer is..."
Section 2: Explain what different, nongovernment perspectives reveal about the same aspects of soviet daily life. Your section should begin like this: "What I learned from other Soviet sources is..."
Conclusion: Explain the role of propaganda in the Soviet Union and how accurately you feel it reflected daily life for the average Soviet citizen during the Stalin era.

c. Include a drawing, graph, quote, or cartoon that illustrates one of the main ideas of the article.

d. Include references to at least five different aspects of life under Stalin.

e. Make your article about two pages in length. Type or write your final draft neatly in ink.

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: (Anything on this page in RED is a hint to help you with your project. Anything in BLUE is a link to another page you can use in your research.)

For this project you should use the COWS information literacy model. COWS is an acronym to help you remember the ORDER you should look for information.

• Current Reference/Print Material
• Online Resources
• Webliography (Pre-selected web sites

And if all else fails:

• Search Engines

C =

Always start with your textbook and general encyclopedias to give you background information on your topic. Using this information come up with "keywords" you can use to research additional information about your topic. Use the library's OPAC to check your resources. To find a list of titles in our library that apply to this project type in "Newton / USSR Under Stalin " in OPAC and select the "Categories" icon.

Before you use OPAC you should make a list of all the keywords you could use in researching your subject.

Remember: When doing research you need to look at the second page of cataloging and review the "notes" section of the page to find out information about the book.  Also use the "subject" section of the page and look at the subject headings listed for the book.  Using these subject headings is an excellent way to narrow or broaden your subject search.  It can also provide you with additional keywords to use in searching for your topic.  Use your bookbag  while doing research using OPAC.  It helps keep your research on track, provides you bibliographic information for your project, and will save you time
in locating information in the library.
If you have forgotten how to use the library's OPAC check out the How to Use OPAC from the Library Information page of this site. Be sure to check out the Reference Section of the library first for specialized encyclopedias, dictionaries, atlases and almanacs to start your project.

Hints!

• On sets of encyclopedias look in the index for your keywords
• With any reference or non-fiction title always use the index to locate the information you need.
• On sets of reference books that are divided by year look only at the books that cover the years your paper needs.
• Some of the keywords you might use are: Cold War, Russia, History of, history of Russia, Russian history, Russians, Russian culture, USSR, U.S.S.R., Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Soviet Union, Russian history 20th century, Soviet Union history , Soviet government, Great Terror, Joseph Stalin, Stalinism, Workers Movement, Communism, Communists.

Some of the Reference Books you could use are:

R 031---	General Encyclopedias
R 300.3 INT	International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences
R 303 ENC	Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences
R 305.8 WOR	Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life
R 306 ZIM	The Human Landscape: Geography and Culture
R 355	War in Peace
R 703 ENC	Encyclopedia of World Art
R 909.82 CHR	Chronicle of the 20th Century
R 909.82 DIE	Front Page: A Collection of Historical Headlines from the Los Angeles Times 1881-1987.
R 909.82 HIS	History Behind the Headlines: The Origins of Conflicts Worldwide
R 909.82 JEN	The Century for Young People
R 909.82 MAG	Great Events from History--Worldwide Twentieth Century Series
R 909.82 NAT	National Geographic Eyewitness to the 20th Century
R 909.82 REA	Reader's Digest Great Events of the 20th Century
R 909.82 SCH	20th Century Day by Day
R909.82 TIM	Timelines of the 20th Century: A Chronology of 7,500 Key Events, Discoveries, and People that Shaped Our Century
R 910 LAN	Lands and Peoples
R 910.3 MAR	The Marshall Cavendish New Illustrated Encyclopedia of the World and Its People
R 910.3 WOR	The World Book Encyclopedia of People and Places
R 914.7 GIL	Russian History Atlas
R 920 COL	The Cold War, 1945-1991
R 920 CUR	Current Biography Yearbook (1940 to present)
R 920 GAL	Artists: From Michelangelo to Maya Lin
R 920 SAA	Scientists: The Lives and Works of 150 Scientists
R 920.02 McC	Encyclopedia of World Biography
R 920.02 McG	Encyclopedia of World Biography (also online under Gale Group)
R 920.02 WEI	Lifelines of History: Famous Men and Women of the Ages
R 920.2 ULT	Ultimate Biography: Inside the lives of the World's 250 Most Influential People
R 947 CAM	The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Russia and the Former Soviet Union
R 947 CON	Congressional Quarterly, The Soviet Union
R 973.9 KOR	The Columbia Guide to the Cold War
L R 709.04 ART	Art of the 20th Century

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O =

Our online resources are:

• The Gale Group,
• Web Feet,
• Encyclopedia Britannica Online, (Use this Resource First!!),

and

S =

Once you have learned about your subject by visiting all of the books, online programs, and web sites recommended by Mrs. Bowen and Mr. Newton, and you still need more information it is time to search the web. BEWARE! Search engines are not all created equal and you need to learn what types of information each will provide and how that information is presented. Take a few minutes and check out the links listed below. You will also need to know about the "invisible web" and how to access its information.

Introduction to Search Tools

Search engines

How to Find a Specialized Search Engine for Your Topic

Invisible Web

If you use a search engine to find material you must always evaluate the site you wish to use. To help you in evaluating your site use the Web Site evaluation Guide.

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Here are some additional pages and sites to help you put your paper together and evaluate your product.

Style Guides
To find out how to cite a source go to the MLA Guide and/or the Help with Citing Sources (Internet) guide. The Landmark Citation Machine is also an excellent resource for all types of citations. If you use an article from Encyclopedia Britannica Online the citation is at the bottom of the article. You can also use the Toolbox of the Gale online database and find a citing online reference works section.

Copyright Information
Always check your information against copyright laws to make sure you are not violating any rules and are not accused of plagiarism. Copyright Information

Editing Checklist
This is a guideline to use to edit your paper for errors. Print it out to use as you proofread your paper. Click Here for checklist.

Research Project Final Evaluation Form
This is a form that either students or teachers can use to evaluate research projects. Click Here for the Evaluation Form. Print it out and use it as you evaluate your project.

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