ANT208H1
Winter 2024
Writing Assignment (20%)
Due: April 5, 2024
Instructions
The mandatory writing assignment, worth 20% of your final grade, will involve a critical review of
a medical anthropological report on original research. Students will choose one of four different
journal articles that will be posted on Quercus.
Students must read and critically review only one article from the following list:
Lasco, G. 2022. “’I Think I Have Enough for Now’: Living with COVID-19 Antibodies
in the Philippines.” Medical Anthropology 41(5): 518–531.
Nyaaba, G.N., L. Masana, A. de-Graft Aikins, K. Stronks, and C. Agyemang. 2018. “Lay Community
Perceptions and Treatment Options for Hypertension in Rural Northern Ghana: A Qualitative
Analysis.” BMJ Open 8: e023451.
Shapiro, N. and T. Keel. 2023. “Naturalizing Unnatural Death in Los Angeles County Jails.”
Medical Anthropology Quarterly, October: 1-18.
Sultana, A., J. Wilson, D. Martin-Hill, and A. Lickers. 2023. “Water Insecurity and Maternal
Health Among Haudenosaunee Women in Canada.” Medical Anthropology 42(6): 535–550.
❖ In reading the article, it is likely that students will not know the meaning of some terms
used in the report. Please note that part of the assignment requires students to define
and research these terms, so that they fully understand the nature of the report and the
significance of the results. Students are advised to read the article at least several times
and to do online searches of the terms unfamiliar to them.
Your article review must meet the following GUIDELINES:
1. Formal Essay Organization: The final essay must follow formal essay guidelines, including an
Introduction, a Discussion section, or essay “body”, and a Conclusion. Students can organize
their essay with these headings for each section, but it is not necessary. The essay must be a
minimum of 5 double-spaced pages (12-pt font, 1-inch margins), to a maximum of 8 double-
spaced pages, excluding the bibliography / references list. (Essay Organization contributes to a
portion of the 5 Style points, see below).
2. The Introduction should include a brief summary of the article and the goals (purpose) of the
study. Please do not re-iterate the article’s Abstract. A challenging aspect of the assignment
requires students to write passages in their own words, expressing their own opinions, without
plagiarizing the article’s text or interpretations. Students can re-state the authors’
interpretations and conclusions, but it must be properly cited. Please see below for guidelines
regarding Citing Sources and avoiding plagiarism. (1 Content point).
3. The “body” of the essay, or Discussion, should include several parts. The first part should
provide an overview of the research presented in the article, including the methodology,
findings (results), interpretations (analyses), and the significance of those results (the article’s
discussion/conclusions). Avoid citing large passages from the reading. (3 Content points)
4. After the study overview, students must include a Discussion of Positive Aspects of the article.
This discussion must address the following question: In your opinion, which aspects of the
report are done well? (e.g., novel research question and/or interpretation, clarity, readability,
etc.) Explain your position. For both Positive Aspects, and Negative Aspects (see #5 below),
other important questions to consider include: Do the study results support the discussion and
conclusions presented in the paper? Did the author(s) adequately address the questions (goals)
presented in the paper? (3 Content points)
5. A Discussion of Negative Aspects of the article. In particular: In your opinion, which aspects of
the paper did the authors do poorly or insufficiently? Consider all of the questions asked
above in #4, and also include a discussion of areas for improvement or further research. This
section could also include consideration of any study bias (that was not discussed by the
authors), or flaws in the analysis / interpretations. Alternatively, if students did not find any
aspects of the article to be problematic, the essay must include a discussion on Suggestions
for Further Research that would benefit, or build upon, the report’s findings or research goals.
