Tips for Preparing Reading/Viewing Responses
History 291 (Spring 2013)
Latin America in the U.S. Imagination
You are responsible for preparing six reading responses over the course of the semester. At least three of these have to be completed in the first half of the semester (before spring break). [NOTE changes as of 03/07]: For any Reading/Viewing Response that is for a Tuesday class, these are due by 6:00 PM on the Monday before the class session in which we are scheduled to discuss that particular reading. For any Response that is for a Thursday class, these are due by 12:01 AM (i.e., midnight) on that Thursday. That will give me and other students in the class a chance to read it before class.
Your Reading Responses are to be posted to the “Discussion Board” tab on Blackboard for this course. Please note that NOT EVERY ASSIGNED READING IS AVAILABLE FOR A READING RESPONSE. Some don’t lend themselves to this kind of activity, so I haven’t included them. BEFORE WRITING A REPONSE, GO TO THE DISCUSSION BOARD TAB, MAKE SURE THAT THE ARTICLE/CHAPTER/FILM IS AVAILABLE. Then you can write.
Commenting: The purpose of putting your responses up on a Blackboard Discussion Board is to allow other students to read them and to encourage comments. Feel free to post comments to any of the entries and/or to add questions of your own. Class discussions will often be generated by these entries.
Suggestions for writing productive responses:
Writing responses are typically 2-3 pages in length, double spaced, 1” margins, 12-pt font. They can be longer.
They should address salient issues raised in the text (written or visual) that you are responding to. They are not summaries of the reading, book reviews, or opportunities for you to tell your readers how you “feel” about the book, author, or argument.
They are intended to help you read sources more carefully and “critically.” This doesn’t mean that you need to criticize the author, but rather that you bring a critical (well informed, supported) judgment to your reading. They are intended to help you identify some of the author’s main points and provide evaluation of the arguments in light of your understanding of the history, other arguments that have been presented, evidence the author has introduced, his/her theoretical or conceptual approach, etc.
Again, don’t summarize the article, chapter or book. It is quite legitimate to find one section or argument that you find particularly important or intriguing, and pursue that.
Think of answering the following questions: What is the main argument or point of the article/book/film? What are the central questions the author is addressing? What conclusions does the author draw? What are the most important main assumptions underlying the author’s argument? How successful is the author is sustaining his/her point of view? What is the relevance of the author’s argument to contemporary issues?
Other tips: When writing a response to a secondary source (an article/book that presents an analysis of other materials/information presented elsewhere. The articles on “semiotics” from Feb. 7 are all secondary sources)
1. Use evidence (i.e., quotes from the reading) to substantiate your own argument. If you argue that the author’s perspective is distorted, provide evidence to support your statement.
2. What is your reasoned opinion about the author’s argument? It’s fine to note whether you liked an article (etc.) or not, but your response must go beyond that: analyze what you found its strengths or weaknesses to be.
3. Does the author’s argument make sense? Is it logical? Does it leave certain perspectives out? Does it present its argument with the necessary complexity or is it simplistic?
4. What is the significance of the article? Is the subject of the article compelling? Important?
5. What kind of evidence is most important for the author? Is there evidence that seems to be left out?
Other tips: When writing a response to a primary sources (original materials. The Marx-Engels article for Feb 7, the “Broncho Billy” film clip, etc. are primary sources)
1. When writing about primary source materials (materials from the time period, including films, etc.) you need to analyze them from the perspective of the approaches that we have been studying, always looking to address the question: What are the assumptions about Latin America/Latin Americans (or others) that are made in the text/film? How do we understand its message from a semiotic, metaphoric, content, or historical point of view? Again: back up your arguments by reference to the primary text itself. If you argue that the particular use of metaphors suggests a negative view, tell me what kind of view, why you argue as you do.
2. In terms of primary sources in particular, your point in writing the response is not to argue (for example), that the film clip you watched is vile because it is racist, but rather to say what the director/filmmaker does specifically to convey that message. Analyze.
Finally, your response should raise 2-3 substantial questions about the article (not content questions) that you would like to see raised in class discussions.
