Sophia Pathways for College Credit – English Composition II SAMPLE TOUCHSTONE AND SCORING Logan Stevens Sophia Pathways English Composition II December 20, 2019 Source Evaluation on “Salmon: Their Fight for Survival” by Anthony Netboy In my research paper I am arguing that there is a dire need for extra protection of wild salmon and steelhead on the west coast; particularly in Washington, Oregon, and northern California, where once very large wild fish stocks are dwindling near extinction. Hatcheries have helped slow the decline of these fisheries, but are not a substitute for truly wild fish. In my research I came across a book entitled “Salmon: Their Fight for Survival” by Anthony Netboy. I found this book to be entertaining in many aspects, but not very helpful as a research source. Netboy’s book has several problems with it; the first of which being its broadness. I am looking for information about fisheries of the pacific coast. This book gives information on “[s]almon catches in Norway” (Netboy 152) and “[s]almon in Great Britain” (45) as well as some tidbits about pacific salmon catches, and some information about dams on the Columbia River, however it was mostly things that were not backed up by another source. Another problem I saw in this source is some of the way it was worded made it feel Comment [1]: This is a very interesting Thesis statement! It takes a clear stance on a debatable issue. Well done! Comment [2]: See note below on organization. Sophia Pathways for College Credit – English Composition II SAMPLE TOUCHSTONE AND SCORING biased and opinionated rather than presenting straight hard facts. For example; in one section they are talking about the decline of the California salmon fisheries. The language the author uses seems biased in my eyes. I agree with his opinion, but I’m not looking for an opinion, I’m looking for facts. The fate of California’s salmon mirrors the state’s use and misuse of many of its natural resources. In the last half of the century a serene land of infinitely varied landscapes… was invaded by hordes of people from the ends of America and abroad seeking riches...In the process rivers and watersheds were turned topsy- turvy, farmlands were bulldozed and covered with towns, cities, and Cyclopean highways…Like other forms of aquatic life, many of the salmon became victims of this unparalleled destruction. (Netboy 235) The use of several words and phrases, such as “hordes” and “this unparalleled destruction” say to me that he is using his own opinion and not fact, thereby making the source somewhat biased, and not very useful. Also, in some of this work, there are tables, showing salmon catches in different regions. I noticed that the numbers are not matching up with some of my other research. I have records of fish counts from the Bonnevelle Dam on the Columbia River. According to the book there were 384,780 ...

1. Sophia Pathways for College Credit – English
Composition II
SAMPLE TOUCHSTONE ANDSCORING
Logan Stevens
Sophia Pathways
English Composition II
December 20, 2019
Source Evaluation on “Salmon: Their Fight for Survival” by
Anthony Netboy
In my research paper I am arguing that there is a dire need for
extra protection of wild
salmon and steelhead on the west coast; particularly in
Washington, Oregon, and northern
California, where once very large wild fish stocks are dwindling
near extinction. Hatcheries have
helped slow the decline of these fisheries, but are not a
substitute for truly wild fish. In my

2. research I came across a book entitled “Salmon: Their Fight for
Survival” by Anthony Netboy. I
found this book to be entertaining in many aspects, but not very
helpful as a research source.
Netboy’s book has several problems with it; the first of which
being its broadness. I am
looking for information about fisheries of the pacific coast. This
book gives information on
“[s]almon catches in Norway” (Netboy 152) and “[s]almon in
Great Britain” (45) as well as
some tidbits about pacific salmon catches, and some
information about dams on the Columbia
River, however it was mostly things that were not backed up by
another source.
Another problem I saw in this source is some of the way it was
worded made it feel
Comment [1]: This is a very interesting Thesis
statement! It takes a clear stance on a debatable issue.
Well done!
Comment [2]: See note below on organization.
Sophia Pathways for College Credit – English
Composition II

3. SAMPLE TOUCHSTONE ANDSCORING
biased and opinionated rather than presenting straight hard
facts. For example; in one section
they are talking about the decline of the California salmon
fisheries. The language the author
uses seems biased in my eyes. I agree with his opinion, but I’m
not looking for an opinion, I’m
looking for facts.
The fate of California’s salmon mirrors the state’s use and
misuse of many of its
natural resources. In the last half of the century a serene land of
infinitely varied
landscapes… was invaded by hordes of people from the ends of
America and
abroad seeking riches...In the process rivers and watersheds
were turned topsy-
turvy, farmlands were bulldozed and covered with towns, cities,
and Cyclopean
highways…Like other forms of aquatic life, many of the salmon
became victims
of this unparalleled destruction. (Netboy 235)
The use of several words and phrases, such as “hordes” and

