answered: , one-page paper that challenges or expands on some concept,

  

, one-page paper that
challenges or expands on some concept, finding, or issue the class or reading raised for you. In other words, you
will focus on some aspect of the course material and actively engage in some critical analysis on that topic.
Focus on some aspect of the course material that you found particularly relevant, and then challenge, extend,
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synthesize, or introduce new implications of the concept you are writing about. Typically, the more you apply
the tools of critical thinking, the better you will do on these papers.
These papers are to be one page only. Do not make them any longer. If you find that your paper goes over the
one-page limit, revise your work.
The grading of these papers will be based on clarity, thoughtfulness, quality of writing (proofread your work
please!) and relevance to the material covered. Simply saying that you thought a particular concept or
phenomena was “interesting to you” or “true,” or merely providing me with examples, will not earn you a very
good grade on these short papers, whereas expanding the concept, elucidating on some question it raises for you,
or critically challenging it with a well-stated and thought-out argument will produce higher marks. Try to teach
me something in these papers. You are the social scientist: Find a way to advance the topic in some fashion.
Think of these as brainstorming papers. Your conclusions don’t have to be “right”: The goal is to come up
with ideas that may lead to deeper understanding, and may take the form of some new idea that is testable. Feel
free to connect the material to your life experience or the material from another discipline in some way, but only
to build on the material. Remember, the goal is to present thoughts and ideas beyond what you read or heard in
lecture.
I have attached the midterm study guide you can use it to pick a topic about the idea paper