Please see me if you have any questions about these assignments, primary vs. secondary sources, etc.
Latin America in the U.S. Imagination
You are responsible for preparing six reading responses over the course of the semester. At least three of these have to be completed in the first half of the semester (before spring break). [NOTE changes as of 03/07]: For any Reading/Viewing Response that is for a Tuesday class, these are due by 6:00 PM on the Monday before the class session in which we are scheduled to discuss that particular reading. For any Response that is for a Thursday class, these are due by 12:01 AM (i.e., midnight) on that Thursday. That will give me and other students in the class a chance to read it before class.
Your Reading Responses are to be posted to the “Discussion Board” tab on Blackboard for this course. Please note that NOT EVERY ASSIGNED READING IS AVAILABLE FOR A READING RESPONSE. Some don’t lend themselves to this kind of activity, so I haven’t included them. BEFORE WRITING A REPONSE, GO TO THE DISCUSSION BOARD TAB, MAKE SURE THAT THE ARTICLE/CHAPTER/FILM IS AVAILABLE. Then you can write.
Commenting: The purpose of putting your responses up on a Blackboard Discussion Board is to allow other students to read them and to encourage comments. Feel free to post comments to any of the entries and/or to add questions of your own. Class discussions will often be generated by these entries.
Suggestions for writing productive responses:
Writing responses are typically 2-3 pages in length, double spaced, 1” margins, 12-pt font. They can be longer.
They should address salient issues raised in the text (written or visual) that you are responding to. They are not summaries of the reading, book reviews, or opportunities for you to tell your readers how you “feel” about the book, author, or argument.
They are intended to help you read sources more carefully and “critically.” This doesn’t mean that you need to criticize the author, but rather that you bring a critical (well informed, supported) judgment to your reading. They are intended to help you identify some of the author’s main points and provide evaluation of the arguments in light of your understanding of the history, other arguments that have been presented, evidence the author has introduced, his/her theoretical or conceptual approach, etc.
Again, don’t summarize the article, chapter or book. It is quite legitimate to find one section or argument that you find particularly important or intriguing, and pursue that.
Think of answering the following questions: What is the main argument or point of the article/book/film? What are the central questions the author is addressing? What conclusions does the author draw? What are the most important main assumptions underlying the author’s argument? How successful is the author is sustaining his/her point of view? What is the relevance of the author’s argument to contemporary issues?
Other tips: When writing a response to a secondary source (an article/book that presents an analysis of other materials/information presented elsewhere. The articles on “semiotics” from Feb. 7 are all secondary sources)
1. Use evidence (i.e., quotes from the reading) to substantiate your own argument. If you argue that the author’s perspective is distorted, provide evidence to support your statement.
2. What is your reasoned opinion about the author’s argument? It’s fine to note whether you liked an article (etc.) or not, but your response must go beyond that: analyze what you found its strengths or weaknesses to be.
3. Does the author’s argument make sense? Is it logical? Does it leave certain perspectives out? Does it present its argument with the necessary complexity or is it simplistic?
4. What is the significance of the article? Is the subject of the article compelling? Important?
5. What kind of evidence is most important for the author? Is there evidence that seems to be left out?
Other tips: When writing a response to a primary sources (original materials. The Marx-Engels article for Feb 7, the “Broncho Billy” film clip, etc. are primary sources)
1. When writing about primary source materials (materials from the time period, including films, etc.) you need to analyze them from the perspective of the approaches that we have been studying, always looking to address the question: What are the assumptions about Latin America/Latin Americans (or others) that are made in the text/film? How do we understand its message from a semiotic, metaphoric, content, or historical point of view? Again: back up your arguments by reference to the primary text itself. If you argue that the particular use of metaphors suggests a negative view, tell me what kind of view, why you argue as you do.
2. In terms of primary sources in particular, your point in writing the response is not to argue (for example), that the film clip you watched is vile because it is racist, but rather to say what the director/filmmaker does specifically to convey that message. Analyze.
Finally, your response should raise 2-3 substantial questions about the article (not content questions) that you would like to see raised in class discussions.
Please see me if you have any questions about these assignments, primary vs. secondary sources, etc.