Analytical Essays:

Please read this completely and carefully. Your grade will depend on it.

The purpose of the analytical essays is to emphasize the relevance of this course to contemporary events. You are required to submit three (3) analytical essays. Check the course outline for due dates. Each essay is worth 5% of your final grade. Late submissions will be penalized by a full letter grade deduction. The definition of late is anytime after the end of class on the respective due dates. Please keep all returned work as proof of submission.

Each essay must be based on a regular news article (not an editorial, letter or advertisement) in The New York Times or other similarly respected newspaper, periodical, or on-line source. The article you choose must be at least 500 words in length and have some relation to political geography. Be sure to cut out or download the article, which must be submitted along with your essay. Other instructions follow.

First Analytical Essay

• It must be based on an article published on or after June 1, 2008.
• The essay must be at least two full pages in length.
• The essay must be typed or word-processed (12-point type, double-spaced).
• Begin your essay by summarizing in your own words the content of the article. This discussion should take up about half of the first page of your essay.
• The remainder of the essay must describe how the article relates to geography. To do this, identify four of the Five Themes of Geography (Location, Place, Human-Environment Interaction, Movement and Region) that are evident in the article, and discuss how each theme relates to the article's content. (A companion document about the Five Themes is available on the course web page.) Be specific. Begin this portion of your essay by writing "Geography is evident in this article, which demonstrates the themes of ....." Here you should mention the 4 themes you have identified. Each theme should be the subject of separate paragraphs that clearly identify the theme in question, and how that theme is apparent in the article.
• Staple the original copy of the article to your essay (no photocopies allowed).

Second Analytical Essay

• Must be based on an article published after the due date of the First Analytical Essay.
• Otherwise, the instructions for this essay are the same as above.

Third Analytical Essay

• Must be based on an article published after the due date of the Second Analytical Essay.
• Otherwise, the instructions for this essay are the same as above.