How To Prep A Chapter

for your Notes and your Class Presentation

Prepping a chapter consists of two elements.

I.) The chapter outline and associated Arabic terms

II.) The answers to the questions I send you by e-mail at the start of every week (remember that checking your John Jay e-mail every 24 hours is one of the expectations of the class)

Although both of these elements should be in your notes, the chapter outline is what you will rely on when you are called on to present the chapter to the class. Keep in mind that you will present only about half of the chapter. If you are called first to present the chapter, I will stop you when your presentation has covered close to 50% of the material; I will then call on another student to present the second half.


Both elements I& II will constitute the notes you will use on the final exam (go there now).

I. CHAPTER OUTLINE

Your outline should resemble the outline the author might have used to write the chapter. To craft such an outline you should, accordingly, follow four steps:

1) Identify the central theme of the chapter; 2) Look for the leading of idea of each “chunk” of text; 3) Look for the supporting details for each “leading” idea; 4) List the Arabic terms and their meaning.

1) Identify the central theme of the chapter

Your description of the central theme should be no more than two sentences, but should explain the overall topic of the chapter.

2) Look for the leading of idea of each “chunk” of text.

You’ll see that the author has divided the text into units that each have with a subheading caption, such as “different parts of the legal system” on p.3 (the first unit of the chapter, however, will not have a caption).

Identify the central point of each “chunk” or unit of text. The specific leading idea may or may NOT be expressed in the wording of the subheading.

So, to use the example of “different parts of the legal system”: from p. 3 of our text.

The central idea here is NOT that there are “different parts” to the Islamic legal system as it would be very surprising if a legal system didn’t have “different parts.” Instead, the central idea pivots on the NATURE of those different parts.

So, the central idea in this section is that the primary division in Islamic Law is between those parts of the law governing relations between an individual and God versus those parts governing relations between individuals. Western law, in contrast, is usually divided between “public” and “private” law.

3) Look for the supporting details for each “leading” idea; the supporting details will either illustrate the leading idea or explore a ramification of that idea.


So, to return to the example of “different parts of the legal system” section: as the text points out, because of the basic division of Islamic law, violations of the law that are not between an individual and God are considered to be conflicts between individuals. As a consequence, there is no notion of the government initiating a charge against an individual as in the famous formulations you know from TV shows like “Law and Order” such as “The People vs. Fritz Umbach, a charge of manslaughter in the first degree.”

This consequence, accordingly, “explores a ramification” of the main ideal of the unit; the supporting details will appear as a subheading within your outline, so for example, you might have an outline that includes a section that looks like this:

4) LIST OF ARABIC TERMS

Finally, make a list of all the relevant Arabic terms employed in the chapter and their meanings; if you are presenting, you do not have to put this on the board (see below) as I will generate the list for you to distribute to the class. But the list I distribute will NOT have the meanings of all those terms; you will have to provide that in your discussion. You may either discuss the terms as you go along in your talk, or you should discuss them collectively at the end of your presentation as a way to summarize the basic idea.

Portions of the final exam will employ Arabic terms, so the glossary that you are building as you take your notes will be essential for the exam.

II. ANSWERING THE QUESTIONS I ASK

For each chapter, I will send out at the beginning of the week seven or so questions. Some of these will be smallish questions to direct your attention to important details that you might overlook otherwise; others will be big “thinking” questions about the chapter as a whole.

Your answers to these questions should appear in your notes. Again, I won’t be grading you on those answers, but they will be helpful on the final exam AND if you are called upon to present a chapter, I will ask you a number of the questions in class for you to answer orally after you present your chapter.

PRESENTING A CHAPTER

Everyone will get called on once during the semester to present a portion of the week's chapter; you will not know in advance when you will be called upon to present.

When presenting a chapter, you will write a BRIEF outline of the chapter on the board as you speak (NOT at the beginning) to make your points clear. You will not have to write the LIST OF ARABIC TERMS, as I will provide a sheet for the class for that. BUT, you will have to provide the relevant definitions of the terms for the class. So, I'll provide the list, you will have to give the definition of the terms as you go along.

YOUR PRESENTATION WILL BE RECORDED BY ME SO THAT WE BOTH HAVE A RECORD OF YOUR PERFORMANCE.

GRADING OF A PRESENTATION

I will call on two students a week to present the chapter (see above). The first two students to present a chapter will have their presentation worth 27% of their semester grade; the next pair will have their presentation worth one less point, (26%) and so on. The points removed from the weight of the chapter presentation will get added to the value of the final for that student. So, if you are the fifth person to present, your presentation will be worth 23% (instead of 27%) while your final will be worth 31% (rather than 27); likewise, if you are part of the pair to present 10th , your presentation will be 18% while your final will be worth 36%.

YOUR NOTES AND THE FINAL EXAM

I will collect your notes from you at the start of class, except for whomever will be presenting that day. Presenters will hang on to their notes until the end of their presentation.

AT THE FINAL EXAM, I WILL RETURN ALL OF YOUR NOTES TO YOU FOR USE ON THE FINAL; SO, THE MORE CARE YOU PUT INTO YOUR NOTES, THE MORE LIKELY YOU WILL DO WELL ON THE FINAL. THOSE WILL BE THE ONLY NOTES YOU WILL BE ALLOWED.

ADDITIONAL POLCIES ON NOTES:

1) YOUR NOTES MUST BE HANDWRITTEN; I WILL NOT ACCEPT TYPED NOTES.

2) YOU SHOULD PHOTOCOPY YOUR NOTES BEFORE THE START OF CLASS SO THAT YOU HAVE A VERSION FOR YOUR OWN REVIEW.

3) IF DURING CLASS DISCUSSION, YOU REALIZE THAT YOU MADE A MISTAKE IN YOUR NOTES, YOU HAVE 48 HOURS TO SEND ME AN E-MAIL THAT EXPLAINS HOW AND WHY YOU MISUNDERSOOD THE TEXT AS WELL AS YOUR NEW UNDERSTANDING. IF THE MISUNDERSTANDING IS LEGITIMATE—THAT IS, NOT THE OBVIOUS PRODUCT OF A SUPERFICIAL READING—I WILL ATTACH YOUR CORRECTIONS TO THE NOTES I RETURN TO YOU ON THE DAY OF THE FINAL.