Many weeks throughout the semester you will be required to hand in a short paper that is roughly 2-3 pages in length, typed in a 12-point Times New Roman or similar font, double spaced with standard margins. The due dates of these are indicated on the syllabus.

These short papers will be assessed on your accomplishment of several goals:

The first of these is to present, in summary, three main ideas from the readings from the weeks' readings. Any reading completed for class since the submission of the last short paper are fair game here, so you may present ideas from several different readings. Your work shall be assessed for how accurately and completely you present these ideas, and, if you properly cite the sources from which they come.

The second goal is to reflect on the degree to which the ideas discussed in the text compare to, apply to, or add perspective to you own life experience. These may be recent experiences, experiences from your past, or even experiences that people near you (friends or family) have had that you feel connect in some way to the ideas from the readings. Your work shall be assessed on the degree to which you offer descriptions of specific experiences you have had and give thorough reflection on the ways you see the ideas from the readings offering perspective on, challenging, reinforcing, or in some other way getting you to think about these experiences and how they are important to your own experience.

Lastly, your work will be assessed for use of proper, grammatically correct, professional English. Spelling, punctuation, usage of appropriate language, and more count.

Short papers are graded on the completeness of accomplishing these goals. See the Rubric for greater details.