Use the MLA Handbook’s documentation style. List all of your sources of help on the last page of your paper.
INSTRUCTIONS:
I. You are to critically analyze or expand on the economic content of an article from The Wall Street Journal. Your paper should be at least two but no more than three typed (CG Times, 12 Point) pages in length. Single or double spacing is acceptable. Place all of your graphs on separate sheets attached to the back of your paper. Graph pages are not part of your three-page restriction.
This paper is worth 100 points. If you do not turn in this assignment, you will receive an INCOMPLETE on the assignment and a resulting 10-page paper will be due. If your paper is late, it will not be accepted, except under extenuating circumstances.
II. ASSIGNMENT:
Choose one newspaper or magazine article from Business Week, Forbes, The New York Times, or The Wall Street Journal (not a “blurb” or summary), published during the current semester, that relates directly or indirectly to some analytical concept discussed in the course.
Your write-up should:
Demonstrate your understanding of your readings of this concept, making clear how you would interpret it, how you would use it, what it is important for, and any other relevant issues;
Make clear the relevance of your concept to an article you picked by connecting them, i.e., explain point(s) made by the authr using the concept. Be careful to explain statements you make—don’t simply make assertions you don’t support. The statement(s) you focus on from the article will generally report that “something happened”; your task is to fully explain why using your concept. Don’t simply use the article to illustrate your concept—your task is to explain the article using the concept. (For example, your concept may be a product demand function and your article might report that increased consumer income has raised the demand for cars; to simply describe a demand function graphically or algebraically, and then describe how higher income will increase demand fails to explain why higher income causes demand to increase, and that would be your task in this case.)
The first sentence of your 2 to 3-page paper, (excluding any graphs), should state which analytical concept you have selected.
Highlight the selection(s) of the chosen article that your write-up addresses and somehow get the article to the professor by attaching it to an email or bringing it to campus.
State source of article: title of newspaper or magazine, author, page, date—early in paper, somewhere in the first paragraph.
After the Concept Review, begin the second part of your paper by identifying exactly what it is the highlighted portion of your article that you will be explaining. Thus, please begin second part of paper by filling in the statement “EXPLAIN WHY …………” so that I will know exactly what you are attempting to explain the why of.
The more “challenging” the concept and/or article statement(s) you choose, the higher the probability of earning a higher grade for your effort. I/we recognize this assignment is not easy—it is harder still if you do not take it seriously. In that spirit, you are encouraged to begin your search for articles early in the semester so as to provide yourself with a reasonable number, from which you can choose the one most likely to result in the most satisfactory grade for the effort made.
Papers will be graded primarily on content; however, your writing will also be considered, and if not at least satisfactory, could reduce the evaluation of your paper by as much as one letter grade. Your write-up should be organized, logical, and clear with minimal spelling, punctuation, and grammatical errors.
Collaboration with peers is permitted only prior to initial write-up; if initial write-up is the final one, so be it, though you are encouraged to prepare a rough draft before the final write-up submission.
Papers submitted after the “deadline” date will not be accepted for full credit, except in extenuating circumstances.
III. Your paper should include the following:
Name, section, course, and instructor; left-justified at the top of the first page. (i will handle that)
A title centered at the top of the first page.
Number each page right-justified at the top (e.g. smith 2, smith 3, etc.)
Main text of analysis.
Incorporate your thesis in your introduction.
Use economic models we have used in class to evaluate and address the article.
DO NOT PROVIDE A SUMMARY OF THE ARTICLE. Assume I have read it; however, you may wish to reference certain points of the article in your analysis. Provide an electronic copy of the article to your instructor.
Use your conclusion to tie all of your main points together and restate your principal findings.
Works Cited. Use the documentation style in the MLA Handbook. As a minimum, you should include references to the assigned article.
Document all sources and the substance of their assistance.
