response paper 114

Instructions for Paper 4 Response

paper 4 combines a summary and response/analysis to the readings for Part 4 on Decolonizing Research.

You can use two of the articles from the readings (there are 4 readings in total). After you select the articles, here are some questions to keep in mind as you work on your analysis.

You need not answer all the questions – use these as guides to inform your analysis:

1. What is the main problem or issue that the author is addressing?

2. What is the author’s central claim, argument, or point?

3. What assumptions does the author make?

4. What evidence does the author present?

5. What are the strengths and weaknesses of the text?

6. What are possible counterarguments to the text’s claims?

7. Why are the problem(s) and the argument(s) interesting or important?

Actions to Take: Response Paper What you should be able to do in this paper:

1. Explain the key terms, main arguments, and assumptions of each text. (summary)

2. Do your best to characterize each text’s arguments fairly and accurately.

3. Evaluate the evidence that each text presents: point out strengths and weaknesses, both internal to the text and in relation to the others. For example, if one text makes an argument based on an assumption that another text either confirms or refutes, then you can use the latter text to evaluate the plausibility of the claim made by the former.

4. Explain how the texts relate to and “speak” to one another. Synthesize them if you can, and if you cannot, explain what the barriers preventing such a synthesis are.

5. Consider both sides of issues at stake. If all the texts are on one side of an issue, consider the other side. If the texts fall on both sides of an issue, consider where agreements and disagreements lie and what each side’s strengths and weaknesses are.

6. Include your own voice by weighing arguments, evaluating evidence, and raising critical questions. If there seems to be something important that none of the authors addresses, point it out and state what you think its significance is. Try to be as specific as possible.

7. Don’t forget to synthesize your account by showing how the texts relate to one another. The authors are in a figurative, if not literal, “conversation” with one another, and you must be able to recognize and explain what is going on in that conversation.

8. Keep in mind, the paper is only 2 pages and so work on editing your ideas AFTER you have written them out