Political Science 1

Winter 2013

ESSAY ASSIGNMENT

Welcome to your paper assignment!!!

Were the Founding Fathers a bunch of greedy businessmen who wrote a Constitution to suit their own needs?  How well do you understand the debate over unfunded federal mandates or the process of selecting judges?  Is Presidential power out of control, or being eaten away by Congressional encroachment?  The object of this assignment is not just to become intimately familiar with one of the debates in the DiClerico book, but to also learn critical analysis skills that will help you to recognize and articulate another person's argument.

Assignment

Your assignment is to compare and contrast one of the debates offered in the DiClerico book.  You must write one review essays on one chapter in this book in which you compare and contrast the positions of the two authors, while also arguing who you believe is most persuasive and why.

The essay should be at least 4 FULL PAGES (double-spaced, 1" margins, Times New Roman 12) and NO LONGER than 4 1/2 pages.  This is tough for some students who like to write, and write, and write...without really saying a whole lot.  The page length requires you to get to the point of your argument.  

MAKE SURE YOU ARE USING THE 11th EDITION.  Earlier editions have different authors to many of these articles (even if they deal with the same topic).  You will not receive credit for papers analyzing authors other than the ones assigned in the 11th edition.

Compare and Contrast Checklist:

Have you opened with an introduction that lays out what this review essay seeks to accomplish?

Is there a good hook that catches the interest of the reader of your paper from the very beginning?

Have you fully explained the two author's positions?

Have you used specific examples to illustrate their arguments?

Have you analyzed what their specific differences are?   (Comparing is easy; make sure you also contrast!)

Have you stated to the reader who you believe offers the most persuasive argument and why?

Do you have a conclusion that sums up the paper?

Have you proofread your paper for grammatical and spelling errors?

How to Write This Paper

Students often assume that a compare and contrast essay only needs a summary of the two articles and a conclusion that sums up their own position.  THIS IS A FALSE ASSUMPTION!!!  A compare and contrast essay needs to show the reader exactly where the authors agree and disagree.  Thus you should write your paper in a point-counterpoint format.  For instance:  

"In regards to the first point, Author 'A' believes this, but Author 'B' counters with  this.  Author 'B' has the upper hand because....  As to the second point, Author 'A' argues...."  

In this way, you are drawing out specific points from their debate to show their contrasting positions.

THIS IS NOT A POSITION PAPER.  While I am interested in your position at the end of the paper, your task is to fairly assess the arguments of each of the authors.

Using Quotes and Plagiarism

I DO want you to use lots of examples from the DiClerico readings, but I DO NOT want you to use any quotes!!!  All examples should be substantially paraphrased in your own words; and since I have read these articles, I am going to know if you are just lifting sentences out of them - so don't test me on this.  You will receive an "F" on your paper for plagiarism, and possibly an "F" in the class for gross infractions of this rule.

PROOFREAD and "spell check" your work as spelling and grammatical errors will affect the overall presentation of your essay - and thus your overall grade.  A paper that is filled with grammatical, punctuation, and/or spelling errors will NOT pass.

Due Dates

PAPER - SATURDAY, JANUARY 19 - Choose one of the following chapters:  Ch 2; Ch 3 (pp.44-51 or 52-57); Ch 5 (pp. 79-88); Ch 7 (pp. 111-118); Ch 10 (167-177); Ch 11 (179-184 or 181-188); Ch 12; Ch 13 (pp. 219-234); Ch 14 (pp. 245-256); Ch 15 (pp. 274-284) 

Submitting Your Paper:  E-mail your paper to either my Angel account or the poli_sci1_wvc@yahoo.com account.  If you e-mail me your paper as an attachment, it must be in MS-Word.  Also, you must PASTE your paper directly into the body of the e-mail message (which prevents potential complications if and when attachments don't open.)

Late policy:  Papers are marked down 1/3 of a grade each day that they are late.  Late papers are defined as those which are e-mailed to me after 11:59 pm of the day they are due.

Points:  220 points.