Weekly Assignments

 

The weekly assignments are designed to serve a number of purposes:

 

1) They should help you keep up on the readings and required information for this class.

 

2) If you do a good job on the weekly assignments, by the end of the course you should have an excellent, comprehensive study guide for the final exam.

 

3) If you do a good job on the weekly assignments, by the end of the course you should have a very brief summary of human prehistory that you will find useful as a reference in future coursework.

 

4) The weekly assignments will help you learn to quickly isolate key information from literature. Some of these chapters, like much of the literature you will encounter in the rest of your college career, can be lengthy and dry. The better you get at digging out the key points without reading every single word on every single page, the easier college will be for you.

 

So what should your weekly assignment look like?

 

The weekly assignment should be no longer than 2 pages TYPED (12pt font, 1 inch margins) per chapter covered. In outline form you should summarize each chapter, focusing on the following:

 

Who/What? That is, what group(s)/event(s) are we talking about?

 

Where? What region(s) are we discussing?

 

When? Approximately when did the events of interest take place?

 

Who cares? Why is this group/event important in the big picture?

 

In addition, for each weekly assignment, you must write one paragraph (minimum 3 sentences) explaining one topic or idea from the chapters covered that you would like to know more about and why.

 

 

 

Remember, some chapters contain more information or details than others. It is up to you to find an appropriate level of detail to keep your weekly assignments informative but brief.