Intro to Oceanography: Writing Assignment #1 (W1) Writing Assignment #1 Goals The purpose of this assignment is to familiarize you with scientific terminology and current issues in oceanography, and to strengthen your written communication skills through critical reading and critical analysis of a recent oceanography article. Reading Critically and Writing Critical Reviews Critical reading means more than just skimming the subheadings an article or highlighting terminology. Critical reading means taking the time to think carefully about what is being said in an article. It involves identifying key ideas like the authors argument, the evidence being used to support it. Critical reading means that you do not take what you read as absolute fact; instead, you analyze and evaluate the credibility of the article. Critical reviews are based on specific criteria used to evaluate the article. Your goal in a critical review is to highlight some of the key points of the article, but not necessarily summarize the entire article. Some opinion is used in critical reviews, but it is opinion that is educated by your knowledge and experience with the topic. All opinion in a
critical review should be substantiated and supported with evidence from the article and possibly from other sources. The Writing Assignment How Kitty is Killing the Dolphins Meltdown in the North Reviving Dead Zones Storm of the Century The Oceans Invisible Forest The Threat of Silent Earthquakes Once you have finished reading ONE article from the list above, you will write a researched, critical review of the article in an organized, coherent essay that addresses the following writing prompts: Resources forWriting Please review the Writing Assignments portion of the syllabus for important guidelines on all course writing assignments. Also review these resources for help with the research component of this assignment: MLA Formatting and Style Guide (Purdue OWL Resource) Formatting Criteria Your critical review should meet the following formatting criteria: Grading Criteria Your essay will be graded on how well you cover the writing prompts in an organized, cohesive, grammatically correct, well-referenced essay. A rubric will be posted to Canvas Assignment with a breakdown of your grade calculation, but generally: