North American archaeology: book
This assignment provides you with an opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of North American archaeology.
Please select one of the the books above. Pick the one you think will be of most interest to you. To help you learn, remember, and enhance your critical thinking skills, please answer the following question for the book you selected. Please number your answers following the questions below.
1. The main purpose of the book is ________________.
[State as accurately as possible the author's purpose for writing the book. In other words, what motivated him/her to write it, what did he/she hope to accomplish? A strong answer will require several sentences.]
2. The research question that the author is addressing is, _________________.
[Identify the key question in the mind of the author when s/he wrote the book. Authors usually write about issues they are interested in answering or understanding themselves. State the author's research question in the form of a question. A strong answer will be 1-3 sentences stated as questions.]
3. Please identify and describe three "things" from each chapter that you learned and want to remember.
Specifically:
5. The main results (conclusions) of the book are __________________.
[A strong asnwer may be provided in several sentences to a paragraph.]
6. If we accept the authors results/conclusions, what are some implications for our understanding of humanity or yourself?
[In other words, what difference does this information make in your understanding? How does the argument/information change or contribute to your understanding? A strong answer will require several sentences to a paragraph.]
7. Please give me your opinion of the book and rate it from 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest). Why did you rate it as you did?
[A strong answer will require several sentences.]
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Late submissions: This assignment may not be turned in late.
Submitting Your Assignment. You may submit your assignment any day/time before the day and time it is due. Upload it to Blackboard in Microsoft Word or pdf format. If you have problems uploading your assignment, you may email it to me before the day/time it is due.
Grading Rubric.
20 points: All answers are specific, thorough, and accurate. Reactions to the book and documentation of learning demonstrate serious and thoughtful consideration of the issues raised. Minimal to no grammatical errors. Excellent work! Exceeds expectations.
18 points: All answers are specific, thorough, and accurate. Reactions to the book and documentation of learning demonstrate serious and thoughtful consideration of the issues raised. Minimal to no grammatical errors.
16 points: All answers are specific, thorough, and accurate. Reactions to the book and documentation of learning demonstrate some serious and thoughtful consideration of the issues raised. Minimal to no grammatical errors.
14 points: Most answers are specific, thorough, and accurate. Grammatical errors make the submission difficult to read. .
12 points: Answer quality is uneven and/or many obvious grammatical errors make the submission difficult to read.
10 – 0 points: Some questions answered. Answer quality is uneven and mostly poor. Many obvious grammatical errors.
Sharing Assignments and Plagiarism. Assignments should be completed individually. Sharing assignments is a violation of the University's Honor Code. Plagiarism is also a violation of the Honor Code. Please complete this excellent tutorial to learn more about plagiarism: http://library.uta.edu/plagiarism/
1. The main purpose of the book is ________________.
[State as accurately as possible the author's purpose for writing the book. In other words, what motivated him/her to write it, what did he/she hope to accomplish? A strong answer will require several sentences.]
2. The research question that the author is addressing is, _________________.
[Identify the key question in the mind of the author when s/he wrote the book. Authors usually write about issues they are interested in answering or understanding themselves. State the author's research question in the form of a question. A strong answer will be 1-3 sentences stated as questions.]
3. Please identify and describe three "things" from each chapter that you learned and want to remember.
Specifically:
- Summarize in your own words these things you learned. One sentence summaries are an inadequate demonstration of the depth of your learning. React (in writing) to what you are learning with several sentences to a short paragraph per insight/'thing".
- This effort will be as valuable as you are willing to make it. Text such as "The author explained what evolution tells us about sex, diet, and how we live" are inadequate because this is a description of what a book is about and not documentation of what you learned. Likewise, "I learned about how Freshmen interact with international students" is not an adequate demonstration of the depth of your learning.
- You're not describing what the book is about, you're capturing your growing understanding of yourself and humanity.
- Documenting relatively specific facts without stating the larger significance for your learning is not worth your time (e.g., "Lactase is an enzyme that is used to digest milk.").
- Please separate what you learned by chapter and number each new insight.
5. The main results (conclusions) of the book are __________________.
[A strong asnwer may be provided in several sentences to a paragraph.]
6. If we accept the authors results/conclusions, what are some implications for our understanding of humanity or yourself?
[In other words, what difference does this information make in your understanding? How does the argument/information change or contribute to your understanding? A strong answer will require several sentences to a paragraph.]
7. Please give me your opinion of the book and rate it from 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest). Why did you rate it as you did?
[A strong answer will require several sentences.]
************
Late submissions: This assignment may not be turned in late.
Submitting Your Assignment. You may submit your assignment any day/time before the day and time it is due. Upload it to Blackboard in Microsoft Word or pdf format. If you have problems uploading your assignment, you may email it to me before the day/time it is due.
Grading Rubric.
20 points: All answers are specific, thorough, and accurate. Reactions to the book and documentation of learning demonstrate serious and thoughtful consideration of the issues raised. Minimal to no grammatical errors. Excellent work! Exceeds expectations.
18 points: All answers are specific, thorough, and accurate. Reactions to the book and documentation of learning demonstrate serious and thoughtful consideration of the issues raised. Minimal to no grammatical errors.
16 points: All answers are specific, thorough, and accurate. Reactions to the book and documentation of learning demonstrate some serious and thoughtful consideration of the issues raised. Minimal to no grammatical errors.
14 points: Most answers are specific, thorough, and accurate. Grammatical errors make the submission difficult to read. .
12 points: Answer quality is uneven and/or many obvious grammatical errors make the submission difficult to read.
10 – 0 points: Some questions answered. Answer quality is uneven and mostly poor. Many obvious grammatical errors.
Sharing Assignments and Plagiarism. Assignments should be completed individually. Sharing assignments is a violation of the University's Honor Code. Plagiarism is also a violation of the Honor Code. Please complete this excellent tutorial to learn more about plagiarism: http://library.uta.edu/plagiarism/