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Political Science 1
Current Events Paper Instructions
Introduction
The paper for the course will be based on a current event, the current event should be related to a policy or proposed policy that can be debated as to whether the policy or proposed policy is effective or ineffective, and the paper will follow the format as laid out below.
Syllabus description
American Politics Current Events Paper
Students will find a current (within the last 3 months) controversial issue in igloo American national politics or California politics. The paper will describe the issue, discuss both/all sides of the issues, and provide the student’s position on the rat issue. The paper should be written as an unbiased report, think of me as an hulk elected official and I need to come up with a position on the issue. I assign you to research and develop a position on the issue. You will want to make sure that I pat know the opposing sides’ best arguments so I can defend the position taken in the paper. Three outside sources are required for this assignment, course materials, encyclopedias and dictionaries do not count as sources.
Topics that are excluded for this course: Gun control, Abortion, Climate Change, and Homelessness. Crimes even those dealing with the former President or the current President and his family, natural disasters, wars, and discrimination are not good topics for this assignment.
Each paper MUST be a minimum of 1500 words and should not exceed 2500 words. All papers must be written in paragraph format, typed double spaced, with one inch margins, a 12 cpi times new roman font, using in-text citations, including page numbers, and a references page. Direct quotes should be kept to a minimum, on average a sentence or two or about four lines per page. Be aware Canvas only accepts papers that are doc or pdf.
Late papers will receive a 10 point penalty per day up to 7 days, papers will not be accepted more than 7 days after the due date. PAPERS THAT DO NOT MEET THE 1500 WORDS REQUIREMENT, OR DO NOT HAVE A REFERENCES PAGE WILL NOT RECEIVE A PASSING GRADE.
In other words:
For the current event paper each student will find a contemporary controversial issue in American or California politics. The issue must be within the last 3 months. The paper will describe the issue, discuss both/all sides of the issues, and provide the student’s opinion of the issue.
Think of me as a politician that has to come up with a stance on the current event that you have chosen. You are on my staff and I assign you the topic and tell you to research the topic. You must provide me a summary of the issue, why it is important, what are the best arguments on both sides and then why I should support the side you support. You may assume I support the same political ideology that you support.
Note: Some issues are not good candidates for this type of a paper, for example crimes, wars, discrimination, or natural disasters are not controversial and are not acceptable topics. If you are unsure of your topic please ask the professor.
Specific Topics that are NOT acceptable this term Gun control, Abortion, Climate Change, and Homelessness,
Paper Format and Expectations:
Section 1. The paper will thoroughly describe a contemporary controversial issue in American or California politics. The paper will describe the facts related to the issue along with why the issue is important. Topic selection is very important for this paper make sure that you pick a topic that you can make arguments on both sides and is current within the last 3 months. This section should be roughly 1 page in length.
Section 2. The paper will discuss both/all sides of the issue and describe the controversy surrounding the issue. The paper will utilize sources related to the issue in order to describe and discuss the controversial issue. State what both sides determine is the issue and the best arguments as to why that side is the correct outcome for the controversy. It is important to use the best arguments of both sides, do not leave out arguments that hurt the policy outcome you prefer. This section should be roughly 3 pages in length.
Section 3. Students must provide an opinion (pick a side) on the issue that is related to the arguments provided in the paper. Students should write this section as an argumentative paper arguing for your position. You must pick a side and defend that side, essentially arguing for your opinion. This section should be roughly 2 pages in length. Students should avoid personal experience or observation in the opinion section instead rely upon the arguments (sides) presented in the paper.
FAQ:
Ongoing issues:
Most issues are ongoing issues meaning that they will have a history longer than 3 months. It is acceptable to do an ongoing issue but the focus of the paper should be on the controversy that has occurred has propelled the issue into the news during the last 3 months. Why is the ongoing issue back in the news? Answering this question should be the focus of the controversy.
Non-controversial:
Students should avoid non-controversial issues. A controversial issue is one that is debated in the public and has at least two different and compelling arguments. For example, discrimination is not a good topic for this paper because I have never seen anyone argue for discrimination, thus discrimination is not controversial. People are not controversial do not focus on a person. It is best to focus on governmental policies for this type of paper. Other topics that are not good candidates include crime, natural disasters and technology based issues such as AI.
What is analysis?
Analysis goes beyond summarizing an issue. Analysis looks at all aspects of the issue, and uses critical thinking to develop an opinion about the effectiveness of the policy proposal. This paper is a critical thinking paper and being able to analyze both the issue and the arguments you discuss is necessary for a good grade.
Critical thinking
It is important to be able to show critical thinking skills by being able to analyze a controversial issue by condensing information from different perspectives. Students should not be afraid to be critical. Make sure you focus on the ideas and not the people or groups that hold those ideas.
Personal anecdotes
Personal anecdotes should not be used in academic writing. A personal anecdote is a personal story or a story related from personal experience.
Plagiarism and turn-it-in?
Turn-it-in will be used for papers a Turn-it-in scores of 35% or higher will trigger a closer look by the professor. If the paper is plagiarized the student will be notified via email along with the Dean for Student Discipline.
What is paragraph structure?
A paragraph contains one idea. Each section of the paper should be more than one paragraph as there are multiple paragraphs per each section of the paper. In most instances a paper that is 4 or fewer paragraphs will NOT receive a passing grade.
What is full justification?
Full justification is when the text runs to both margins. This paragraph is fully justified and you can see the difference with the rest of this page. As you can see the text is squared off at both margins and there are larger gaps between the words. Full justification is hard for me to read since I am a speed reader and those little gaps in the words throw me off, several points will be taken off if the paper is fully justified.
Grammar:
Students should take their papers to the Pierce writing lab to have it checked for grammar issues. Papers should be professionally written and should exclude contractions.
Sources:
Three sources are required for the papers. Sources should only be from the period covered by the paper. The best source for this type of paper is news and magazine articles. Here is a partial list of online sources from reputable news outlets: (Remember dictionaries or encyclopedia’s like Wikipedia do not count as a source)
ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, FOXN
NY Times, LA Times, Vox, Reuters, The Hill (Government)
Time, The Economist, Newsweek, U.S. News and world report
Citation and references:
Students should use in text citation and a legitimate and consistent format. The Owl Purdue Online Writing Lab (Links to an external site.)is a great resource for citation formatting.
Look at the grading rubric for more details on how the paper(s) will be graded.
If you have any other questions do not hesitate to ask.
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