For this paper, you will search, read, analyze and write about articles from reputable mainstream news sources about various political, environmental, economic, or cultural topics in at least four of the eleven major regions we explored in this course. Note these important guidelines:
A total of four articles should be considered for this paper, each one dealing with one of the major regions.
The articles selected should have been published no more than a month before the course began. Ideally, you should identify interconnections between events, as well as highlight some of the regional characteristics you read about from the course content that can be hinted at from the articles.
The final paper should be submitted in PDF format.
It should contain about 1500 – 2000 words, excluding references.
Articles must be referenced and cited using either MLA or APA format (consult the library website in case you need more info). Remember that a URL alone is not a proper citation. You must use in-text citations (for direct quotes and paraphrasing) AND works cited page.
Use appropriate articles. As mentioned in the syllabus, the articles should be from reputable mainstream news sources, such as The New York Times, the BBC, CNN, Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, etc.
What to write?
The paper should analyze the four articles integratively.
As far as the structure of the paper, I would suggest, in about 1000 words, do a brief overview/synthesis of each article, and then, in the remaining 1000 words, do an integrated analysis of all four pieces. Consider the following when doing the analysis:
– Show how each article relates to one or more of the themes we have touched on in this course and to the other articles chosen.
– Identify spatial interrelationships. Highlight how those events occurring in a particular place and time might be influencing other spaces/regions/landscapes/peoples, not necessarily from the other articles but in general. How is one event occurring in one place affecting other places? This is a good exercise to learn to identify the interconnections between locales.
– Demonstrate how the information we learned through the course material helps to expand what we get out of the articles – does that information help put the articles in a wider context? Does the course material lead you to question some of the statements or assumptions in the articles or to see them in a more organized way?
– Explain how the articles add to what we learned in this course– does it add detail? Does it show how generalizations about the whole region may or may not apply to specific places within it?
