Newspaper Article Analysis
The topic of the article you choose must relate specifically to African Americans. Remember–as explained in the syllabus–NO QUOTES are allowed in the papers for this course. You will lose 10 points if you quote anything in your paper.
Write only in the third person–don’t use I, we, us, you [except for the sections on if you learned anything from the article]. Your reader should not be able to know your gender, race, ethnicity, religion or nationality.
Your opinion on the topic is not relevant for this assignment. Everything should come from the analysis of what the journalist wrote.
Think about how you use apostrophes when you write. It is a problem with much of the writing in the course.
Write an analytical essay divided by paragraphs. Any paper submitted as one long paragraph will receive a 0.
Newspaper Article Analysis
Make sure you are choosing a NEWSPAPER article published in the correct dating period, not a news website–see the end of these instructions.
DO NOT CHOOSE OPINION COLUMNS OR BOOK REVIEWS. The assignment is for you to analyze an article reporting news today.
Follow these directions for this assignment carefully. The rubric for the assignment should be considered when writing. Full points for each criterion are listed; the instructor will reduce the points if the criterion topic is not considered or is incomplete.
50 points possible. This is one of the two required written primary source assignments that you must do to pass this course. Two are available before the midterm exam. Two are available after the midterm exam. There are 200 points available for these four assignments. If you do more than two of these assignments, as long as one is before the midterm, then you would have 100 extra credit points available.
Your essay must be at least 550 words in length and must address the numbered issues below. [Do not number these points in your essay.]
The assignments consist of finding a newspaper article that appears during the time period of the course listed in the assignment, either in a local paper or in an on-line newspaper such as the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Sun Times, Washington Post, Greenwood Commonwealth or any other United States or English language newspaper. This means CNN, yahoo, Fox News, nbcnews, abcnews, MSNBC, Huffington Post, etc. are not eligible for these assignments. ONLY NEWSPAPERS/NEWSPAPER websites. Time period of the course for this assignment March 4 – April 1.
Newspaper Article Analysis
Each article must have some discussion of, or allusion to, the topic designated for that particular assignment.
- These articles must come from newspapers, not websites unconnected to a print paper.
- Cite the article [Title of the article, author [if given], name of the newspaper, date of publication] AT THE TOP OF YOUR PAPER. Put your name at the top of the paper, as well. No repeat headers allowed in your papers. Length must be at least 550 words. [- 5 points if you use a repeat header]
- You are to summarize the article and the point of view of the author.
- Then indicate whether your textbook sheds any light on the subject. Consider how the topic for the article, possibly under different terminology or a different time period, is used by the textbook. Give the pages in your textbook which relate to the topic as you have analyzed it.
- Comment on how history is “used” by contemporary authors to support their points of view or illustrate subject matters they deal with.
- Have you learned anything from the article?
- Finally, and most importantly, what are the specific sources the author(s) cite(s)/uses to support the article? How does the author prove to the reader that they have facts to back up their writing? [for examples, interviews of a particular person, a government document, a poster
created for an event, etc.]
- Grammar and article length
To repeat: each assignment must be turned in by 11:59 pm on the date it is due. They must be at least 550 words in length, deal with the eight numbered issues above. APA.