(3 Content points)
6. A Conclusion: consisting of 2-3 paragraphs, the conclusion will re-state the purpose of the
research, its findings, and interpretations, and discuss the significance of the article to the
field and/or practice of medical anthropology. It must address the question: what does this
research report contribute to our understanding of human health? (Hint: consider major
themes that have been discussed in lectures throughout the course.) (3 Content points)
7. Bibliography of all cited references. This list consists of all material referenced in the
assignment, including the reviewed article. In addition to the reviewed article, a minimum of
three academic sources must be used. In-text citations and the bibliography must be
formatted according to the Chicago Manual of Style, which is the citation standard
recommended by the American Anthropological Association. Please see the end of this
document for the guidelines. (2 Content points for the quantity and quality of citations and
within-text and Bibliography formatting)
Expectations:
The final essay must be typed, or word processed, and meet a minimum of five double-spaced
pages (12-point font, 1-inch margins), to a maximum of eight double-spaced pages (12-point
font, 1-inch margins), excluding the Bibliography/Citations List. Faxed or emailed documents
WILL NOT be accepted. It must include proper citation of any text, facts, figures, analysis,
interpretations, and commentary that are not your own. Failure to meet these requirements
will result in a penalty.
Please include the following information at the top of your first page:
1. Full name and student number
2. Full title of the article/report you reviewed
3. Name of your TA and the tutorial # you attend
While your essay - and all academic essays - should be written from a third person perspective,
we will accept a first-person perspective for this essay. However, please make sure that your
writing is not too casual and that the essay still "reads" like an academic paper. (If you're
debating whether to write it in first- or third-person perspective, we recommend third person.)
Importantly, the essay must include at least 3 academic/peer-reviewed sources (hard copy or
online books, edited volumes, or journal reports) – not including the actual reviewed article, nor
any readings in the course Syllabus (students can use course readings, but they do not count
toward the minimum 3 citations). Any citations listed within the reviewed article that were
cited by the authors do not count toward the minimum required 3 citations - unless you read
the cited resource and are using information from it that is not in the reviewed article.
Students can use non-academic online or text resources, all of which must be properly cited,
but the minimum 3 citations must be academic and peer-reviewed, either in print, or from an
online source, e.g., University of Toronto Library e-journals. If students want to include figures,
tables, or any illustrations, they must be properly cited and embedded within the text of the
essay. Instructions for citing text and other material are included at the end of this document.
Evaluation (Final Essay)
The final essay is worth 20% of your final grade, or 20 points. Fifteen points will be allocated for
“Content”, or how well you have addressed the requirements above. Five points will be reserved for
your writing “Style”, which includes the essay’s organization, grammar, clarity, and originality.
In particular:
CONTENT (15 points) refers to the quantity and quality of detail included in the paper, including the
use of citations. Specifically, does the essay address all of the questions and requirements outlined
in the instructions above? (See Instructions above for a breakdown of Content points.)
STYLE (5 points) refers to the overall presentation of the paper, including its organization, clarity
and creativity, or originality. It includes aspects including: required length (minimum of five pages,
to a maximum of eight pages), formatting (see above for required essay organization), spelling and
grammar, originality (no plagiarism), and essay “readability” (is the essay easy to read and
understand, with a coherent or clear presentation and logical “flow”?).
The following is a grading rubric for “Style” points:
STYLE
Clarity of
writing
&
essay
organization
(points
out of 5)
5/5 4/5 3/5 0-2/5
Well-written,
concise, with
proper spelling
and grammar.
Essay structure
is well-
organized and
easy to
understand.
Well-written. Few
grammar/spelling
errors.
Essay is fairly
well-organized.
Some grammar/
spelling errors.
Points and
arguments are
not clear.
Organization is
mediocre to
poor.
Grammar/spelling
errors are common
to pervasive.
Lack of organization
makes essay difficult
to follow, or even
interferes with
reader’s ability to
understand
passages.
Essay Outline (March 3, 2024) and Rough Draft (March 31, 2024)
In addition to your final essay, we require two additional documents to accompany it. The first
document will be a brief one-page Outline of your essay, confirming the article you will review,
as well as basic information that addresses the assignment instructions. The outline can be in
point form, and it must refer to material from the article you have chosen; it cannot be a
generic outline. This Outline will be due by Sunday March 3, 2024, 11:59 PM EST. You must
submit it to Quercus in the Assignments section (under Essay Outline), and it will be assessed
for plagiarism via Ouriginal and AI detecting software. You can submit the outline earlier, but
the deadline is March 3, 2024.
