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AMERICAN GOVERNMENT |
POLITICAL SCIENCE 1 -
ONLINE |
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 to become intimately familiar
with the debates over two political issues.
Assignment
Your assignment is to compare and contrast the debates offered
in the DiClerico book. You must write two brief review essays on two
chapters 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. MAKE
SURE YOU HAVE THE CORRECT EDITION LISTED ON THE SYLLABUS.
Each essay should be at least 2 FULL PAGES and NO
LONGER than 2 1/2 pages (double-spaced). 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.
Compare and Contrast Checklist:
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Have you opened with an introduction that lays out what this
review essay seeks to accomplish? |
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Is there a good hook that catches the interest of the reader
of your paper from the very beginning? |
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Have you fully explained the two author's positions? |
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Have you used specific examples to illustrate their
arguments? |
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Have you analyzed what their specific differences are?
(Comparing is easy; make sure you also contrast!) |
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Have you stated to the reader who you believe offers the
most persuasive argument and why? |
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Do you have a conclusion that sums up the paper? |
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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.
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
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PAPER #1 - Saturday,
October 15 - Choose one of the following
chapters:
Ch 2; Ch 3 (pp.44-51 or 52-57); Ch 14 (pp. 245-256), Ch 15
(274-284).
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PAPER #2 - Saturday,
November 19 - Choose one of the following
chapters: Ch 5 (pp. 79-88); Ch 7 (pp. 111-118); Ch. 10 (pp. 167-177); Ch 11 (179-184 or 181-188);
Ch 12; Ch 13 (pp. 219-234)
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Submitting
Your Paper: E-mail your papers 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 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:
110 points for EACH paper.