RS 215-02
Spring 2018
News Comparison Paper
Due M, October 3
- Watch the news for articles concerning the Catholic Church. You may do this by 1) reading the newspaper at home or at a local library or 2) reading a website run by a newspaper, such as the Los Angeles Times (latimes.com), the New York Times (nytimes.com), the Washington Post (washingtonpost.com), or the Boston Globe (bostonglobe.com). The article should come from the time since the class has begun – don’t choose something from months or years ago. You must clear the source of your news article with the instructor if it does not come from a major newspaper.
- Read through the article carefully. What are the issues or aspects of the Catholic Church that the article touches upon? How does the article depict the Catholic Church?
- Might the Catholic Church agree with how it has been depicted in the news article? What information or explanations about that issue does the Church itself offer? Can you find information on that aspect of the Church in our class textbook or in other sources? (you must consult and cite the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ website for this: usccb.org)
- Write a 2-4 page paper, in which you make sure to:
- Summarize what you read in the article, being sure to mention the source of the article (the paper’s name), the author, and the date on which it was published
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- Explain how the article depicts or portrays the Catholic Church, or one particular aspect of the Church
- Compare that view of the Church to the Church’s own explanation or teaching or self-view concerning the topic or issue in question
- Evaluate the article: was it accurate? Was it biased? Was it informative? Did it seek to change the opinions of readers? How did it affect your own understanding of the Catholic Church?
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Grading for the assignment:
| Grade Components | Writing (20) | Summary (20) | Description of the article’s view (15) | Comparison (25) | Evaluation (20) |
| Excellent | Clearly and elegantly written, neither too formal nor informal. No typos or grammatical errors (19-20) | Concise, compre-hensive summary of the news article (19-20) | Excellent, accurate naming of how the article depicts the Catholic Church (14-15) | Solid understanding of the Catholic position on the issue and strong comparison of the article and the Church’s own teaching, using and citing sources excellently (23-25) | Confident evaluation which incorporates your own reaction and informed judgment of the article (19-20) |
| Good | Mostly well-written, not many typos or errors (17-18) | Summary which includes much of the material from the news article (17-18) | Cautious or questionable naming of how the article depicts the Catholic Church (12-13) | Good understanding of the Catholic position on the issue and some comparison of the article and the Church’s own teaching, using sources well (20-22) | Evaluation makes some reference to informed judgment and personal reflection (17-18) |
| Fair | Partly well written, some typos and errors (15-16) | Summary omits or mis-understands parts of the news article (15-16) | Vague attempt at describing how the article depicts the Catholic Church (10-11) | Questionable understanding of the Catholic position on the issue and weak comparison, using one source (17-19) | Evaluation omits either personal reaction or informed judgment (15-16) |
| Poor | Poorly written, many typos and errors (10-14) | Weak summary, greatly lacking in understand-ing and thorough-ness (10-14) | No naming of how the article depicts the Catholic Church (5-9) | Poor understanding of the Catholic position and no comparison, no sources (10-16) | Article is not evaluated; questions above are not answered (10-14) |
