Entering the Conversation
Due Date: Wednesday, 11:59 p.m. PST
Word limit: N/A
Points: 20
Responses: Respond to two classmates by Sunday, 11:59 p.m. PST.
Purpose: This discussion aims to begin your engagement with class readings. As you may have already seen, the ENG 240 Library Guide contains selected articles on every undergraduate major offered at National University. This assignment will help you find one (or more) primary articles as starting points for your final paper. At this point, you likely will not know what your paper’s primary claim will be; this activity will help you generate ideas and practice active reading strategies.
Task:
Go to the ENG 240 Library Guide and find the tab that corresponds to your major. If you are a general studies major, you may choose any subject that interests you. If you are in Education, you may choose either the readings in education or the subject matter you intend to teach (e.g., if you plan to teach history, you may choose the readings in history instead of education if you like.)
Read three or more of the articles in the section.
After you read at least three articles, consider which article you felt like responding to the most.
In your chosen article, highlight passages in the article to which you wanted to respond.
Create a new Microsoft word document.
Note the subject of your paper (your major) and the title of the article you chose on the document.
Copy and paste three quotes from the article onto the new document.
Under each copied quote, respond briefly to each selection with your thoughts or questions about each quote.
Create a new discussion thread below.
Copy and paste your work from your word document to the new discussion thread.
Respond to two classmates’ posts by Sunday. Try to respond to classmates who have the same major if possible.
Criteria for Success:
An example might look like this:
(Note, I use an example not in our ENG 240 readings. It is just an example, so do not worry that you haven’t read this article.)
Article: Steven Johnson, “Why Games are Good for You” – PDF Document (186 KB)
Successful posts will choose engaging quotes and interact with them by writing thoughtful responses that engage in the argument made in the paper, agreeing with, disagreeing with, or qualifying points made in the original article. Responses may ask thoughtful questions or suggest gaps that should be discussed in the argument.
ENG 240 Library Guide
Homeland Security
Alexander, David. “Social Media in Disaster Risk Reduction and Crisis Management.” Science & Engineering Ethics, vol. 20, no. 3, Sept. 2014, pp. 717-733.
Awan, Imran. “Cyber-Extremism: Isis and the Power of Social Media.” Society, vol. 54, no. 2, Apr. 2017, pp. 138-149.
Baig, Abdul Rauf and Hajira Jabeen. “Big Data Analytics for Behavior Monitoring of Students.” Procedia Computer Science, vol. 82, 2016, pp. 43-48.
Begos, Kevin. “Protecting the Power Grid: Can Attacks Be Prevented?” CQ Researcher, vol. 26, no. 40, 11 Nov. 2016.
Bennett, Brian, et al. “The Balancing Act.” TIME Magazine, vol. 197, no. 19/20, May 2021, pp. 36–41.
Karaim, Reed. “Border Security: Is the Buildup in Border Protection Effective?” CQ Researcher, vol. 23, no. 34, 27 Sep. 2013.
Nelson, Laura J., et al. “First JFK, then LAX: How Do You Control Chaos in a False Alarm Shooter Situation?” Los Angeles Times, 29 Aug. 2016.
Stillman, Sarah. “Storm Chasers.” New Yorker, vol. 97, no. 36, Nov. 2021, pp. 32–43.
Vicinanzo, Amanda. “Vulnerabilities in Coast Guard’s Biometric System May Impede Identification of Suspected Terrorists.” Homeland Security Today, 14 Mar. 2015.