Guidelines for paper
A 3-4 page paper is due April 14th this paper must be uploaded to Canvas before class on the due date. See Late Paper Policy below.
For this paper, compare and contrast reports from three different news sources about a current event, recent event, or important issue regarding the pertinent religious tradition. For this paper you will be writing only on ISLAM!!!! The sources must be from a media outlet (i.e., a newspaper, news magazine, cable or radio news site, online news site, or press syndicate like Associated Press, Reuters, Bloomberg, etc.), not from other types of websites.
This paper should not simply be reports on a topic using the articles as sources. Instead, this paper should compare and contrast how the articles report on a subject and consider questions such as the following: Are your chosen articles news or opinion pieces (see https://writingcommons.org/article/news-or-opinion/)? Do they exhibit bias of the sorts discussed in the Media Bias handout assigned for Aug. 31? To what extent is the information they present similar to or different from our textbook? Do your sources vary in accuracy or depth? Do they favor particular perspectives or positions? Do they seem to promote particular stances on their subject matter, whether explicitly or implicitly?
At the end of your paper, include full bibliographical information for each article in this style:
Author. “An Article about Religion.” Italicized Name of News Source. Date. URL. The bibliography does not count toward the length requirement.
Format:
This paper should be 900-1200 words long and use 12-point double-spaced Times font. Papers that do not meet the length requirement or that do not follow formatting guidelines will be penalized with lower grades.
Grading Standards:
This paper will be graded on the following standards:
A: paper reflects mastery of content; is very thorough; supports its claims with frequent specific references to the chosen articles and Hussain; contains ample critical analysis and comparison; contains no typos or stylistic and grammatical errors; is engagingly written and exceptionally well-organized; excels in exciting the reader’s interest; follows formatting guidelines.
B: paper reflects mastery of content; is thorough; supports its claims with specific references to the chosen articles and Hussain; contains some critical analysis and comparison; contains few typos or other errors; is well-written and well-organized; follows formatting guidelines.
C: paper reflects a “good faith” effort on the part of the student; supports its claims with occasional specific references to the chosen articles and Hussain; contains some critical analysis and comparison; contains few typos or other errors; is clearly written and organized; follows formatting guidelines.
D/ F: paper omits crucial information; includes few supporting examples and references to the chosen articles and Hussain; contains numerous typos and other errors; includes little critical analysis and comparison; is poorly written and organized; does not follow formatting guidelines; gives impression student has not read pertinent material.
