CJ499 Criminal Justice Capstone – Week 4 Assignment
Guidelines
Reaction Paper Guidelines
PART 1: A SUMMARY OF THE WORK
To develop the first part of a report, do the
following:
- Identify the author and title of the work and include in
parentheses the publisher and publication date. For magazines, give the
date of publication.
- Write an informative summary of the material.
- Condense the content of the work by highlighting its main points
and key supporting points.
- Use direct quotations from the work to illustrate important ideas.
- Summarize the material so that the reader gets a general sense of
all key aspects of the original work.
- Do not discuss in great detail any single
aspect of the work, and do not neglect to mention other equally important
points.
- Also, keep the summary objective and factual. Do not include in the
first part of the paper your personal reaction to the work; your
subjective impression will form the basis of the second part of your
paper.
PART 2: YOUR REACTION TO THE WORK
To develop the second part of a report, do the
following:
- Focus on any or all of the following questions. Check with your
instructor to see if s/he wants you to emphasize specific points.
- How is the assigned work related to ideas
and concerns discussed in the course for which you are preparing the
paper? For example, what points made in the course textbook, class
discussions, or lectures are treated more fully
in the work?
- How is the work related to problems in our
present-day world?
- How is the material related to your life,
experiences, feelings and ideas? For instance, what emotions did the work
arouse in you?
- Did the work increase your understanding of a particular issue? Did
it change your perspective in any way?
- Evaluate the merit of the work: the importance of its points, its
accuracy, completeness, organization, and so on.
- You should also indicate here whether or not you would recommend
the work to others, and why.
POINTS OF CONSIDERATION WHEN
WRITING THE REPORT
Here are some important elements to consider as you
prepare a report:
- Apply the four basic standards of effective writing (unity,
support, coherence, and clear, error-free sentences) when writing the
report.
- Make sure each major paragraph presents and then develops a single
main point. For example, in the sample report that follows, the first
paragraph summarizes the book, and the three paragraphs that follow detail
three separate reactions of the student writer to the book. The student
then closes the report with a short concluding paragraph.
- Support any general points you make or attitudes you express with
specific reasons and details. Statements such as "I agree with many
ideas in this article" or "I found the book very
interesting" are meaningless without specific evidence that shows why
you feel as you do. Look at the sample report closely to see how the main
point or topic sentence of each paragraph is developed
by specific supporting evidence.
- Organize your material. Follow the basic plan of organization
explained above: a summary of one or more paragraphs, a reaction of two or
more paragraphs, and a conclusion. Also, use transitions to make the
relationships among ideas in the paper clear.
- Edit the paper carefully for errors in grammar, mechanics,
punctuation, word use, and spelling.
- Cite paraphrased or quoted material from the book or article you
are writing about, or from any other works, by using the appropriate
documentation style. If you are unsure what documentation style is
required or recommended, ask you instructor.
- You may use quotations in the summary and reaction parts of the
paper, but do not rely on them too much. Use them only to emphasize key
ideas.
Publishing information can be
incorporated parenthetically or at the bottom of the page in a footnote.
Consult with your instructor to determine what publishing information is
necessary and where it should be placed.