User:ProfGray/Exercise Paraphrase academic source

Wikipedia Assignment 4
Due: t/b/d 2015
Return to the course page

Goals and method

Having analyzed Biblical scholarship and written WP Article paragraphs or sections, student Teams will now focus on a very active, narrow academic dispute over the Gentile Wives in Ezra 9-10 and related impurity and identity issues. Teams will write new sections, or even create new articles. The goal: to skillfully inform readers about scholarly viewpoints, aka critical thinking arguments, and the evidence and reasoning involved. The instructor will give students a specific editing methodology and select appropriate articles:

• Articles to edit include: Ezra, Ezra-Nehemiah, and impurity ("Tumah and taharah" in WP). Or perhaps a new article on moral impurity and genealogical impurity, per Jonathan Klawans and Christine Hayes. Or perhaps a new article on Mixed marriages in Ezra-Nehemiah (title to be determined)?
• Underlying problems include Jewish identity at different time periods, how to interpret Jewish religious beliefs, and uncertainty over how and when Ezra-Nehemiah texts were composed.
• Students can again rely on the Coogan or JPS course books, and critical commentaries, besides the assigned academic sources.
• Teams may propose to create new articles, with the Instructor's permission

Assignment steps: Weeks 10-14

We will roughly follow the steps of the Introductory Exercise, except now the emphasis will be on paraphrasing academic arguments.

• Work as a Team
• Prepare your list of reliable sources (Week 11)
• Analyze sources and compare to WP articles: Week 11-12
  • Bring a printout of notes to class for discussion!
• Write your paraphrased arguments with refs, in sandboxes, due: Week 12
  • Paragraphs must include valid paraphrases and make ONE overarching point, backed by evidence & reasons, in a suitable spot
  • Recommended: Put some original quotations and your paraphrase, side-by-side, in your sandbox!
• Peer review each other's paraphrases and references in the sandbox (Week 11-12)
  • Sign & date your peer review with ~~~~
  • Mark exactly where you see the paragraph's 1 point
  • Check references. Check the paraphrase argument against the original text. Bring up questions for class discussion!
• Introduce your ideas and role on an Article Talk page (Week 11-12)
• Edit the selected Articles with vetted paraphrases, due: Week 13

→ Copy your contribution(s) into your Portfolio for grading