Paragraph 1 - The body of your first paragraph should include the important facts that support or explain the main point of the article. This should be 4-6 sentences in length and use your own words (all written work in this course is subject to plagiarism detection software scans). Remember that the first paragraph is not your reflection. There should be no opinions in this paragraph, only the facts (or the opinions of the author if the article is an editorial).
Summary Paragraph Checklist
• Does my topic sentence correctly identify the main idea of the article?
• Did I include only the most important facts to support the main idea (do not copy/paste directly from the article or you will receive a point deduction)
• Is the information in a logical order?
• Do I come across as confident and informative throughout the paragraph?
• Did I use my own words? Did I use a variety of sentence lengths by avoiding incomplete or run-on sentences?
• Does my concluding sentence "wrap up" the paragraph?
• Are my paragraphs clearly separated (indenting on the first sentence of each paragraph).
Paragraph 2 - The second paragraph of the entry should contain your personal reflections on the article, including why you choose the specific article, and how the topic relates to the concepts you have learned in1 class. Drawing connections to the course will obviously become easier to do once you have been in the course for several weeks. Therefore, I expect the sophistication of the reflection paragraph in your journal entries to improve over the course of the semester. Here are some suggestions of what to consider in your reflection:
Reflection Paragraph Checklist
• Why did I select this article (either from among those assigned OR -for Weekly Entry 2- in addition to those assigned; this would be a great opportunity for students to examine issue[s] they believe the professor has ignored.
• How does this topic relate to what I expect/have learned in political science?
• How does this topic/story relates specifically to me?
• What is my reaction to this story? If I take a position, are sentences in a logical order? Do they support my position statement?
• Did I use a variety of sentence lengths while avoiding incomplete or run-on sentences?
• Does my closing sentence address my reaction to the event?
• Is my paragraph at least 6 sentences in length?