International Studies

IST100FinalExamF1733.docx

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. The assignment is to write 2 essays of 2 pages each, for a total of 4 pages.

Taking a Closer Look at Community: Our last few weeks of readings are focused on different ways of imagining community ties in our increasingly globalized world. These are communities that have global dimensions the readings in our final unit want us to take a closer look at: gender, social networks, political activists, university students, global supply chains. The assignment here is to choose one of the types of community we have looked at: Gender (Lorber, Devor, Blum, Tannen); Social Networks (Gladwell, Friedman); Political Activists (Gladwell, Friedman); University Students (Nathan); Global Supply Chains (Friedman). Choose 2 different articles from this list in order to explore the argument the article makes about how to understand the kind of community it is concerned with.

For each article, you are to write a 2-page summary, focused on the argument the article makes for how we should understand the community it is looking at--and what ties it together. The summary should offer clear explanation of the community the article is looking at. It should also lay out a thorough analysis of the argument, take a look at some of the examples your source uses to better understand the limitations of the argument, and offer a summation of the evidence s/he uses to make his case about how to understand the community it is concerned with (mostly in the form of expert authorities). In other words, this is a summary of a specific community and its real-world complications, in order to best understand the author's argument regarding the community in all of its complexity and complications. So actually much of your attention should be devoted to looking at where the argument or the concerns it speaks to are more complicated than it might at first seem.

The Elements of Summary: As you sit down to summarize your chosen community concept, you want to keep in mind that the main task is to prioritize what you feel to be the most important aspects for understanding the concept. That is the critical thinking aspect of the assignment; it involves making choices about what to include and why. That means you want to examine closely your author's priorities in setting up the key concern, looking at what s/he starts with, where s/he takes the discussion, and where s/he ends it. Certainly, the end of his/her discussion (the concluding remarks) will show us most clearly what s/he wants us to prioritize in engaging with the key concern. But tracking his/her discussion along the way can tell us more about why s/he goes that way and looking back at the introduction can help clarify what he thinks we should initially keep in mind as he sorts through his argument. What this also means is that you want to give some attention to when the author goes in surprising directions or shows us where his concerns or related terms don't work in expected ways.

Definition: we have given a good deal of attention to the process of defining key terms through paraphrasing and quotation from the text. It is also important to consider the different ways the key term gets discussed over the course of the article(s) and potential points of misunderstanding, complexity, or contradiction. You want to give some attention to when the author goes in surprising directions or shows us where his concerns or related terms don't work in expected ways.

Examples: These help us think about the community in context, as a way to extend ways to define or redefine our understanding of the community through an analysis of real-world examples. Also, an example can show us the limitations of a term’s real-world application: where and how typical understandings of the community work, where and how they don't work.

Evidence: The use of evidence for this essay is primarily about his use of other sources and their authoritative comments as pieces of evidence (of course, you want to make sure to speak to how your author(s) feels about the evidence--just because s/he discusses it in the article doesn't mean that he agrees with it). Here, you want to make sure to keep track of the various authorities/sources he uses and his attitude about each of them as he references them. Do not confuse their voices with his; but do take note of how and why he uses them and how they back up his argument. In other words, you are looking at the claims he is making based off of this evidence (based off of these authoritative sources, mostly).

Structure for the essay: A good summary also draws connections from one element to another. In other words, definition, examples, and evidence are the three elements I want you to prioritize in your summary, but they are most effective if you think of them as interconnected and present some of those connections to the reader as you develop.

Grading Rubric: your essay will be scored according to the following five grading elements. Each element will be graded out of a possible 20: Definitions, Examples, Comprehension, Clarity, Organization.

