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Essay Instructions: Young, Jason Randolph. “Rituals of Resistance: The Making of an African-Atlantic Religious Complex in Kongo and along the Sea Islands of the Slave South.” Ph.D., diss., University of California-Riverside, 2002.

Dissertation Chapter Reviews

Introduction, 1-27. and Chapter Four, All God’s Children Had Wings: Flight, Transmigration and Other Sacred Movements of Southern Slaves,


Guidelines for Reviewing the Dissertation Chapters

1.What is the author’s thesis?
This question deals with the author’s central point, argument, or main idea. What is the author’s intent or purpose in writing the essay or text you are examining?

2. In presenting her/his thesis, what is the author’s method of approach? In other words, by what means does the author present her/his thesis?
By method of approach we mean the means by which the author presents and supports her/his thesis. For example, what kinds of sources does the author use? Are they primary or secondary sources, government documents, newspaper accounts, personal interviews, works written by other scholars on the subject, or the author’s own observations or experiences, etc.?

3. What are the author’s main points?
To support the author’s thesis, what are the main points or arguments s/he presents? You can list them in order of importance or in their order of presentation in the text.

4.What are the author’s conclusions?
What does the author conclude from the thesis and the main points s/he offers to support the thesis?

5.What are your impressions of the work?
This is your opportunity to offer your critique, your own views and reactions to the text, whether positive or negative, as a concluding statement, without using first person in your writing.

Essay Instructions: Young, A., Reiser, R., & Dick, W (1998). "Do superior teachers employ systematic instructional planning procedures? A descriptive study," Educational Technology, Research and Development, 46:2, 65

The article review MUST be at least five full pages in length. (Title and reference pages do not count as part of the five full pages. An abstract is not necessary)
The article review MUST also conform to the following format:
• Author and title of the article written in APA style
• General summary of content (what is this article about)
• Discussion of author's main point (why did the author write the article--what points are being made?)
• Identification of main elements of the argument (summarize the reasons the author cites to support the main argument)
• Discussion of conclusion (what does the author conclude?)
• Identification of at least two problems or strengths (could be items such as the writing style, the arguments, the sources of information, the analysis of data, the presentation, and so on.)
• Suggested fixes for the problems or discussion of the strengths for both the items noted above (What might have made the work better or stronger? What is so special about the really good aspects of the work?)
• Discuss potential effects of fixes, problems, improvements, or strengths (what results might you expect such as wider audience, better arguments, easier reading?)
• Discuss the potential effects of the article's publication (who would most benefit from the article? What might it lead readers to do or thing?)
Students should make each bullet point a Heading in the article review to ensure the format requirement is met.

Essay Instructions: Younger onset Alzheimer's is when it occurs in a person under the age of 65. People who have younger onset dementia may be in any stage of dementia- early, middle or late 30s, 40s, or 50s, and have Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia. Warning signs: Memory Loss, Difficulty performing familiar tasks, Problems with language,Disorientation to time and place, Poor or decreased judgement, Abstract thinking, changes in mood and behavior, changes in personality,and loss of initiative. There are 7 stages of Alzheimer's, Stage 1:No impairment (normal function) Stage 2:Very mild individuals may feel as if they have memory lapses. Stage 3: Mild cognitive decline-early stage Alzheimer's can be diagnosed in some, but not in all patients.Stage 4:Moderate cognitive decline- reduced memory of personal history. Stage5: Moderately severe cognitive decline- Confusion on date, day of the week or season needs more assistancewith daily living. Stage 6: Severe cognitive decline-Requires full assistance with ALL daily living ie; getting dressed, eating, and toilting. Individual tends to wander and becomes suspicious.Finally Stage 7: Very severe this is the final stage of the disease when the individuals lose their ability to respond to their invironment, the abilty to speak and ultimately the abilty to control movement. Individuals lose their abilty to walk, to sit without support, the abilty to smile or to hold their head up. Swalloing becomes impaired, muscles become rigid and reflexes become abnormal.

Essay Instructions: Develop a 5-page argument on "Young Goodman Brown." In addition to supporting claims with relevant evidence and quotes from the primary text, you must integrate material from 3 secondary critical texts. 1 from reference book, 1 from a periodical, and the third from circulating stacks.