Jonathan Luttrell

Ms. Hofmann
English 1102-044
27 March 2014
Brain, Marshall. "HowStuffWorks "How Diesel Engines Work"" HowStuffWorks. N.p., 1 Apr.
2000. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.
This article is about how a diesel engine works. The author starts off with the history of
the diesel engine when it was invented and when it became popular. The diesel engine is very
similar to the gasoline engine. The engines differ in the combustion cycle and the injection of the
fuel. Brain also goes into detail about how advance diesel engines have become since the 1970s.
The article allows me to educate the reader on how a diesel engine works. Most readers
will have no clue how a diesel engine operates or what makes it so special from a gasoline
engine. I included this in my paper because I feel everyone needs a little more background on
diesel engines to understand them more.
How stuff works is a pretty credible site. Usually all articles at the end are fully cited with
urls. The author provided truthful information and pictures to help teach how a diesel engine
works.
Davies, Alex. "Http://www.businessinsider.com/10-reasons-why-you-should-buy-a-
diesel-car-2013-8." Business Insider. N.p., 21 Aug. 2013. Web. 3 Mar. 2014.
This source is about why the author believes more people should drive diesel
cars. In 2012 the United States percentage of diesel cars sold was 3.2% by 2018 that
number will double. Automakers hope to be offering at least 60 diesel vehicles to the
United States by 2017. The author stresses the benefits of diesel by listing the main
points. A lot of the points are based off negatives found in the 70s and 80s diesel
engines that modern diesel has fixed. Diesels now burn on low-sulfur fuel that doesnt
give off black smoke. Modern diesels are not the sluggish engines of the past. One of
the cars mentioned the Audi A6 TDI makes 428 lb/ft of torque versus the 325 lb/ft on the
gasoline variant. These are just a few of the points of the author. Which to me did a
great job of persuading the reader to drive a diesel.
This article is about my project to the very core. The whole point to my topic is
bringing attention to the fact that there are more efficient cars available than gasoline
cars offered currently in the United States. This article is very strong in information. The
author takes us back to a time when diesel technology was weak then gives us
information on how modern diesel has fixed those issues of the past. He goes into the
excuses many non-diesel owners say. Like not being able to find diesel. Or that its more
expensive to drive. Everything was sufficiently backed up and cited properly within the
article.
This article seems very credible for a .com website. The website is of a credible
magazine as well. The author does seem to be a little biased but he is trying persuade
you to buy a diesel car so he is doing his job well. The author cited anything statistical
throughout his article. Making his information valid. I could google his statistics from
LMC Automotive to back up his claims.

Diesel Fuel Prices: What Consumers Should Know. Washington, DC: Energy
Information Administration, 2008. Internet resource.
This source is about the breakdown of the price of diesel fuels in the United
States. This source goes into great depth to explain each process that diesel goes into
and how that affects the price. The source even explains biodiesel production rates and
the states available. The main purpose of this article is to educate the consumer about
diesel. In the United States the public doesnt have a good understanding of diesel or
why the price rose above gasoline in 2004. This was designed to teach the public what
sets the price of diesel here in the United States.
This article was very helpful to me. The only thing I knew about the price of diesel
was that it is taxed higher than gasoline. It was nice to have a breakdown on diesel so I
know exactly what affect its price. This helps me identify another cause of diesels lack
of popularity in the United States due to its recent price increase. This article is
extremely knowledgeable and was great help to me.
This source is another article printed by the government for public use. You cant
go wrong with these sources because usually they are all facts and no voice to bias it.
All statistics when used had citations on all of them. This was also in print. It was made
in 2008 but it still is relevant to my topic because the price of diesel is still higher than
gasoline.


High Diesel Fuel Prices: Hearing Before the Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources, United States Senate, One Hundred Tenth Congress, Second Session, to
Examine Why Diesel Fuel Prices Have Been so High and What Can Be Done to
Address the Situation, September 23, 2008. Washington: U.S. G.P.O, 2008. Internet
resource.
This article is a government document that is a written account. The document
itself if of 2008 hearing to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. The main
point stressed in this piece is how undiesel friendly the government is. The laws are
very outdated and written for old diesel engines of the past. Most of the senators who
were speaking in this hearing were asking to rewrite the laws. I learned that the United
States is one of the largest diesel refiners and a huge exporter yet we tax it so high.
One senator points out that the government gives tax breaks to people who buy Toyota
Prius but no to the Volkswagen Jetta TDI which are more fuel efficient. It defiantly
shows how dated the diesel laws are how they need to be rewritten to meet todays
needs.
I learned a lot form this article. When we started researching topics this is the
one I ran across that sparked my interest for it. It really opens your eye to how some
laws in use dont fit todays needs and need to be rewritten. A lot of the reasons diesel
isnt more widely used is due to the government. The only downfall to this source is that
is it is so long I could write several essays just on it alone. So Im just going to take what
I need out if for now and reference back to it when I need more information.
This source is as credible as it gets. It is a government transcription of a hearing
with the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. I cant really comment on the
authorship other than that it was transcribed.

Kristi3. "Diesel." N.p., 17 June 2010. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.

The article provided me with more statistics and facts on diesels. This information helped
fill in the gaps of information that I had in my paper. In this article the author provided a direct
comparison of a Diesel Honda Accord and a Toyota Camry Hybrid.
It ties into my paper because the direct comparison between cars was needed to fill in the
gap in a paragraph. It wasnt a whole lot added to my paper but it was enough to complete a very
important paragraph.
This source is ok. Most of the articles on this website are cited. This one isnt, but I did
look into it and the information is pretty spot on. This source had the best wording for what I
needed.

Roos, Dave. "Does Hybrid Car Production Waste Offset Hybrid Benefits?" How Stuff Works
Science. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.

Hybrid cars seem like they are good for the environment. They get great gas mileage and
get government tax breaks. In reality they cost so much to manufacture and the waste they cause
is not very eco-friendly. Hybrid batteries still require use of very toxic chemicals. The mining of
resources is bad for groundwater and can poison people.
I was able to really compare the diesel engine to a car everyone knew like the Toyota
Prius. It is the most iconic hybrid in the United States. Anyone can identify what I am saying
about it. This source was directly about Toyotas messy manufacturing.
This was heavily cited by the author. How Stuff Works is pretty safe because of the use
of heavy in text and work cited provided. It would be very hard to find misleading information
on this website.

Vance, Bill. "LOOKING BACK; Modern Diesels Have Come a Long Way over the
Years." The Hamilton Spectator [Ontario Canada] 10 Dec. 2009, Final ed., Wheels
Grave sec.: W01. Print.
Looking Back really taught me a lot about the origins of diesel fear and hate
found in the United States. The piece is set up to show how far diesels have come. The
author takes the ugly but true awful facts of diesels of the 70s and shows how great
they are today. It also taught me what cars ruined diesel for the United States for
example the 5.7l and 4.3l Oldsmobile diesel engines. Those engines were so awful it
started the whole diesels are slow and smelly thing that the United States is stuck on.
This was one of the most useful piece besides the government piece. It really
helped someone like me understand the fears and mindset that a lot of people have. I
wasnt alive during that time so I didnt know how bad some of the diesels were at that
time. Out of all the articles Ive read this was the only one to explain where the anti-
diesel stance came from.
Ive never heard of this newspaper before but it was listed through UNCCs
library so it is a credible article. This piece doesnt have citations in it. It is more author
knowledge which can be hit or miss. The info comes off as very truthful. Its weak in the
in text citation. Still plan on using it because it is more author based knowledge.