the “article paper”

• Due Date: first is due Monday, 10/5; three subsequent assignments to follow
• Length: one to three pages
• Formatting: one-inch margins; double-spaced, 12pt. font, Times New Roman; MLA citation
• Grade: a standard letter grade will be given

For this assignment I ask that you do some brief, outside research. These short papers essentially summarize and analyze the thesis, main argument, and content of an article or essay located within an “approved” academic source. (Check the WR for the meaning of summary and/versus analysis.) Ultimately, I’d like you to find an article or essay that corresponds to the subject matter being discussed in the class at the time the assignment is given. If you choose to do so, you may compare and/or contrast your article with one previously read in the class.

For this first article essay, the topic or subject matter is The Patriot Act and Post 9/11 Legislation. Therefore, articles which address issues of and surrounding the Patriot Act and other legislation enacted during the last eight years regarding civil liberties and/or terrorism, the aftermath and fallout of 9/11 upon American politics, culture, and society, et cetera, will serve as “good” articles to write about. Articles that do not deal with this subject matter directly should be avoided, as they are outside the scope of the topic and the issues being discussed by the class. Such “poor” articles will receive no credit.

In your 1-3p paper you need to accomplish the following requirements:
1. In the introduction name the article, the author, and the source of publication.

2. Summarize the author’s thesis and the article’s main points in one or two paragraphs. It is highly recommended that you quote the author’s thesis statement verbatim; explaining why you think it is the thesis of the text.

3. Analyze and explain in one to two paragraphs how you see this article “fitting in” with the subject matter currently being discussed in class. Ask yourself:

a. How does this article comment upon what we’e been talking about?

b. Does it offer a new viewpoint that we have not encountered yet?

c. Does it agree or support any of the views, articles, or authors we’ve read thus far? How so?

d. Does it disagree, challenge, or refute any of the views, articles, or authors we’ve read thus far? How so?

e. How does the author support his or her argument and claims? Facts and statistics? Personal experience? Other texts via quotation? (cf. WR, p.26-31 for a list of rhetorical devices that authors commonly utilize)

4. Attach a printed copy or photocopy of the article to the end of your document. If you fail to do this you will not received any credit for the assignment.


Below is a list of some, but indeed not all, “approved” academic sources, databases, and search engines. Be sure to examine the quick links on the sidebar of the blog for these sites too!

• Academic Search Complete
• the BBC
• EBSCO Host
• Environmental News – Guardian UK
• Google Scholar
• J-STOR
• the OED
• the New York Times
• NPR
• Project MUSE

Note: any of the databases appearing on the Brooklyn College Library Databases website also qualify as “academically approved” sources. Go to the following website for the complete list of databases available to you as a student of this institution; this link also appears on the course blog and is listed as BC Lib Databases.

--> http://dewey.brooklyn.cuny.edu/resources/databases.jsp

Note: Wikipedia is not an approved academic source and will not under any circumstances be accepted as such. That is to say, any article derived from an unapproved source will not be counted; the assignment will receive no credit.