| American History Current Event Page |
| Over the entire course of the upcoming year you will be delving into the world of news. For some of you this will be a new experience, and for others it will be old hat. Whichever group you fit into, it is important, as you grow towards adulthood, that you know what is going on in the world around you! Some of what we study will be important events right here in our own backyard. Other stories will be about strange happenings in far away places. All of the stories that we study will be important to the understanding of who we are and what our place is in the larger world (and there IS a larger world). As I have stated in class, this is an on-going, weekly assignment, due every Friday. Please use the following format when writing your weekly current event assignment. Ask questions if you are unsure, and good luck! Paragraph One: This first paragraph should be a brief summary of the article. Note: you may not copy the author's statements word for word; this is called plagarism, and plagarism is illegal. Instead, read the article a couple of times (or more if you do not fully understand it the first couple of times). Then, put what the author said in your own words! Include in this paragraph the paper where the article appeared, what date it was printed, and who wrote the article. The article should be about a political or social issue, not sports, alien abductions or movie star marriages. Remember . . . real news only! Paragraph Two: In the second paragraph, you will try to find out and write about the author's opinion or bias. This is very easy to spot in some articles and almost impossible in others. Never write, "the author did not have a bias." This is never the case; everyone has an opinion. Just try your best, and if you are having trouble, simply give it an educated guess. This will become easier the more current events you do, so do not get too frustrated at first. Paragraph Three: This is the final paragraph of your current event assignment. In this paragraph, you are to give your reaction to the story that you read. This is the only paragraph that should contain your personal opinion. Please react only to the news story itself (How do you feel? Where do you stand on the issue? What do you think should happen? How could the issue be resolved?), not on how the article was written. Remember, this is a reaction paragraph, not a reaction sentence! |