WHAT

Each week for a total of 7 weeks you will read and annotate 1 article of your choice from the list of sources I provide: section 1, section 2. The list involves magazines and newspapers. You may not repeat the same article as another student in class. Because you have freedom to choose, pick a text that is relevant to your interest, future career, or research topic for a major assignment so what you read is helpful to your professional and assignment development. Your reading of the article will be done outside of class, in addition to assignments assigned the class calendar. After reading compose a critical response, following the directions below. Your response should be between 500-600 words, no more no less.

WHY

This weekly assignment helps you develop a critical reading habit and expand your knowledge about issues impacting society and, I hope, your field of work. By allowing you to choose your own reading each week, this assignment will help you begin thinking about potential questions you may be asked in an interview for an internship, job or graduate studies:

  • What are some key trends or issues in field X, and based on these trends, where do you see our field heading in the next 5 years?
  • What are some key issues in society that an educated person should be aware of and question nowadays?

Consistent reading also helps improve your vocabulary development.

HOW

Submit evidence of your application of SQ3R and critical response journal to Google Drive. You have 3 options for writing the critical response. Pick 1. Vary your option each week. That is, if you do option 1 this week, try 2 or 3 the next.

Option 1: Respond to What the Text Says

  1. What does the writer argue? Provide a brief summary of major points. (must not be more than 20% of your response)
  2. What reasons and evidence does the writer give to support the argument?
  3. What parts of the text do you agree with and disagree? Why?
  4. What does the author overlook? Are there perspectives that should be considered, and what difference do they make to your thinking?
  5. What new, important, or memorable insights have you gained from the reading?

Option 2: Analyze How the Text is Written

  1. What is the writer’s message? Provide a brief summary. (must not be more than 20% of your response)
  2. How does the author support the argument? What strategies and techniques are used as support? What effects do they have on the reader?
  3. Are there any words, phrases, sentences, and graphics that you find notable and that contribute to the text’s overall meaning and effect? What impacts do they have on the reader?
  4. What new, important, or memorable insights have you gained from the reading?

Option 3: Reflect on Your Reaction to a Text

  1. What is the major argument of the text, and what are some key details that are important to know? (must not be more than 20% of your response)
  2. What in the text affect how you think or feel? Why does it affect you that way?
  3. Does the text bring to mind any memory or past experience? Can you relate it to the text?
  4. How does the text support or challenge your beliefs?
  5. What new, important, or memorable insights have you gained from the reading?

Altogether, your journal must have:

  • Elements of an effective composition: clear topic sentence/thesis, supporting details, transitions, and conclusion
  • An opening sentence that clarifies information about the author, title and source of your text: In the essay “Don’t Drink–Die” by Jen Doe in Discovery, the author argues why it is more ethical for us to die than drink bottle water because of environmental disaster that our consumption will cause to humans and animals in the next century.
  • A thesis statement that captures what you will argue about the text in the rest of your journal
  • MLA in-text citations
  • Work cited.