Seminar in Natural Science (online)

Critique of a Science News Article

Now that we've been analyzing and discussing science news articles together for a few weeks, you're ready to pick out your own article and systematically critique it on paper.  This essay assignment embodies one of the key skills our class is meant to foster:  the logical and critical analysis of scientific information pitched at a general audience. 

Directions

Pick one of the lengthier feature articles from the Science section of the New York Times and write an essay of 4-5 double-spaced pages (using 1" margins and 12-point font size) which

• briefly describes the source and summarizes its content, and

• critically analyzes the article's content, point-of-view, argument, objectivity, representation of and commentary upon science and the scientific method, use of metaphor/analogy, writing style, etc. 

Note:  you may choose either an informational or argumentative article, but please do not analyze an interview, a letter to editor, or the shorter pieces from sub-sections such as Q&A, Observatory, Vital Signs, etc.  

At the end of your analysis, provide a full citation for the article in APA format (a separate sheet is not necessary).  If you quote from the newspaper article, be sure to indicate the paragraph number(s) in your parenthetical citation right after the quote.  Finally, provide me with a copy of the article by either (1) including an active hyperlink to the online article in your bibliographic citation, (2) copying the full text of the document into a separate Word file submitted to the Dropbox, or (3) faxing a hardcopy of the article to me at 312-281-3132.  (If you fax the article, please avoid sending graphics-intensive pages which eat up ink; print and send a printer-friendly version if possible.)

Other Options

1. You don't have to limit yourself to the Science section of the Times, necessarily.  Good science-related articles occasionally show up in other sections of the paper throughout the week, so if you can access the Times online, you might do a search for a particular subject that interests you.  Also, you may locate a science article in another newspaper (e.g., the Chicago Tribune or the Sun-Times), as long as it has enough substance to reward close analysis.  If you can't find something of interest in the current week's news, try looking for a particular science subject in the Lexis-Nexis - Academic Universe database, where you can search for news articles across the country from a timeframe of several years back to the present.
2. If you like, you can structure your critique as a comparison/contrast essay by picking two articles to analyze from two different sources.  This would give you a chance to evaluate how well different writers/news sources cover scientific news, how they represent the scientific process to their readers, and how clearly they communicate technical information.  For this option, you might pick two articles with different approaches, or compare a high quality to a low quality article.  Finally, while you don't have to pick articles on the exact same subject (though that would be convenient), it would be easier for you in their subjects are "in the same ballpark," so to speak. 

 Helpful Hints

• Describing and summarizing the article:  What type of article is this?  Who is the primary audience for the source?  How technical is it?  Briefly summarize (using your own words) the content of the article in a paragraph (or two at the most) near the beginning of your essay.

• Critiquing the article:  Here you shift from summarizing to evaluating the news report.  This discussion should constitute the bulk of your essay.  Use the guidelines for Analyzing Media Articles about Science that we used in class as a way to generate ideas, but don't feel limited by the guide.  (If you can think of other questions to ask or points to raise, do so!)  Overall, you should be thinking about the strengths and weaknesses of the article, how objective it is, how it uses examples, what kind of credibility the author establishes, how effectively it communicates scientific information, and what kind of comment it makes (either explicitly or implicitly) about the scientific process itself.

• Organization and focus:  Make sure your essay is clearly organized around the points you want to make--don't simply follow the organization of the article itself, as that may lead you to summarize instead of analyzing the information.  Make sure you have at least a brief intro to your essay, which sets out your overall "take" on the article.  Finally, make sure each paragraph is focused on one major point, and back up those points with examples from the article.  Indicate clearly when you are quoting or paraphrasing by using signal phrases and the appropriate parenthetical references (see this link for tips on referring to a source within your writing).

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Last updated 09/09/09