Goals. An Insight Paper does one of two things: 1) it shares some insight that you’ve gained from reading the text; or 2) it strives to achieve some insight from the reading you’ve done. I’m not looking for summaries here; after all, I’ve read these pieces too. Rather, I’m looking for an intellectual engagement with the text and that engagement may take any number of forms: evaluation, analysis, critique, synthesis, etc. “Insight,” after all, refers to the act or result of apprehending the inner nature of things, so you’ll want to try to grasp the nature of the thing in front of you. You could analyze in some detail a particular knotty part of an argument, you could evaluate an argument or claim as either good or bad, you could contextualize this piece across others we’ve read, you could explain why a particular author happens to be right or wrong. There are other possible reactions, too—those listed are just examples. But the bottom line is that your Insight Paper must demonstrate intellectual engagement with the text. You have a fair bit of leeway in how you accomplish that, though. I’ll mark the Insight Papers from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest).

Groups. You’ll notice that I’ve divided up the class into groups but you’ll be writing these Insight Papers individually. You probably won’t ever get to know the other members of your group, and you don’t need to. Just be sure to hand in an Insight Paper on the right day. The groups are as follows:

Alpha: last names A – H
Beta: last names I – M
Gamma: last names N – Z

Lateness. I won’t be accepting any late Insight Papers, although you’re allowed to hand them in early if it solves scheduling problems for you. I’ll be as blatant as I can: the Insight Papers are designed to keep people reading on schedule and to help facilitate class discussion. Moreover, the Insight Papers help me to adjust class discussion and lectures when I see good points or things about which many people are confused, which is why you’ll often see them due as we’re beginning a reading rather than finishing a reading.

Format. Although this is a Cyberculture course, I do want these Insight Papers on paper. Contrary to popular belief, I don’t read everything on my computer and sometimes it’s a pleasant break to read in other formats. I’ll comment on these papers too, which is (alas) still easier on paper that in digital form. Nonetheless, you’ll be posting your Insight Papers to your website as well. That’s part of the routine maintenance that you’re website will undergo. I may reference some of the insight papers as we go along, so remember that your work will eventually find a public forum (and, yes, you can revise your Insight Papers before you post them to your website). It’s a good idea to post your Insight Paper within just a few days of getting it back from me.

Length. The Insight Papers should be one page in length. Yep, one page. No more, and undoubtedly not much less. You’ll find that you may want to do these single-spaced and you are allowed to adjust your margins and font size if necessary. A double-spaced Insight Paper doesn’t really give you much room to share an Insight.