4. “this unparalleled destruction” say to
me that he is using his own opinion and not fact, thereby
making the source somewhat biased,
and not very useful.
Also, in some of this work, there are tables, showing salmon
catches in different regions.
I noticed that the numbers are not matching up with some of my
other research. I have records of
fish counts from the Bonnevelle Dam on the Columbia River.
According to the book there were
384,780 chinook salmon that passed through Bonnevelle Dam in
1970 (Netboy 548). However
according to the records kept on the Columbia Basin Fisheires,
only 314,032 chinook salmon
were counted. This may seem a small difference to some but
when one thinks of all the rivers
and tributaries on the Columbia it adds up rather fast. 70,000
fish can be an entire river’s worth
of fish for a season. This discrepancy only goes to show this as
an unreliable source.
Comment [3]: Excellent point!
Comment [4]: This is a good point. In order to be truly
helpful, a source should be comprised of facts trends.
When there is bias, it can skew the information that is

5. being presented.
Comment [5]: The organization of your paper could
have been enhanced if this paragraph was placed after
your second paragraph. That one ended with the
statement that not all of the facts in the book were
backed up another source. Could have been a good
lead-in!
Comment [6]: Good use of another source to check
validity!
Sophia Pathways for College Credit – English
Composition II
SAMPLE TOUCHSTONE ANDSCORING
The final problem with this source I found is the date of
publication. It was originally
published in 1974 by Houghton Mifflin. This source is over 30
years old. There are many more
modern sources that have updated and more accurate
information, along with research to back it
up. For example the book “[t]he Behavior and Ecology of
Pacific Salmon and Trout” by Thomas
P. Quinn has many tables and years worth of research gathered
by the author himself and

6. compared with other research that has been conducted. It was
published in 2005, giving it a bit
more relevance due to modern scientific research.
In conclusion, I have deemed this source as unhelpful and
unreliable. An effective source
should be relevant, recent, backed by research, and factual. This
source has flaws with all four of
those things, not to mention with the vast amount of information
about specific parts of the globe
that I am not arguing for in my argumentative essay. Although
it contains some information that
might help build background information on my topic, it will
not be useful to me with my thesis
statement in mind.
Comment [7]: Good concluding paragraph! Nice
summary of your points from above.
Sophia Pathways for College Credit – English
Composition II
SAMPLE TOUCHSTONE ANDSCORING

7. Works Cited
1. Columbia Basin Fisheries and Tribes. “Annual
Adult Salmon Totals” (04/22/2008): web
(02/10/2010).
<http://www.fpc.org/adultsalmon/adultqueries/Adult_Annual_T
otals_Query_Results.asp>.
2. Netboy, Anthony. “The Salmon: Their Fight
for Survival” Houghton Mifflin. (1974): 45, 152,
235, 548.
Print.
Sophia Pathways for College Credit – English
Composition II
SAMPLE TOUCHSTONE ANDSCORING
Reflection Questions:
1. What types of questions did you ask yourself when evaluating
the credibility and
usefulness of your source?
I’ve learned that a good source to use for accurate research
should be recent, reliable, and
factual. Those were the main things that I considered
throughout my analysis of the
source, so I asked myself when the source was published,
whether the author showed any
bias, and whether the author adequately cited any factual
information presented.

8. 2. How do you feel this evaluation practice will help you as you
continue to move
through the research process?
By making sure all of my sources are reliable, recent, and
factual, I am able to strengthen
my argument on this topic and back it up with factual evidence.
An argument will be easy
to debunk if it doesn’t have the data and facts to support it.
Sophia Pathways for College Credit – English
Composition II
SAMPLE TOUCHSTONE ANDSCORING
Source Evaluation Essay Rubric and Feedback
Rubric
Category
Feedback Score
(acceptable, needs
improvement etc.)
Thesis You have a great thesis here. It takes a clear
stance on the issue and you are very clear about
why. I would try and work it in a bit more
seamlessly, instead of starting with it right off the
bat.
9/10
Proficient

9. Evidence and
Analysis
You do an outstanding job of including points
from the source that adequately support your
analysis. I can see how you’ve done your
research.
20/20
Proficient
Organization A few elements of your organization could be
tweaked to enhance the flow, but not to the point
where it is hard to follow.
3/5
Proficient
Style You have done a great job ensuring there are no
major sentence-level errors.
5/5
Proficient
Conventions
You have consistently used correct grammar and
punctuation throughout your essay.
5/5

10. Proficient
Reflection You have provided thoughtful responses to the
reflection questions. Well done.
5/5
Proficient
Overall Score and Feedback: 47/50
I thinkyou really know your stuff when it
comes to this topic! It shows throughout
your analysis
of the source you chose. I thinkyou do a bit
more brainstorming when you are putting your
essays together in the future. The organization of
your information can take a good paper and
make it a greatpaper.