Assignment

Your assignment is to write a fully developed, three-paragraph paper in which you summarize, analyze, and respond to the following article:

http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/latest-columns/20160718-campus-carry-is-problematic-but-not-dangerous.ece

Please read and follow the following instructions carefully:

Title. Give your paper an original and informative title. It doesn't have to be the cleverest title in the world, but it does have to be more original and informative than "Summary-Analysis-Response Paper." Your title should reflect the content of your paper. It should be centered on the first line beneath your heading, and it should be capitalized correctly.

Paragraph 1. Your first paragraph should be a summary of the article. In your first sentence, identify the author's full name and the article title (in quotation marks and capitalized correctly). Your summary should answer all of the following questions: What is the issue in this article? What is the author's position on the issue? What reasons does the author provide in support of his position? Use your own words, not the words of the article's author (not even in quotes), and write in complete sentences, being as specific as possible. You may need to re-read the article a few times and look up any words that you don't know in order to grasp the writer's ideas thoroughly enough to summarize them in your own words. Please note that you will be more likely to earn full credit for your summary paragraph if it explicitly mentions the underlined words above (issue, position, and reasons). Also, be as objective as possible in your summary. Your reader (that is, your instructor) should not be able to guess by reading your summary whether you agree or disagree with the article's claim.

Paragraph 2. Your second paragraph should be an analysis of the article. Your analysis should answer all of these questions: Does the author state his position explicitly, or does he only imply it? What types of supporting points does the author use (reasons, data, statistics, examples, explanations, quotations, causes, effects, etc.) to develop his main idea? Do you feel that the article contains a sufficient amount of support? Are the supporting points relevant to the topic? What type of audience can the author assume will be reading his article? (Be as specific as possible, and don't forget to consider where the article was originally published.) Overall, how effective is the author's argument, and why? Again, you should be as objective as possible in this paragraph. Point out the strengths and/or weaknesses in the author's argument without indicating your own personal viewpoint on the author's claim.

Paragraph 3. Your final paragraph should be a personal response to the article. This is where you finally get to express your own opinions! In your response, you should answer all of these questions: How much common ground do you have with the author? (In your discussion of common ground, I want to know what values, beliefs, interests, or experiences you share with the author. You can disagree with the author's claim but still share common ground with him. Also, if you do agree with the author, I'd like you to include more in your discussion of common ground than simply the fact that you agree with his claim.) What does the article make you think more about? Finally, state whether you agree or disagree with the author's claim, and as specifically as possible, explain why.

Paragraph Length. In general, a well-developed paragraph should be between one hundred and two hundred words long. The number of sentences in each paragraph of this paper will range from five to ten.

Style. Your summary and analysis (Paragraphs 1 and 2) should be written in academic style, which means that you should write in complete, concise sentences, following standard rules for capitalization and spelling, and you should eliminate all slang and first- and second-person pronouns (I, me, my, we, us, you, your). Your response paragraph (Paragraph 3) can be written in informal style. Since you're describing your personal reactions in this paragraph, feel free to use first-person pronouns like I, me, and my. Continue to avoid second-person pronouns like you and your, though. Do not refer to the article's author by his first name. After your initial mention of the author's full name, refer to him by last name only.

Revisions. Try to finish your first draft of this paper early enough that you will have time to read over it, revising and proofreading, at least twice before you turn it in.

When you have completed your document, upload it in the upload window. Some browsers don't like the upload window, so in the event you cannot upload through the upload window, you can send the assignment by email as a MS Word attachment. If you do this, please be sure to include your 5-digit Section ID number in the subject line of the email.