Purpose
The purpose of this assignment is to challenge students to consider carefully what you think about some content (e.g. video, articles, etc.) assigned for the week in relation to the material being presented in the text book and slides.
Instructions
An article, video, or some other content will be provided by me and you will be responsible for evaluating it using the guidelines below. The paper should be very structured and demonstrate careful thought with regard to relating the content to the course material. You should have a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion.
Students should write a two to three page reaction paper. Each paper should:
1. Use Headings (such as Introduction and conclusion, body paragraphs should include meaningful heading that demonstrate what is to come).
2. Begin with an introduction! Your introduction should be a short synopsis of the content of the video or article. What the video or article was about, what was the message it was trying to convey and what did they argue? This should not be a play by play of what happened. Look up the definition of the word summary. Make sure to have a Thesis statement!!!!!
3. The body of the paper should be comprised of multiple paragraphs addressing,
a. Why you think this work is relevant to the material presented in this course specifically regarding the current week’s chapter, specifically explain carefully the concept, theory, ideas in the Chapter then show how it connects to the article you chose.
b. What was your initial reaction to the information in the video,
c. What about the video was interesting to you? What impact did the material have on you or your way of thinking,
d. Critical thought will be important throughout; your paper should demonstrate the product of critical thought not simply talking through your opinion on the topic.
4. Things you should not do include simply saying that the material relates to the course because this is a class about social problems and the material was about a social problem in some form or just pointing out that it relates to the current chapter which is likely why it was assigned that particular week. I am asking you to be creative and demonstrate a mastery of the course content by relating it to the material presented intellectually.
5. End with a conclusion, summarize. Conclude by discussing what impact the content of the video had on you and what you feel like you learned from it.
6. Papers that do all of these well will receive the highest grade.