Overview
Identify a news article that discusses a current event or social issue that relates to your field of study. Follow the instructions below to explain the issue, provide an additional example of the issue, connect the issue to your field of study, and pose questions about the issue. See the Assignment 1 Model in Week 2 Content for an example.
Connection to other Course Assignments
This assignment will help guide you identify a focus for your research and the remaining learning activities in the course. You are developing a topic on which your research essay will be based.
As you complete the tasks required for this assignment, you will be working toward several of the course outcomes:
Begin the writing process by exploring a topic (Relates to course outcome 3)
Compose paragraphs that explain an event or issue (Relates to course outcome 4)
Demonstrate accurate grammar and mechanics in writing (Relates to course outcome 5)
Identify a recent and reliable news source and provide APA documentation (Relates to course outcome 2)
Step 1: Initial Submission (earn up to 85% of the possible points for the assignment)
Your initial submission should include all of the following components:
Source
First, identify your source for this assignment. It should be one news article, available through the UMGC Library, published within the past 12 months.
Content and Organization
Number your answers and/or include the assignment questions so your instructor can see that you addressed each part of the assignment.
Respond to each of the following.
Provide an APA-style reference for the news article you selected. The format for the reference is as follows:
Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of article in sentence case. Title of Newspaper in Title Case and Italics. http://www.newspaperhomepage.com
Although the news article should be available through the UMGC Library, provide the URL directly to the newspaper that published the article. An APA reference entry does not link to a library database record. It does include the URL of the newspaper homepage, such as https://www.washingtonpost.com
For your instructor’s reference, provide the URL to the article in the UMGC Library. This will be listed as “Document URL” in the library record:
Summarize the article. Explain the event or issue covered in the article, assuming your reader has little or no prior knowledge of it. Answer in 1-2 paragraphs.
Describe a specific real-life situation (other than one discussed in your news article) where the issue at hand has been observed. This could be something that happened to you or someone you know, or it could be a related event in the news. Explain the connection to the event or issue in your news article. Answer in 1-2 paragraphs.
What is your field of study and how do you see it relating to the event or issue in your news article? Answer in one paragraph.
What do you want to know about the issue or event in your news article? List two or more questions that you could pursue as part of your research. Though you are listing two or more questions here, your research should ultimately be focused on a single guiding question.
Language Choices
As a writer, you are free to decide how you use language, keeping the following in mind:
style: your language choices should result in a consistent writing style that is purposeful and aligned with your goals
readability: your language choices should ensure that your ideas are clear and easy to follow
When composing your assignment, think about the conventions for academic writing, including:
punctuation: this includes things such as recommended use of commas, colons, and apostrophes.
word-level accuracy: this includes things such as capitalization, spelling, word-tense, and usage.
sentence-level accuracy: this includes things such as sentence boundaries, subject-verb agreement, and pronoun-antecedent agreement.
Take time to review your language choices after you’ve drafted your assignment. Think about your goals for the style of this writing and your own writing habits (like using “text-speak,” omitting capitalization, or writing sentence fragments). Revise as necessary to accomplish your style and readability goals.
Reading your writing aloud is a helpful technique when reviewing your language choices for style and readability.
Length and Format
Responses to individual questions should follow the guidelines above, and the entire completed assignment should be at least 700 words.
Incorporate these elements of APA style:
Use one-inch margins.
Double space.
Use an easy-to-read font between 10-point and 12-point.
Note: Title page is not required, but make sure you include your name and a title that reflects your topic at the top of the first page.
Reflection Questions
The reflection questions are to be answered separately. Post these in the “comments” box when submitting your assignment. You can number your answers or write them in paragraph form. Be sure to address all four questions.
Aside from simply meeting the requirements, what were your personal goals for this assignment?
When reviewing your language choices, what choices did you make to approach your goals that stayed within or moved beyond standard conventions for academic writing? To what degree, if any, did the content in the Grammar Labs thus far impact your decisions?
What parts of your work on this assignment are you most proud of?
What challenged you in this assignment and/or where do you need additional support from your instructor?
