Critique Paper

Instructions

REQUIREMENTS FOR ARTICLE CRITIQUE Students need to have selected a topic from a credible news source (e.g. The New York Times, CNN, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek, etc.) or scholarly journal (e.g. American Political Science Review, Journal of Politics, etc). The topics that are chosen should be something related to American Politics. Examples include, but you should find other topics and be more creative, such as the education, gun control, police brutality, racism, same sex marriage, gas prices, Obama’s approval ratings, prayer in schools, etc. Students will then prepare a 2-3 page (typed & doublespaced) critique and analysis of the contents. Note: Anything less than 2 complete pages will be penalized points. The cover page and work cited page DO NOT count as part of the page count. In addition, the paper should primarily be in the form of a critique and NOT an informed summary. Refer to the Article Critiques folder in the Module folder to help in the organization of your paper. Also refer to the formatting guidelines handout, handouts, and sample papers provided in this folder as well. You will do well if you utilize all of these resources. It is imperative that you use the student example papers as a template in constructing your paper. Remember, I do not accept late work under any circumstances due to the structure of the class. The critique paper will be due no later than Sunday, Jun. 27th no later than 11:55 p.m. (central-standard time). You will simply upload them in the dropbox designated as “Submit Here!!!” As for the formatting, see the “Formatting For All Written Assignments” handout in the Article Critiques folder. Lastly, make sure to thoroughly read the Academic Integrity statement below, especially as it pertains to plagiarism. I submit all of your papers through Turnitin.com and will uphold my integrity policy, which could result in you failing the course, as well as being expelled from the college, which is something that stays on your academic record and follows you to any institution that you transfer to. Bottom line: do not cheat!!! ***Successful Critique Papers: In order to do extremely well on this assignment, you need to make sure to critique the author and how he/she conveyed the information. Do not simply write a summary of the article or critique the topic itself. Your main purpose is to critique the author’s presentation of logic, facts, reason, analysis, stance, etc. Though you can briefly critique the topic in your conclusion, at least ninety percent of the entire paper should be the critique of the author. See the article critique examples from former students and handout in your syllabus. Those who follow these specific instructions, examples, and handouts will do extremely well on this assignment. In addition, do not speak in first person (or using “I”), as it presents your work more in the form of an unsupported opinion.   I am also attaching an example of what the paper needs to look like.