If the chosen article is a summary of a scientific journal article, include qualifications of both the article author and the research scientist
Summary of Primary Source Articles – IN YOUR OWN WORDS
minimum length = 2 detailed paragraphs
Critique of Primary Source Articles – IN YOUR OWN WORDS
this section should be the bulk of your essay; minimum length = 4 detailed paragraphs
Summary vs Critique Actions
Specifically, address the following questions:
How does the topic of the article affect the Earth as a whole?
How does this article relate to my life?
References – Purdue’s OWL website can assist with APA citation formatting
Please use the above 6 numbers/headings to organize your essay.
Additional Information:
What is a Critique?
A book report only summarizes the article. A critical essay is you explaining what you think of their data. For a 1000-word essay, the summary should only be about two paragraphs long. The rest of the report should be your thoughts about the topic. Analyze the pros and cons of the article. Is the author presenting good science or just opinion? Is the author a recognized expert? How could the article be improved?
What is Good Science?
The instructions above ask you to evaluate whether the article is ‘good science’. DO NOT just tell me it is ‘good science’. Explain why. Start by asking yourself these questions: Did they try and use the scientific method? Did they support the conclusions with facts? Did they provide the facts or a reference to them? If the answer is no to any of those basic questions, then it’s probably not good quality science, and you probably need to find at least 1 more supplemental article to add additional support to your essay.
