Assignment: Mini-Review Essay

for Engl 1028 Honors Composition II

Special Topic: Global Warming, O'Donnell, ETSU, Fall 2016

I. Assignment

You will write 6 (?) mini-review essays this semester, roughly 600-900 words each. For each, write a gloss and review of a work that you encounter in this class. A "work" could include a printed text, an electronic text, or an audio-visual production.

II. Audience

Write for a broad general audience. Assume that some stranger -- say, some English speaker from a different city, state, or country -- might find your review essay in a web search. Tell that person what they need to know to understand what your essay is.

III. Requirements

A. Include a full, generous title which indicates clearly, to an uninformed reader, exactly what your short essay is and does.

B. Include the following basic info in a text box, at the top of your mini review, under the title:

1. - Author

2. - Full title, including subtitle

3. - Venue where originally published (periodical, website, book publisher, film producer, etc)

4. - Date; volume and issue of original publication, if applicable

5. - Number of pages; or, for digital text, approximate number of words; or, for audio-visual media, runtime

6. - genre (peer-reviewed journal article, blog post, magazine feature, news report, book chapter, documentary film; etc.)

7. - Key search terms -- 3 to 5 terms that you would include as index terms your essay were a web page.

IV. Questions for Consideration

A. Who is the author? Does the author write from the perspective of a particular discipline? Is the author associated with a particular institution? How old is the author? Does she or he identify with a particular nation or region? Is the author notable or notorious? Has she or he been part of a noted public debate or controversy?

B. Consider the venue: How long has it been around? Is it affiliated with other institutions or organizations? Is it, itself, a noted institution? Is it known for a viewpoint? (For example, perhaps the article was published on a "news site ... with a progressive perspective.")

C. Upon what sources does the work rely? What types of sources? How does the work cite those sources?

D. Is the work a response to other particular works, or does it have a special relationship to other notable works? For example, perhaps a film was made out of the book. Perhaps the article has been reprinted in an anthology such as "The Global Warming Reader."

E. How old is the work? Is there important work that has been subsequently published that supercedes this work?

F. What are the aesthetic qualities of the work? For example, is the writing engaging and elegant? Or perhaps, conversely, the writing is stilted and offputting.

G. What is YOUR take on the work? In your best judgment, what makes the work notable or worth reading or -- perhaps, rather -- what makes the work flawed and worth rebutting? How does your own experience or identity position affect your take on the work?