In addition, students must submit a second file reflecting a Rough or Working Draft of their
essay. This draft should include all information, i.e., rough or (in)complete sentences or
passages, that you have completed for the assignment to date. This Draft will be due by Sunday
March 31, 2024, 11:59 PM EST. Like the Outline, you must submit it to Quercus in the
Assignments section (under Essay Draft), and it will be assessed for plagiarism via Ouriginal
and AI detecting software. You can submit the draft earlier, but the deadline is March 31, 2024.
Importantly, these two short documents will ensure that students are working on the
assignment in a timely manner. The outline and draft should help you organize the essay
better, and they will generally result in an improved product. They will not be graded, but they
are required to support and contribute to the final grade awarded to your essay.
Failure to submit an Outline and Rough Draft will result in deductions up to 15%: up to 5%
deducted if an Outline is not submitted on time; up to 10% deducted if a Rough Draft is not
submitted on time.
Please note: if your final Essay does not reflect material presented in the Outline or Draft, it will
be further scrutinized for academic dishonesty. If such misconduct is suspected, students will
be reported to the University for further investigation.
As students have more than one month to submit the brief Outline, and two months to submit
a Draft, no extensions will be considered. Please complete these requirements in a timely
manner. In addition to other resources listed in previous announcements, please see the
following links for help with organizing your outline and essay:
https://advice.writing.utoronto.ca/student-pdfs/
https://advice.writing.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/organizing.pdf
https://advice.writing.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/how-not-to-plagiarize.pdf
Final Essay Submission Instructions
A Word or PDF file of your final essay must be submitted to the ANT208 course page on
Quercus by April 5, 2024, 11:59 PM EST, which will also assess the text for plagiarism using
Ouriginal. To submit your essay online for Ouriginal review, please go to the ANT208 course
page on Quercus and submit your essay in the Assignments section. Upload your essay to the
assignment section specific to the article you reviewed (i.e., Lasco 2022 Article Review;
Nyaaba et al. 2018 Article Review; Shapiro and Keel 2023 Article Review; Sultana et al. 2023
Article Review). Once submitted, it will automatically be analyzed by Ouriginal for similarities.
Your essay is successfully uploaded when it has been evaluated and you receive an Ouriginal score.
If you do not receive a score, it was not uploaded nor assessed. In this case, please re-submit your
original essay file to complete the evaluation. Keep trying and re-submitting until you see a score
from Ouriginal. In most cases, this will be due to Quercus being busy. If you're still having difficulty
after several re-submissions (at different times of the day), re-try with a different file format.
For the Quercus upload of your essay to Ouriginal, please note that a similarity (plagiarism)
score of 30% or higher will be subject to grade deductions for plagiarism. If your essay score is
lower, your essay should generally be fine in this regard, unless we recognize issues with failing
to cite (or mis-cite) resources. Regardless of the Ouriginal similarity score, any evidence of
plagiarism will result in grade deductions, a failing grade, or sanctions from the University.
If you receive an Ouriginal similarity score higher than 30%, you can always go back and re-
write parts of your essay and re-submit it until the score drops below 30%. You can re-submit
your essay multiple times, though remember that the deadline is April 5, 2024 @11:59 PM EST.
Since details of the assignment will be discussed early in the semester,
no extensions will be considered, regardless of personal illness, or other
circumstances. All late submissions will be subject to deductions.
Specifically, late essays are subject to a deduction of 10% each day after 11:59 PM EST of April 5,
2024, with no acceptance after April 12, 2024 (thereafter, a grade of “0” will be given).
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To assist students with this assignment, a workshop on essay writing and critical thinking will
take place during tutorials on March 27 (TUT 1, 2, 51-52) & March 28 (TUT 3-9, 53, 54), 2024.
Since the essay is due on April 5, the timing of this workshop is to help students finalize their
essay’s organization, analysis, and writing. Please come prepared for this tutorial, i.e., ensure
you have completed the chosen reading, and come prepared with any questions you may have.
