OPTIONAL (EXTRA-CREDIT)

CURRENT EVENT ESSAY

GUIDESHEET

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This is an optional assignment for students seeking extra-credit, but it is still graded for quality. Papers are not accepted after the designated deadline, regardless of the reason.

 

 

Submit the completed paper by uploading the file from your computer to the designated assignment area of the course site — through the Optional Extra Credit Assignments link in the course menu. Do NOT send your paper by e-mail.

 

To earn credit, you must follow these guidesheet instructions carefully:

 

RESEARCH AND WRITE ABOUT A SPECIFIC AND CURRENT 2016 U.S. NATIONAL GOVERNMENT TOPIC.

 

INCLUDE ALL OF THESE PARTS:

 

• Find any current and specific issue, story, or event that is occurring or has recently occurred within the past six months and is focused on the U.S. federal government. You could write about a proposal or legislation in Congress, a presidential initiative or action, an administrative decision or action, a recent federal court ruling, a 2016 election story, a foreign policy story or other interesting national government story that has recently been in the news.

 

EXAMPLES:

• President Obama’s executive order directing public schools to allow transgender students to use bathrooms matching their gender identity.
• A national election topic or story about candidates who are running for President or Congress in 2016.
• Administrative news from a department of the federal government, such as a new drug or medical device recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or recent actions taken to combat the Zika virus.
• Recent Congressional attempts to pass new gun legislation in response to shootings by a suspected terrorist in an Orlando nightclub in June.

 

 

• DO NOT cover a state- or local-level issue or a non-government topic area, unless it has a strong national government angle and you can show a specific and direct connection to the national government. DO NOT write about a broad topic, such as global warming, stem-cell research, immigration, gun control or gasoline prices. You must find a story that is narrowly focused, specific, current and governmental or political in nature.

 

• Use the Internet, electronic databases, search engines, journals, newspapers, magazines, etc. to research the topic. Be sure to obtain your information from legitimate, objective and scholarly sources, and provide research from at least three sources in your essay. You may find that news sites (such as CNN,ABCNews, or National Public Radio) provide you with the

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best start. Avoid obtaining information from biased sources, such as interest group websites, and do not use biased or opinionated information as fact.

 

• Provide a detailed summary of your topic and be sure to UPDATE it as much as possible by using the most current research available. You must have up-to-date, 2016 research. Make it interesting for your reader!

 

• Explain the significance of your topic within the context of your overall study of American Government. You must tie in and connect the story to information learned in class and from the textbook. Where possible, you should incorporate specific information from your textbook (including page or chapter numbers) when explaining the topic. Your grade will be largely based on your ability to connect the story to what you have learned in this class.

 

• Provide your personal opinion about and analysis of the story. What do you think about it? Why did you choose this particular topic to write about? What is so interesting about it?

 

• Any information obtained from an outside source must be parenthetically cited in the essay, and you must include a Works Cited or References page at the end of the paper. Avoid even the appearance of plagiarism.

 

• Do your own, original work. Do not submit the same paper to two or more instructors or submit a paper previously prepared for another course without first discussing the matter with all instructors involved. Since you may have to verify your paper’s authenticity and/or authorship, you should save all of your notes, rough drafts, materials used in preparation of the paper, copies of sources, etc. until the paper is graded.
• Your paper must be at least 1000 WORDS, typed via computer, double-spaced, and in a standard size (10 – 12 point) type. It should be free of grammatical and style errors. Be sure to save your file as a Word document (ending with a .doc or .docx extension) or in Rich Text format (ending with an .rtf extension) before uploading it.

 

• Turn in your essay electronically no later than the designated deadline at 11:55 p.m. Submit the completed paper by uploading the file to the assignment area of the course site. No submittals are accepted after this deadline, regardless of the reason, and no essays are accepted via e-mail, hard copy, fax or any other method.

 

• This assignment is worth a maximum of 35 extra-credit points toward your overall total for the course.

 

 

A paper that lacks any of these items, does not follow the proper format or is not submitted correctly will not earn credit. Papers are not accepted late or by e-m