Students of air traffic control in Mt. San Antonio College

Paper instructions:

INTRODUCTION:
First, explain the bare basics of what your paradigm is about to establish your topic clearly and directly. Launch into these basics in the very first sentence—no set-up or “hook.”

Next, quickly sum up how people typically view the members of this paradigm. What is the traditional perception of the paradigm by outsiders?

Directly after that, briefly state whether that general perception is accurate or not, based on your analysis. This will help you pivot toward your thesis statement.

State a thesis. The thesis statement in this paper has two parts: one part to quickly summarize your analysis of the paradigm and a second part to mention three “critique points”—that is, your evaluation and opinion, negative or positive, of three aspects of the paradigm you are about to analyze.

BODY PART 1: ANALYSIS
Your analysis is meant to break down your paradigm into specific details in order to describe it and offer insights about its nature. You have considerable freedom in which specific areas of analysis to choose, so select which fit your topic and the ones for which you have sufficient information. Organize your analytical data into paragraphs where each paragraph focuses one particular aspect of your paradigm, aspects such as the following:
• HISTORY of the paradigm—its origin, background information. History can take any one (or more) of three forms: DEEP history (the traditions, stretching back in time for decades or even hundreds of years, leading to your paradigm today); RECENT history (the trends and main developments that have influenced your paradigm in the past 10 years or less); and PERSONAL history (your own “origin story” of how you came to belong to this paradigm, how you became an insider).
• INSIDERS/ MEMBERS of the paradigm—who are these people exactly? What are they like psychologically (emotionally, intellectually, attitude, lifestyle) and in terms of their relationships (to other insiders and also to outsiders)?
• GOALS—both superficial (the obvious ones everyone admits to) and deep and hidden (the less obvious ones that no one likes to talk about)
• ASSUMPTIONS, EXPECTATIONS, and GENERAL THINKING within the paradigm. What ideas do the insiders take for granted? What do they expect to happen? What other forms of thinking or logic do you notice about this paradigm?
• COMPARE and CONTRAST—note the similarities and especially the differences between this paradigm and any one or more related to it.
• LANGUAGE—insider lingo, specialized terminology, words with unique meanings to members, “insider” talk, anything relating to how insiders communicate and articulate themselves within the paradigm.
• DAY IN THE LIFE—walk the reader through a typical day in the life of an insider. If it is a job-related paradigm, for example, walk through a typical work shift. If it is a music-related paradigm, walk through a music concert, for instance. Describe not just the physical components of the experience but your emotional and psychology ones, too. Walk through the preparation for the day, the day or experience itself, and the aftereffects.
• EXTREME CASES—if applicable, describe the more radical or extreme elements of your paradigm and discuss how these extreme cases affect the moderate insiders.

• Two things will make this analysis strong: details and insight. Details include vivid descriptiveness, specific details, and most important of all, examples. Insight means that you are including observations that are interesting and deep, ideas beyond the obvious and superficial, ideas that reflect thoughtful and deeper observation. If an outsider can guess what you’re saying, it is too obvious; if an outsider would be surprised to read what you are sharing, that’s a good sign you are being insightful.

BODY PART 2: CRITIQUE
The critique portion of your paper follows your analysis immediately, with no page break or subheading; the critique starts in the paragraph right after the last paragraph of your analysis, in other words.

You will present two different critique points (maybe three, if you’re aiming for an A-level paper). A “critique point” is a specific negative opinion that you state about this paradigm. I do not want you to critique the truth or falsehood or the validity or absurdity of this social paradigm; I instead want you to address the paradigm’s effects on its members, psychologically (emotional well being, stress level, personal satisfaction, quality of relationships such as family, marriages, friendships). Separate your critique points into separate paragraphs. And if you have more than two critique points, by all means include them.
Try to do three critique points please

Be sure to explain and support your opinion with reasons and examples. These paragraphs may be fewer than those in the analysis, but this critique is key to showing me your level of independent and critical thinking, so devote proper time and detail to your reasoning here.

CONCLUSION:
In direct response to your negative critique points, offer proposals for reforming or correcting those problems. Explain why your proposal will make the paradigm better.
• Follow MLA guidelines for citing research, including a Works Cited page. Personal stories and experiences require no citing, but personal interviews need to include names and dates for the Works Cited page (if you wish to keep subjects anonymous, ask me how to proceed).
• Since your critique is negative overall, try make the ideas of your paper speak of the problem rather than any emotionalism. It’s normal to include personal experience and feelings, but if overdone, negative passion can make the essay seem like a rant rather than an educated opinion.