For the first part of the response paper, you should lay out your focus, articulating which aspects of which texts you will engage. This should be descriptive, but not a summary.
In the remainder of the response, you may take any of several strategies: advance and defend a simple thesis about the texts, connect the readings to other sources, or just work through ideas that they have raised for you.
It is suggested that you give the paper a title; this may help you focus it narrowly enough to get some depth in a few short pages.
These are the main written work for the course.
Hand them in by 5pm Friday either to mduchin@math.uchicago.edu or to the mailbox DUCHIN in the basement of Eckhart Hall.
The response papers are read by both teachers every week and are graded on a ten-point scale. We want to feel free to use the whole scale so as to communicate with you most effectively, rather than being limited to the top end. The way they count in your final grade will reflect not only the scores but also the trend in scores.
Grade Breakdown:
response papers 40%
class participation 10%
projects 25%
takehome final 25%