Journal guidelines

For this assignment, you are asked to keep a class journal in which you will record various developments, observations, questions, and reflections about one Latin American country. You should get the information on your chosen country from contemporary newspapers, magazines or journals only. Your sources can be local or foreign, it does not matter, but they should be reputable publications (please avoid blogs, Wikipedia, opinion essays, and any online source that fails to adhere to basic academic standards). If you have questions about your sources, do not hesitate to ask me. The purpose of this assignment is to make you think actively about Latin America. If successful, the journal assignment will increase your sense of involvement in the course, encourage you to develop your skills in critical thinking, and make your study of Latin American history more meaningful.

You should follow several guidelines regarding this journal assignment:

1- Choose a country and start soon. After you have decided on a country, start reading newspapers such as the New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times, etc., and look for reports on your country of choice. Anything is valid so try to find articles dealing with topics that interest you.

2- For each article you find, you should create a journal entry. Each entry should include three main parts:

a- Basic information on the source: paper/journal name, date, title of the article, author(s), and the link to the original article.

b- Brief summary of the article: your summary should help others not familiar with the text "see it" or understand what it is about "in a nutshell." It should include a few sentences that explain key details or elements about the article. Keep in mind the reader is not familiar with this article so you should be thorough when you summarize its contents.

c- Response to the article: this part should include your analysis of the article. The analysis could be a response to the argument/claims made by the author(s) of the report or your own analysis of the topic discussed in the article. Include any connections you see between the topics discussed in class and the article.

3- Work on your journal entries consistently throughout the semester. You should create one journal entry per week. Since the journal is due at the end of week 12, you should choose your country and start reading the papers no later than week 3. You cannot have two entries from the same day or week. Articles should be from at least two different sources.

4- Length of the entries can vary, depending on your chosen subject matter and your writing style. A typical journal entry for this course ranges from about half a page to one full page of double-spaced material, but there is no strict requirement for length. Quality is much more important than quantity in this assignment.

5- You should complete a minimum of 5 and up to 10 journal entries during the semester. Five entries would meet the minimum requirement for credit (likely a C), if your entries are of good quality. If you are aiming for an A, then you should turn in ten entries, and you are encouraged to do so if you have many ideas, or especially if your treatment of each topic is somewhat brief.

6- The material you turn in should be readable and presentable, with attention to organization, grammar, and proper writing mechanics. Instead of a highly academic and somewhat impersonal term paper, the journal is intended to reveal some of your reactions, thoughts, and questions about Latin America and its relationship to your own world of experience.

7- Journal should be uploaded to moodle through Turnitin. The journal is due by midnight on Friday, April 18, through moodle. There will be a penalty of one full grade for each late day.