January 23, 2008 Archives

Your assignment is to read the term paper submissions of two classmates, and write an analysis (similar to what you did for Ex 4, where you evaluated an academic article).  Ex 8 should be about 3 pages long.

For each of your two chosen paper papers, respond to the following. (Note that these questions may also help you as you finalize your draft.)

1) What specific, non-obvious claim does this paper support? (That's another way of asking for the thesis... remember that "There are many interesting things to say about X" or a question like "Is X an instance of A?" or "People who kick puppies are bad" are not thesis statements that require academic argument.)

2) What opposing or alternative arguments does this paper address?

3) If this were your draft, what would you be the most proud of? (Be specific.)

4) If this were your draft, and you had more time to work on it, what do you feel would be the most beneficial change? (Again, be specific.)

5) Include me on the CC line in an e-mail in which you share your analysis with your classmate.