Government 2305/6

Objectives of the Writing Assignment

• Learn about a current political issue or problem. This does not mean Trump.

• Develop your Internet and library research skills. This does not mean Google.
• Evaluate your topic from the perspective of different cultures and/or political viewpoints as well as your own. In other words, your opinion is not the only opinion.
• Improve communication and critical thinking skills. Write better and think better.

Paper Criteria

• Topic selection— A current governmental or political (not historical) issue, or problem. *2306 classes use a topic relevant to Texas. North Korea is not necessarily relevant to Texas.
• Content— address the various sides of the issue (more than your view) with the student drawing personal conclusions based on their own analysis of the issue (look at facts/sources), and demonstrating an understanding of its complexities (explain the issue).

Compare and contrast the different viewpoints of sourcesused on your topic taking into account the limits of a position. For example, source A says this and source B says that.

Present an informed evaluation of the evidence (data/facts) and different viewpoint surrounding the topic.

• Paper length – your paper should be at minimum (no maximum) of 750 words long (not counting headings and the Works Cited page). The paper should be typewritten and double-spaced, and based on information from a minimum of threesources(no maximum). Your minimum of three sources should be academic in nature. In other words, use peer reviewed journal articles or books published by an academic press. These sources should not be newspapers or government Websites. If you want to include other sources beyond the three required such as a news sites or other Web sites that will be fine.

• Writing style—with few or no typographical errors, misspelled words, and grammatical errors. Use proper paragraphing and improve your writing style by revising the paper as many times as necessary. Use Times New Roman, 12 point font.

• Citations—anytime you borrow someone’s ideas, paraphrase or quote them, cite all sources using a recognized citation style (MLA https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/).

Analyze and question your sources assumptions.

“All style manuals for political science research essays and papers require that quotations be fully cited, and put in “quotation marks” in the text.”