Response Papers

RESPONSE PAPERS

ARGUMENT, QUESTION, CONNECTIONS, AND IMPLICATIONS: AQCI

CENTRAL QUOTATION. Quote a sentence (or excerpts from linked sentences) from the text that you think is central to the author's (or authors') implicit or explicit argument(s). Always cite the page number.

1. ARGUMENT. In a few sentences, state the author's explicit or implicit argument. Be sure to include both: what the author is arguing for, what s/he is arguing against, and what is the scholarly context to the argument.

2. QUESTION. Raise a question which you think is not fully, or satisfactorily, answered by the text. The question should be a question of interpretation or of inquiry, not simply a question of fact.

3. CONNECTIONS. In a couple of paragraphs, connect the argument of this text to an argument or point you find in another reading covered in this course or one you have picked up from earlier study in some social science class or elsewhere. In this regard, you may present a quote from the other text (citing it properly), and explain how the present text's argument contrasts with, contradicts, confirms, clarifies, or elaborates the other text's argument or point.

4. IMPLICATIONS. Lay out what this argument (#1 above) implies for understanding a scholarly topic or any facet of social or cultural reality in a few paragraphs. Please avoid making personal reflections such as "I find this reading boring," or trivial ones like "I think poverty and inequality should end in society."

AQCIs should not exceed 3 typed pages. They should be typed in double-space, 12-font size, proofread, printed and submitted on time.

The aim of the AQCI is to orient you critically towards a text/author, to grasp what some of the