EACH WEEK FOR THE NEXT FEW MONTHS, YOU WILL TURN IN ANALYSES OF THE VARIOUS SOURCES YOU ARE READING FOR YOUR THESIS. Article Analyses

Summary vs. Analysis Summary is all factual. The facts covered by the authors are summary; the points they are proving constitute analysis. Analysis goes beyond factual description into examination and explanation. In the Article Analyses you write this semester, and especially in your thesis proposal, you will be doing both, but analysis is more important. The goal is to only summarize the important points that support each authors’ argument, and focus more on analysis of those arguments. The point of these Analyses is twofold:  for you to show me you are conducting weekly research,  and to serve as notes on your research for you later on. When you go to write your thesis in HONR 499, you will use these Analyses as your notes—like SparkNotes—of what you read. So take good notes/write good Analyses, and you won’t have to reread these sources when you write later on.

The Goal: Focus on the Authors’… Arguments Evidence Sources Limitations If you find yourself writing down details and you can’t immediately recall how they relate to the author’s arguments, ask yourself: Are these relevant details? Without them, can you understand the argument?

Article Analysis Format Full Citation (in the accepted format for your discipline) Author’s credentials (briefly, how is this person qualified to write about this topic? If he/she has a Ph.D. or teaches at a university, that’s all you need to establish credentials. One sentence on this is sufficient). Brief overview of the source in paragraph form, including the Subject and Main Idea, the Author’s Research Question(s), the Author’s Argument(s), the Evidence that Supports the Argument, the Background Research Used by the Author, and Your Critique. Paragraph explanation of why this source is relevant to your topic. This can be vague for now, until you narrow your topic.

Also include: Notes to yourself: quotes, numbers, pictures, graphs that you think are significant (that you might want to refer back to later on in your research or writing). These will make your life a lot easier when you write the thesis later. At this point, it will be difficult for you to tell what’s important/relevant to your thesis and what’s not, since you haven’t narrowed down your topics yet. So…overdo it for now—include notes on everything that you might possibly want to use later on. Grammar and punctuation do count here. If mastering these things is a challenge for you, I suggest a trip to the Writing Center at some point this semester (and be prepared: I may require it of some of you once you work on the proposal at the end of the semester).

Article Analysis #1 Choose a relevant article that you found in one of the library’s databases. Is it peer-reviewed? You need to be certain of this. Ask a librarian for help if you can’t figure it out. Cite it in the accepted format of your field. Analyze it! Article Analysis #1 is due by Friday, 9/13,at noon. For this assignment only: please this to me; do not turn in a hard copy. I will you back over the weekend with feedback that you can use for Article Analyses 2 & 3, which are due next week. For the next few months, you will have Article Analyses due every single Wednesday. Next Wednesday, 9/18: Article Analyses 2 & 3 are due. Please turn in hard copies of these. Come see me or me if you are struggling with your choice of topic! Now is the time to commit to a broad topic; we can narrow it as you go.

Some final notes: Organization is key, and it’s best to start now. When you save your Article Analyses on your computer, DO NOT title them “Article Analysis 1” or “Honors ” Give them titles that mean something—like the author’s name, or the title of the article. Trust me—when you go to use these later on, after you’ve done a tone of research and it’s all blending together in your brain, you will want to be able to find them easily on your computers. And this goes for everything you do: back up your work. Crashing computers will not serve as an excuse to get behind on your thesis. Finally, as you read your sources, pay attention to what interests you and what doesn’t, and pay attention to how these scholars organize their articles. This should help you narrow your topic once you get deeper into the research.

Questions? Come see me or me! Please me your first Article Analysis by Friday at noon. I will have your first Article Analysis graded and ready to hand back to you before you turn in your second and third ones next Wednesday. Next Wed.: Article Analyses 2 & 3 are due to me by 3:00 pm. Please turn them in to me if I’m in my office (PRIN 111c); if I’m not, please turn them in to Debbie Hamm or put them in my mailbox on the door of my office.