（900words ）The Article Review Assignment
Module 3: Article review
October 8, 2020
1
In this Lesson…
2
Introduce
…research paper topics
Go
…over the Article Review assignment
Discuss
…the introductory paragraph (including thesis statement)
The gist of the matter
You will choose ONE topic from the list provided
You will choose a scholarly article based on the topic and write your article review based on it
Research topic list
Mental Health (e.g. the increase of suicide among young adults)
Personal Privacy (especially in the cyberspace)
The homeless
The undocumented/illegal immigrants
Discrimination against the Aboriginals
Other (instructor approval required)
** Specific region/country must also be chosen **
Article review assignment
Choose an academic article** and write a 1000-word paper. In it, you will need to include an introductory paragraph, a summary of the article, and three body paragraphs that evaluate the paragraph’s strengths and weaknesses.
** not a newspaper/magazine article – must be a scholarly article (5 – 20 pages in length)
Due date: Saturday, October 31st @ 11:59 pm
Refer to https://web.microsoftstream.com/video/10b869c9-be2d-4a42-b7d9-cb0553f3b1e0 (a library tutorial video featuring professor shine hong and librarian qinqin zhang)
(A short demo on using the library to find an academic article has also been posted on moodle)
How to find an academic article
A reminder…
Your article will need to be an academic/scholarly article (length: 5 – 20 pages) that discusses the topic you have chosen
No other types of article or topics will be considered
Article review: introductory paragraph & thesis
Introductory paragraph
begin with a bibliographic information of the article in proper apa format
Write a heading titled ‘introduction’ on the left-hand side (no bolding of text; underline optional)
Sample
Introductory sentence
First, introduce the general topic of the article (not a specific thesis of the article yet)
e.g. what is the article about (not what the author of the article is arguing specifically)
the author’s credentials (~2 sentences)
Then, introduce the author by discussing his/her credentials. Consider the 3 es –
Education – which field of studies? What degree? Which school?
Experience – Any related work/volunteer experiences? Does this experience match the topic of the article?
Expertise – Would the author be considered an “expert” in the field (topic of the article)?
Thesis statement – the process
consider the following:
What is your overall evaluation of the article? Do you find it to be strong or weak?
Which aspect of the article is strong in your opinion?
Which aspect of the article is weak?
Evaluative criteria = m.e.o.w.
We will evaluate the article using the following four evaluative criteria =
Main argument
Evidence
Organization
Writing style
Although + (less significant criterion), (author name) writes an (overall evaluation) article because + (more significant criteria) + (more significant criteria)
Thesis statement formula
If you believe your article is strong (=the article is effective in presenting its arguments)
Begin with a negative evaluative point (=although its organization is disjointed),
State your overall evaluation (=the article is effective)
And then present two strengths about the article (because of its logical main argument as well as the variety of evidence presented)
= Although its organization is disjointed, the article is effective because of its logical main argument as well as the variety of evidence presented
If you believe your article is ineffective in presenting its arguments
Begin with a positive evaluative point (although the writing style of the article is suitable)
Present your overall evaluation (the author does not write an effective article)
List two reasons why not (because of its disjointed organization and because its main argument is not clear)
=although the writing style of the article is suitable, the author does not write an effective article because of its disjointed organization and because its main argument is not clear
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