ARTICLE CRITIQUE PRESENTATION

Each student will select one article from a credible news source (e.g. The New York Times, 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) in which to present. Wikipedia is not a credible source!! Students will then prepare a 2-3 page (typed & double-spaced) critique of the contents. Note: Anything less than 2 complete pages will be penalized points. Please do not attach a copy of the article to the paper. If you wish to provide additional sources of information, please cite the source and include it on your work cited page. Articles have to relate with government somehow (war, policy, right-to-die, etc.). No topics on abortion!!! If you have any questions or concerns on topics please see me or the SI Leader, if applicable.

Students will be allowed up to five minutes for their presentations and discussion. (You will be required to pose 1 question to the class immediately following your presentation to facilitate discussion.) Note: Anyone who is called on to present and is absent will automatically lose their opportunity to present and also their presentation points (30) unless there are exceptional circumstances which can be documented (e.g. death in immediate family or personal illness accompanied by a doctor’s note, etc.), and even then, the final decision is solely up to the professor. However, I may accept the late paper with penalty (i.e. 10 pts. per day). Make sure that you have selected your topic by Aug. 25th, because I will be passing around a topic sheet for you to sign. Note: Once you have selected a topic you will NOT be able to change it. So please make sure that the topic you have selected is one that is of interest to you and not a topic that you chose at a moment’s notice because you have procrastinated with this particular assignment. Once topics have been compiled, you will receive notice in regards to when your paper is due and when you will be giving your presentation. Lastly, as for the formatting, see the Instructions for All Written Assignments below.

***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 handouts and article critique examples from former students in D2L. 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.