Topic: Sense (Michael)

Order Description
Thought Pieces
(Written Assignments)

These assignments are designed to encourage you to think about the material in this course, and connect it with your own life. Each written assignment will take the form of a “Thought Piece,” and each piece should deal with a single, specific topic covered in one of the chapters in your textbook.

You may choose any topic from the chapters of your text to write about. Each Thought Piece should relate a concept covered in one of the chapters to events in your own life. In each Thought Piece you must meet the following criteria:

Define the concept. This should be a dictionary-like definition. The best place to obtain this is probably from the text since this is from where you will be getting your topic. (1 paragraph)

Describe the concept which you are writing about. This should be a further explanation of the topic, mostly in your own words. However, you may use info from another source(s). (1-2 paragraphs)

Elaborate on the concept using at least two (2) of the following three methods: (4-6 paragraphs)

illustrate the concept using examples from personal experience;
state and back-up your emotional, philosophical, and moral reaction – positive or negative – to the concept;
use another source (e.g., a journal or book) to explore the concept. Sources MUST be scholarly in nature. Wikipedia is not a scholarly source. Use legitimate, trustworthy, scholarly sources. Be careful with internet sources. Many of them are not legitimate sources to be used for a formal class report.
Each Thought Piece is worth up to 25 points. Papers will be evaluated for meeting the criteria stated above as well as for grammar, thoughtfulness, logic, and pertinence to the topic. Each paper must be at least four (4) pages long using a 12-point font, double-spaced, with 1? margins (top, bottom, and sides). Any citations/references, title page, etc. must be in appropriate APA format. The due dates are listed in the semester schedule. Late papers will lose points.

Anytime you refer to the ideas of another as a source for your writing, you must cite the work in your text and reference it at the end of the paper. Failure to do so is plagiarism, and will not be tolerated (i.e., you will fail the paper). For assistance on the use of citations and references according to American Psychological Association (APA) guidelines please refer to the following: http://www.apastyle.org (Links to an external site.) Additional info, including sample papers, can be obtained here: http://instruction.mtsac.edu/mdowdle/writing/index.html (Links to an external site.)

Some advice:

Be specific with your topic. A broad topic makes it hard to meet the requirements of the paper. The more specific your topic the easier it is to meet the criteria of the assignment.
Although you will be including personal experience and/or your personal reaction in this paper, this is not creative writing. The paper should be written at an academic, professional level. Avoid the use of slang, colloquialisms, and casual language.
Pick a topic that you can relate to your life. A nicely written paper that does not include personal experience or personal reaction will lose points. Balance out your use of personal experience/reaction/another source to elaborate on topic.
Your topic for the first Thought Piece will come from chapters 1-16 in your text. Additional information on what I expect out of this assignment, such as APA formatting, example papers, the grading rubric, etc. can be collected by following this link: Thought Pieces – http://instruction.mtsac.edu/mdowdle/writing/index.html (Links to an external site.)

Important: You must write this paper in a separate word processing program and then attach it below to submit the work. I WILL NOT accept papers using any other method. Also, if “something happens” and the submission never reaches me you have a copy of the paper and will be able to re-send it. All papers MUST be saved in *.rtf format. See documentation on the Main Course page on how to save documents in *.rtf format.

You do not need to include a title page for this paper. In fact, it’s probably better if you don’t. However, if you do APA dictates that you still put your title on the first page of written text 1? from the top. Also, when you use information from another source(s) you do need to include a “References” page. The “References” and title page do not count as one of the four required pages.

Important: You must write this paper in a separate word processing program and then attach it below to submit the work. I WILL NOT accept papers using any other method. Also, if “something happens” and the submission never reaches me you have a copy of the paper and will be able to re-send it. All papers MUST be saved in *.rtf format. See documentation on how to save documents in *.rtf format.

