Article review, environmental ethics

Paper 1

This paper will be a total of four pages long, consisting of two article summaries, each two pages long. The article summaries must present an unbiased characterization of the author’s arguments.  Provide quotes as appropriate.  You will be graded on how well and how thoroughly you summarize their main ideas and points.  Do not generalize.  Do not mischaracterize or over-simplify their arguments.  An example of what an article summary looks like is included at the end of this syllabus.

Paper 2

This paper will be five pages long.  It will consist of your article summaries, each two pages long and should follow the guidelines at listed for Paper 1.  In the last section of the paper, you will have one page to compare and contrast the key ideas from the two articles you have selected.  You are to make interesting connections or contrasts between the ideas, values, or ramifications of the articles.

Paper 3

This paper is to be a short essay that builds on the prior assignments by combining the two summaries, their comparison, and the integration of some other element of the course (perhaps drawn from films, media coverage or class discussions) in order to make a logical argument about the significance of the texts.  This final essay should have the following components: a half page introduction, two article summaries (each two pages long), a two-page discussion section and a brief (no more than half a page) conclusion.  The total length of the paper is therefore approximately seven pages.

Detailed instructions for each component of Paper 3

The introduction should discuss why you choose the two articles and what you will be arguing in your discussion section.  This is your thesis: this is what your paper will attempt to prove to the reader.

A thesis makes an argument, meaning this is the point you will attempt to prove to the reader.  See the grading rubric for insight on what makes a good thesis.  You want to aim for the novel, sophisticated and insightful thesis.  This can be a connection you see between two articles, a point neglected in these articles, a new application of these ideas, a theoretical insight not noted by the authors, etc.  The best way to think of a thesis is to think of a lawyer in front of a jury.  You want to present the evidence (which will be your two summaries).  Then in your discussion section, you will make connections and juxtapositions between the two articles that demonstrate your case.  Finally, in your conclusion, you will briefly rearticulate and drive home the argument you have built.

The discussion section is where you will advance your own opinions.  You can start with comparison and contrasting, as you did in Paper 2, but it should build into a larger argument that you want to make with the paper as a whole. In this discussion section you can provide your take on the two articles and the issues they raise.  You may argue that one author is more convincing than the other, or that both are incomplete, or that both are true in certain contexts – whatever you want. Finally, as part of this section you also need to introduce another aspect of the course (an example of a film we saw, or media story we considered, or class discussion we had) into the discussion.

Whatever you argue, you will need to support your opinion through the evidence you provided in the article summaries. When you see the word “opinion” don’t think informality, but rather that your carefully considered opinion is informed by your reading of the articles.  It is an academic opinion, not casual reflection.  Again, imagine yourself as a lawyer trying to prove your case – by which we mean, your thesis.  Your opinion is your interpretation of the evidence.