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Use of AI Software and Academic Integrity
Students are not permitted to use AI software, including ChatGPT, or any other generative AI
tool to formulate answers for any components of the course. This includes any components of
the essay, including the Outline and Rough Draft. All students must adhere to the Code of
Behaviour on Academic Matters (see below). Please refrain from any instances of academic
dishonesty.
Importantly, plagiarism is a serious academic offence that is not tolerated in any form (e.g.,
use of any non-cited material from newspaper/magazine/journal articles, reports, books,
TV/film/web media, web sites, lecture outlines). It includes collaboration with other students
that results in a written assignment that is substantially similar in form and content.
Plagiarism is subject to penalties ranging from grade reduction to expulsion from the
University. Definitions, procedures and penalties are regulated by the University (see University
Calendar) and will be enforced at all times. The University’s Code of Behaviour on Academic
Matters can be downloaded at:
https://governingcouncil.utoronto.ca/system/files/2020-
03/Code%20of%20Behaviour%20on%20Academic%20Matters%20July%201%202019.pdf
In short, any failure to cite intellectual property or prose will be examined closely and
penalized appropriately.
Please see the following instructions for citation formatting according to the Chicago Manual of Style.
Citing Sources in your Essay
ANT208 Winter 2024
Dr. R.J. Song
Avoiding Plagiarism
Plagiarism is a serious academic offence that is not tolerated in any form (e.g., any non-
cited material from newspaper/magazine/journal articles, reports, books, TV/film media,
web sites, blogs, lecture outlines, etc.).
Except in the context of group submissions, it includes collaborations with other students that
result in a written assignment that is similar in form and content.
Plagiarism is subject to penalties ranging from grade reduction to expulsion from the
University. Definitions, procedures, and penalties are regulated by the University (see
University Calendar) and will be enforced at all times. In short, any failure to cite intellectual
property will be examined closely and penalized appropriately.
To avoid plagiarism (and academic penalty), please ensure that you cite all information sources
within the text of your essay, as well as at the end in a Bibliography / References list.
Use the following guide:
WHEN DO I CITE?
• direct quotations from a book, article, film, letter, email, lecture, website, blog, etc.
• single words, short phrases, sentences, and longer passages quoted from books, articles, etc.
• facts/ideas/opinions you draw from a source, even if you present it entirely in your own words
• paraphrases and summaries of books, journal articles, pamphlets
• statistics, graphs, tables, illustrations, figures, maps, etc.
If you are unsure about it, the safest option is to cite the source.
Following current American Anthropological Association guidelines, please use
the Chicago Manual of Style referencing format, which can be found at the
following link:
https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html
For this paper, students should use the Author-Date system.
Please make sure that you go to the Author-Date style on this webpage:
This manual outlines the proper citation methods for books, journal articles, newspaper / magazine
articles, book reviews, theses / dissertations, conference papers, websites, and web material.
Besides complete bibliographic information outlined in your paper’s Bibliography/References Cited
(at the end of your paper), all referenced material should be cited within the text of your paper.
For instance: According to Camus (1947, 37), there have been as many plagues as wars. Or:
Throughout history, plagues have always surprised people when they happen (Camus 1947, 37).
For each type of media (articles, books, website, etc.), there is an example for 1) the citation as
it should be formatted in your Bibliography / References Cited (at the end of your paper); and
2) the citation as it should appear within your text - enclosed with brackets (Author-Date style).
Websites
Importantly, if you are using information from websites that have a specific citation linked to it
[as websites often include], please cite the primary citation source (not the website URL). If the
primary citation is a journal article, report, or book, then the citation should follow formatting
for that source.
Figures (images, tables, maps, photos, illustrations, etc.)
If you use images, tables, photos, or any graphics from print or online sources, please give them
Figure numbers according to their order in your essay. As well, cite the original Figure / Table /
Map/ Illustration number from the citation source at the bottom right corner of the image,
after the Author-Date info. For example: (Smith 2016, Figure 3).
Please do not use figures, tables, illustrations, or photos that are copyrighted and that do not
have citation (or permission to use) details.
For additional guidance, please visit:
https://www.americananthro.org/StayInformed/Content.aspx?ItemNumber=2044