First, find an article about a topic within the realm of archaeology that interests you and read it. Reading an academic article is a lot different than reading a novel or newspaper. Depending on the length of the article you choose you may need to budget a few hours to properly read and understand it. Look up any terms you are unfamiliar with and don’t skip past the photos, graphs, or figures. Anything printed in the article is an important part of the narrative. They may be confusing so take the time to puzzle them out.

Next, write a 500 – 750 word reaction paper to the article. This reaction paper should include a summary of the article followed by your reaction to the article. There are a lot of ways to tackle a reaction paper. Start by asking yourself if you feel that the author’s conclusions are sound. Why or why not? Did the author miss anything that would have made their argument stronger? Do you have some personal experience regarding the topic which might support or reject their hypothesis? It helps to first identify the major thesis (or question) that the author presents, then look at the evidence they present to support their thesis. Spell these out in your summary.

When you hand this in do not include a copy of the article but do cite it. Use the Society for American Archaeology Style Guide (Google it) to see how to cite a journal article. Citations are important in academia (and in general), so don’t leave this out. In other classes you may have learned other citation methods. These methods aren’t wrong but for this reaction paper you must use the SAA citation style.

Notes!!!

·         The article MUST BE from a peer-reviewed journal. I will not accept articles from newspapers or from popular magazines (such as Archaeology Magazine, Smithsonian, etc.). It can be tough to tell if a journal is peer reviewed but google searches can help you here. As a general rule of thumb, journals that are titled “Journal of…” are usually peer reviewed. If you turn in an article from a journal that is not peer reviewed you will receive a zero for the assignment.

·         You’ll receive one point off if the citation is in an incorrect format, two points off if there is no citation. You’ll receive a zero if the assignment is under 500 words or not handed in on the last day of class.

·         If you have any questions about using the database system ask one of the library’s staff. Librarians are generally very happy to help you find the information you need, so ask them for help. 

Here is the article I found, base on this article, thank you.