Sample Article Write-Ups

Remember that article write-up exercise from class? Well, here is one former student's attempt to put together an article write-up in response to the article we read:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B59oU02C12STSkpidDFjcXB4c0E/edit.
Take a moment and look through this write-up. What is this student doing well? What is this student doing not-so-well? What can you learn from this student?

Now here's a write-up for an article that I haven't provided for you:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B59oU02C12STTDlQSTBXa0VYRnM/edit.
Likewise here, can you see what this student is doing well or not-so-well? Can you see what you might learn from the way this student has put together this write-up?

Finally, please don't forget: Article write-ups are casual writing assignments. Like critiques, they are not meant to be perfect. In fact, they're not even meant to be well-argued or thoroughly consistent, the way critiques should be. Write-ups are simply one step in the research process. The idea is merely to start to organize your thoughts about articles you've found in your research, one-by-one. Believe me: Once you've done this, it's much easier to put together more complicated, more formal research essays.

Practice Article Write-Up

Here's a link to an article from The New York Times about a health- and healthcare-related related topic:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B59oU02C12STaTFmNjU5VmpaRVE/edit.
Take the time to read this article on your own and to make notes to help you follow the writer's discussion and her supporting details.

Now here's a link to a handout that breaks down how to plan and put together a basic research write-up for any article:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B59oU02C12STS25zRGo2cV9HRFU/edit.
(Please note: You may want to refer back to this handout when you work on your own individual research write-ups. Notice the label on the right, "article write-ups." This label will get you back to this blog post and to other blog posts that contain useful information about research write-ups.)

Okay, now get together with one other classmate or two and start to put together a joint research write-up, in basic summary-and-response format. Once you're done, or once the period is over, please turn in what you have.

Our First Research Assignments: Write-Ups

Every teacher wishes for a class that goes on forever; that way, the students have time to learn everything the teacher knows. Unfortunately, that's not the case for us. We're moving on from our first pieces of writing, and we're getting started with research. Of course, there are important questions to consider: What is research? How do I make research both easy to do and effective in proving my point? We'll try to get to these questions as we go. For now, let's go step-by-step.

Notice: Your first steps in doing research have already started. You might not have chosen a topic, but you've written about topics you're considering, and you've looked at what other people wrote in the same vein. You might not have found articles you trust and want to work with, but you've found some good ones that could at least be good enough.

Also, be aware: Your first two research assignments, your first two research write-ups, are due next week, by 11:59 PM Thursday, 2/27/2014.

=-=-=-=-=

Let's get started thinking about research by looking at how research assignments are organized in this course. First, here's a handout that explains the motivation and grading behind our research write-ups:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B59oU02C12STWWpBR084ZTdWckk/edit.

Now let's take a look at how research assignments fit together in this whole semester, especially how write-ups lead to your more important major research essays:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B59oU02C12STSnh0ampzc0NiQ2M/edit.

Do you have a good basic idea of how we'll do organize our research this semester?