Paper 1 In his important work, The Death of Expertise, author Tom Nichols expresses multiple concerns about people’s ability to both process and discuss information.  What is confirmation bias and

Q&A Papers

: You must read additional excerpts and write short papers answering a question that I pose

on each of them (the PDF files of the excerpts and questions are posted on ). Note: These

assignments do not involve outside research, so please don’t incorporate additional sources.

Each paper should be 2 pages (maximum), double spaced and they are worth 20 points. Total:

x 20 =

100

points.

When completing these writing assignments:

Answer the question I ask, not the question you want to answer;

Think about the question I ask before reading each piece because then you will know what to look

for;

Highlight and write in the margins as you read each piece;

Avoid pulling any quotes directly from the text (no block quotes are allowed). It is

imperative that you process the author’s ideas and explain them in your own concise words, i.e. paraphrase. Note: Brief quotes (i.e. the author’s exact words) and any paraphrased sections that include major ideas (i.e. your words) require a simple parenthetical citation inside of the period at the end of the sentence.

Quote example: “...author’s word author’s word author’s word author’s word,” (p. 75).

Paraphrase example: ...your word your word your word your word (p. 75).

Never quote an author’s quote from an

other source (note: always paraphrase in this situation);

Use the Times New Roman 12 point font. Margins should be 1 inch;

Do not use unspecific words (e.g. things, stuff), contractions, slang, profanity, or text message lingo

anywhere in your papers.