To submit this assignment, click on the “Submit Assignment” button above. Select the file you wish to submit using the “Choose a file” button (below), then click the “Submit Assignment” button.
Be patient: attachments uploads may take a while. Don’t click twice.
Rubric
Thought Piece 1 Grading Rubric

Topic: Sense (Michael)

Order Description
Thought Pieces
(Written Assignments)

These assignments are designed to encourage you to think about the material in this course, and connect it with your own life. Each written assignment will take the form of a “Thought Piece,” and each piece should deal with a single, specific topic covered in one of the chapters in your textbook.

You may choose any topic from the chapters of your text to write about. Each Thought Piece should relate a concept covered in one of the chapters to events in your own life. In each Thought Piece you must meet the following criteria:

Define the concept. This should be a dictionary-like definition. The best place to obtain this is probably from the text since this is from where you will be getting your topic. (1 paragraph)

Describe the concept which you are writing about. This should be a further explanation of the topic, mostly in your own words. However, you may use info from another source(s). (1-2 paragraphs)

Elaborate on the concept using at least two (2) of the following three methods: (4-6 paragraphs)

illustrate the concept using examples from personal experience;
state and back-up your emotional, philosophical, and moral reaction – positive or negative – to the concept;
use another source (e.g., a journal or book) to explore the concept. Sources MUST be scholarly in nature. Wikipedia is not a scholarly source. Use legitimate, trustworthy, scholarly sources. Be careful with internet sources. Many of them are not legitimate sources to be used for a formal class report.
Each Thought Piece is worth up to 25 points. Papers will be evaluated for meeting the criteria stated above as well as for grammar, thoughtfulness, logic, and pertinence to the topic. Each paper must be at least four (4) pages long using a 12-point font, double-spaced, with 1″ margins (top, bottom, and sides). Any citations/references, title page, etc. must be in appropriate APA format. The due dates are listed in the semester schedule. Late papers will lose points.

Anytime you refer to the ideas of another as a source for your writing, you must cite the work in your text and reference it at the end of the paper. Failure to do so is plagiarism, and will not be tolerated (i.e., you will fail the paper). For assistance on the use of citations and references according to American Psychological Association (APA) guidelines please refer to the following: http://www.apastyle.org (Links to an external site.) Additional info, including sample papers, can be obtained here: http://instruction.mtsac.edu/mdowdle/writing/index.html (Links to an external site.)

Some advice:

Be specific with your topic. A broad topic makes it hard to meet the requirements of the paper. The more specific your topic the easier it is to meet the criteria of the assignment.
Although you will be including personal experience and/or your personal reaction in this paper, this is not creative writing. The paper should be written at an academic, professional level. Avoid the use of slang, colloquialisms, and casual language.
Pick a topic that you can relate to your life. A nicely written paper that does not include personal experience or personal reaction will lose points. Balance out your use of personal experience/reaction/another source to elaborate on topic.
Your topic for the first Thought Piece will come from chapters 1-16 in your text. Additional information on what I expect out of this assignment, such as APA formatting, example papers, the grading rubric, etc. can be collected by following this link: Thought Pieces – http://instruction.mtsac.edu/mdowdle/writing/index.html (Links to an external site.)

Important: You must write this paper in a separate word processing program and then attach it below to submit the work. I WILL NOT accept papers using any other method. Also, if “something happens” and the submission never reaches me you have a copy of the paper and will be able to re-send it. All papers MUST be saved in *.rtf format. See documentation on the Main Course page on how to save documents in *.rtf format.

You do not need to include a title page for this paper. In fact, it’s probably better if you don’t. However, if you do APA dictates that you still put your title on the first page of written text 1″ from the top. Also, when you use information from another source(s) you do need to include a “References” page. The “References” and title page do not count as one of the four required pages.

Important: You must write this paper in a separate word processing program and then attach it below to submit the work. I WILL NOT accept papers using any other method. Also, if “something happens” and the submission never reaches me you have a copy of the paper and will be able to re-send it. All papers MUST be saved in *.rtf format. See documentation on how to save documents in *.rtf format.

To submit this assignment, click on the “Submit Assignment” button above. Select the file you wish to submit using the “Choose a file” button (below), then click the “Submit Assignment” button.
Be patient: attachments uploads may take a while. Don’t click twice.
Rubric
Thought Piece 1 Grading Rubric