Biology 114: New York Times Clippings Project
Procedure: (50 points)
Select a topic for your project:
To start this project, you will pick an issue of interest to you from among many you will find covered in The New York Times. You may want to look at back issues of The Times and recent magazines to identify a topic you find interesting. You may also want to gather background information from books and other publications, the Internet, and elsewhere. Your topic must be relevant to material being covered in Biology 114.
It is better to start with a broad topic that you can narrow down later if you wish. For instance, by starting with a subject such as "Evolution," you are sure to find a sufficient number of related articles over the course of the quarter. By the time you are ready to begin writing your paper, you may need to narrow your subject to a particular facet of evolution, for example, the social implications of evolution. The Tuesday edition of The New York Times contains a special science section.
Confirm with your TA that the subject is appropriate for your course: (NYT assignment I: 7 points)
Submit two paragraphs that briefly discuss why you have chosen the subject and how it relates to the course curriculum. List the resources you have consulted for background information.
Clip relevant articles from The New York Times:
Clip any articles, editorials, columns, letters to the editors, or other items that address your topic. Keep in mind that news stories are intended to convey the basic facts of a topic, while the other types of articles weigh competing opinions and points of view. You will need to include at least 3 recent New York Times articles in your project's final bibliography. Date and identify each item by page(s) and column(s). For example, write A1:1 to identify an article that begins on page 1 of section A, in the first (left-hand) column. To indicate that the article continues on page A18 in the second and third columns, write A18:2,3. You may want to group clippings not only chronologically, but also by the narrower subjects that are addressed. You may also want to highlight portions of the clippings that you find especially interesting or pertinent. Also, look for any items under "corrections" on page A2 that may refer to the articles you have clipped.
Supplement the materials you have found in The Times with other sources:
Draw on other publications such as books and magazines, radio or television news programs, and the Internet to supplement the information you found in The New York Times.
Submit a progress report to your instructor: (NYT Assignment II: 3 points):
Include a bibliography of sources you have used to date and indicate whether you have narrowed the subject matter or shifted your original approach.
Complete one of the following projects. (NYT Assignment III: 40 points):
Analysis of the development of the issue over a discrete time frame (3–4 pages)
Write a brief introduction to your topic/issue, then analyze your subject and discuss how it has evolved since you began clipping articles. Refer to governmental, political, social and economic forces that were involved.
Opinion review (3–4 pages)
Write a brief introduction to your topic/issue, then discuss the various viewpoints of individuals and organizations involved whose opinions appear either in pieces on the Op-Ed page or in quotations included in news stories. You may wish to use other resources to include additional perspectives. In either case, your essay should include complete citations as footnotes. Indicate the source (e.g., name of publication, radio program, web site, etc), its date, page (if appropriate), and column(s) in the case of newspapers and magazines, etc.
Project Components:
- Evolution and analysis of the issue within a discrete time frame
- Brief introduction with clear statement of issue being analyzed
- Analysis of issue and a discussion of how the issue has developed since you began clipping articles
- Reference to governmental, political, social, and economic forces involved
- Complete citations included as footnotes using the format given above
- Turn in all the clippings you used for this project