Grade Range Grading Element	20 19 18 (“A” range)	17 16 (“B” range)	15 14 (“C” range)	13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 (D-F range)
Definitions: This has to do with covering everything you need to cover as thoroughly as possible for us to understand the author’s definitions of the concepts you discuss	Shows a strong attention to the complexity of terms, looking at how they get developed throughout the chapter(s), while also outlining their limitations and points of confusion.	Shows nuanced understanding of terms and gives some attention to their development: looks at 2 or more sections of a chapter in which terms’ definitions get explored. Also shows some understanding of the limitations and/or points of confusion with respect to terms.	Shows an understanding of terms as they gets developed by author, but there are points where the definition is mischaracterized or only gets superficial treatment.	Shows a lack of understanding of basic aspects to definitions and frequently mischaracterizes the terms and the author’s use of them.
Examples: This has to do with how well you use examples, either from the text or your own, to understand the key terms and the text in context	Shows a strong understanding of the examples and how they better illuminate the key terms. Also explores the extent to which the example(s) demonstrate the limits or limitations of the key term.	Looks closely at and shows a strong understanding of at least one example and how it illuminates the terms. Notes at least one limitation to definition as it stands.	Uses examples but only shows a superficial understanding of how the example is tied to key terms and there are 1-2 points where the connection between example and definition is mistaken.	Makes little or no mention of examples. If any mention is made of an example there is no indication of how it is tied to the key terms and their development
Comprehension: How well you seem to understand what you are saying about the text. This is mostly about how well you use and follow the evidence you are using from the text. Are you reading your quotes carefully and following reasonably their implications (make sure the quotes are saying what you think and claim they are saying)	Excellent use of evidence from the text through quotations, paraphrasing and summary. Uses at least 2-3 quotations per paragraph, offered with paraphrasing and context in order to clearly understand what the quote means and why it’s important to your discussion—both thoroughly explains and analyzes quotes from the text.	Some strong uses of evidence; at least one quotation per paragraph and extensive paraphrasing used to set up quotes and their context. Quotations used are not always explained thoroughly, and sufficient analysis is not always offered.	Lack of explicitly used evidence from the text. Few references made to the text in any specific way, ie. through quotation or paraphrasing. Discussion of the text is very general and does not involve any detailed treatment. Quotations used are not explained adequately, if at all, and little or no analysis is offered. The quotations themselves are often large chucks of text used to stand in for the author’s voice, often replacing it in the essay.	Complete lack of explicitly used evidence from the text. Little or no reference made to the text in any specific way, ie. through quotation or paraphrasing.
Clarity: How well I understand what you are saying about the text. This is best addressed by looking over your writing at the sentence and paragraph level. Try to avoid saying too much in one sentence—that is usually what derails the reader. If you can say it more clearly in two sentences, break it up into two sentences.	Covers key terms/concerns in confident academic voice that navigates material clearly and with no more than 1-2 writing errors per paragraph. At the paragraph level your topic sentences give the reader a very clear sense of the main concern of the paragraph and how it is tied to the key terms/concerns you are discussing.	Covers summary of key terms in competent voice that navigates material clearly and with no more than 2-3 writing errors per paragraph. At the paragraph level your topic sentences give the reader some sense of the main concern of the paragraph and how it is tied to the key term you are discussing.	Covers summary of key terms in competent voice that navigates material with some clarity (with no more than 1 confused sentence per paragraph) and with no more than 3-4 writing errors per paragraph. At the paragraph level your topic sentences don’t often give the reader a clear sense of the main concern of the paragraph and how it is tied to the key term you are discussing.	Does not offer a summary of key terms in a competent voice, nor does it navigate the material clearly or shows 5 or more writing errors per paragraph. At the paragraph level your topic sentences don’t often give the reader any clear sense of the main concern of the paragraph and how it is tied to the key term you are discussing.
Organization: Identifiable Introduction (gives us argument and context for it) and Conclusion (brings together most important points covered, telling how they illuminate what argument/key terms mean and what new information they gives us about the text’s concerns). Each paragraph is woven into the ones which come before it and follow it	Thoroughly introduces key terms and definitions and stays focused on developing the key terms/concerns throughout the essay rather than simply summarizing chapter/text. Consistently brings the reader from the concerns of the previous paragraph and connects them to the next paragraph’s concerns (you can already be doing this in the final sentence of the previous paragraph, drawing a connection with the concerns of the next paragraph).	Shows strong integration of key terms throughout introduction, body, and conclusion. Shows consistent development of key terms/concerns through body of essay. Paragraphs are usually well connected, with some kind of connection drawing ideas from one paragraph to the next.	Establishes an introduction, body, conclusion structure, but essay often loses focus on key term and its development. Paragraphs seem largely disconnected from one another, as though you decided on a format for each paragraph without giving any thought to connecting the ideas from one paragraph to the next.	Essay shows little or no structure. Paragraphs do not seem at all related, nor are they connected to the key term any straightforward way.