essay specifically describes relevant scientific concepts using exact terms W r i t i n g

Assignment parts/timeline:

1) complete the d2l homework/quiz for your article. (see the schedule for due date)

Write a 750-1000 word, single-spaced, essay (1-1.5 inch margins, times new roman font). Make sure to state the title and author of the article you read.

*some important points:* primary research articles are highly specialized and therefore challenging to read. You will need to read your title, abstract, and article several times in order to understand the main points.

**When writing your paper you will probably need to carefully consider some highly technical language in order to answer essay prompts in your own words and avoid plagiarism.

ABSTRACT

The increasing body of research into human and non-human primates’ gestural communication reflects the interest in a comparative approach to human communication, particularly possible scenarios of language evolution. One of the central challenges of this field of research is to identify appropriate criteria to differentiate a gesture from other non-communicative actions. After an introduction to the criteria currently used to define non-human primates’ gestures and an overview of ongoing research, we discuss different pathways of how manual actions are transformed into manual gestures in both phylogeny and ontogeny. Currently, the relationship between actions and gestures is not only investigated on a behavioural, but also on a neural level. Here, we focus on recent evidence concerning the differential laterality of manual actions and gestures in apes in the framework of a functional asymmetry of the brain for both hand use and language.

Choose a primary research articleon some topic related to biological anthropology.

A primary research articleis one where the authors conduct a study, collect data,
analyze it, and present results. These are peer-reviewed articles, that is, they
were submitted to a journal that publishes research papers, the editor of the
journal sent it out to experts in the field, the experts read and assessed the
article, and it was deemed accurate and important for publication. One easy way
to tell if an article is peer-reviewed is if it has a reference section. This does not
always mean that an article is peer-reviewed, but is a good indication. See tips
for finding peer-reviewed articles below and also copied in the rubric within the
essay folder on d2l.

Read though the article a take notes on the following:

• ● What is/are the central questions about human evolution that are discussed in
  the article?
• ● What hypotheses are presented as potential answers for these questions?
• ● What types of studies were conducted to test these hypotheses and/or answer
  these questions?
• ● Describe what kind of data that was collected in these studies
• ● Explain the significance of this data (i.e. what implications do the data have for
  human evolution?).
  Final Essay Grading Rubric (this is long so make sure to scroll all the way down and check that you
  have written a high-quality essay!)

1. Essay file name includes yourfirst and last name and is a word file format with either a .doc or
   .docx file name ending (e.g., LizzyEadie ANTH261 essay.docx).__________ 1 point.
   
2. Your essay should be 750-1000 word, single-spaced, essay (1-1.5 inch margins, times new
   roman font). _________ 1point
   
3. Essay is written in complete sentences, spelling and grammar are correct._________ 2 points.
4. Essay clearly states the title and author(s) of the article the student read._______ 1 point.
5. Sentences are written in your own words (i.e. not plagiarized) and ideas that come from your
   article or another source are cited within the text and referenced in the bibliography. _______ (3
   
   points)
6. Essay does not contain many direct quotations. Although occasionally these are appropriate, most
   of the time it is better to rewrite the idea in your own words (citing where appropriate) to

demonstrate that you have processed and understand the concept. Ideally you also rephrase the

idea to better suit the context of your overall essay._________ 2 points.
7. Essayclearlyandthoroughlyanswerseachofthefivequestions:15points.

1. What is/are the central questions about human evolution that are discussed in the
   article?___________ (3 points)
2. What hypotheses are presented as potential answers for these questions?_______
   (3 points)
3. What types of studies were conducted to test these hypotheses and/or answer these
   questions?__________ (3 points)
4. Describe what kind of data that was collected in these studies _______(3 points)
5. Explain the significance of this data (i.e. what implications do the data have for human
   evolution?). _______(3 points)

1. You include a paragraph at the end of your essay that describes how you addressed feedback you
   received from your peer edits (and hopefully elsewhere). _______(3 points)
2. Your originality report is less than 20% and there are no large chunks within the body of your text
   that are identical to another source (i.e. plagiarized). _________ 2 points
   

5. Check your originality report by clicking on your submission within the assignment
folder. Click on feedback and scroll to the bottom of the page. If your similarity score is
high and/or you are concerned about plagiarism, fix the similar portions and upload a new
copy.

4. Your essay demonstrates each of the aspects of a high-quality essay described below (5 pts)
______

Focus on:

It is possible to answer all parts of the essay prompt and still write a not very good essay. To
ensure that you have written a high-quality essay, check that you have done the following 10
things:

1. The essay demonstrates knowledge of concepts presented in class. _______ 0.5 pts
2. The essay uses proper scientific terminology to describe these concepts. _______ 0.5 pts
3. The essay synthesizes concepts from previous modules. _______ 0.5 pts
4. The essay clearly separates fact from the author’s opinion and focuses on the “big picture” of
   human evolution. _______ 0.5 pts

1. The essay has an adequate number of in-text citations, and the essay clearly cites the
   research/ideas/etc. being discussed (listing an author and date whenever possible). _______ 0.5
   pts
2. The essay specifically describes relevant scientific concepts using exact terms and dates (ie,
   “Humans and chimpanzees last shared a common ancestor 6.5 million years ago” instead of
   “Millions and millions of years in the past, when we were evolving.”) _______ 0.5 pts
3. The essay is written in the active voice and avoids the use of first-person “I” statements or
   personal anecdotes. _______ 0.5 pts
4. The essay contains a clear introduction, body, and conclusion. Individual ideas are separated into
   paragraphs rather than a single block of text. _______ 0.5 pts
5. Essay doesn’t use slang, contractions, or casual words like “lots of” “kind of” “really” etc.
   _______ 0.5 pts
6. Research is explicitly described (ie, “In her 2018 article, Johnson describes…” not “Some
   scientists have said that…” _______ 0.5 pts

Here is a little more discussion about how to answer the 5 questions you should address in your
essay:

● What is/are the central questions about human evolution that are discussed in the article?
(3 points)

○ To answer this, look in the introductory section of your article. Usually the
questions the researchers wish to address are stated very clearly early on. Please
paraphrase (re-phrase and summarize) the overall questions.

● What hypotheses are presented as potential answers for these questions? (3 points)
○ Also usually in the introductory section of your article – the hypotheses are

usually stated near/after the questions asked, and the word “hypothesis” is usually

used. Please also paraphrase/re-phrase these hypotheses.
● What types of studies were conducted to test these hypotheses and/or answer these

questions? (3 points)
○ Sometimes this information appears in a separate “methods” section, sometimes

studies are just mentioned throughout the article. To answer this question,
summarize the tests/studies conducted (this is a one-page essay, so just give a
broad overview).

● Describe what kind of data that was collected in these studies (3 points)
○ Sometimes this information appears in a separate “results” section, sometimes the

results of the methods are discussed after the studies themselves are presented.
For this question, talk about what data the researchers collected when they
performed their tests.

● Explain the significance of this data (i.e. what implications do the data have for human
evolution?). (3 points)

○ This is probably the most important part of your essay! The above questions are
pretty straightforward, and this one requires you to summarize why the article is
important. The researchers will tell you why they believe their work is important
– see the abstract, discussion, and conclusions. To receive full points for this
section, you need to summarize the conclusions drawn by the researchers AND
state why the article matters for human evolution. If you say you don’t think the
article is important for human evolution, you will not receive points for this
question.

Make sure to check your plagiarism score after submitting your essay
to make sure that it is not too high (<10% is best).