ASSIGNMENT ONE                                                                                                                                                          

 

President Obama’s First 50 Days Paper

 

Since Franklin Roosevelt’s historic “First 100 Days” of his first term in office in 1932, political scientists have recognized the importance for a successful president to get off to a strong start. Barack Obama is entering the presidency at a time of tremendous economic and foreign policy challenges.  How will he handle these challenges in the coming weeks?

Assignment: Read the papers and follow the news about the Obama presidency over the next several weeks. Then pick three decisions he made and analyze them. Perhaps two were good and one was bad. Provide the basic facts of the decision and explain why you think it was proper or improper. Your paper will adhere to the following paragraph format, which will consist of 5 paragraphs total: 1) A brief introductory paragraph. 2) A paragraph devoted to each of the three decisions you picked. Each of the three paragraphs in the body of your essay must cite a separate news article. And, 3) a concluding paragraph.

Citation:  Use an informal “in text citation” method for your three citations. For example, “according to Mike Prize, in the January 2009 edition of Time, Obama picked an excellent cabinet.” Or, “As stated in the 2/10/2009 edition of the Washington Post, reporter Nik Bloom said Obama has given too many interviews with the networks.” You can use newspaper, magazine, or internet sources.

Due date: This paper is due at the end of the 8th week of class, either a Wednesday or Thursday, depending if you have a M/W or a T/TH class.

All Papers: Write everything in your own words. Plagiarism will result in an F in the class. All papers should be double spaced in 12 font with one inch margins. No late papers will be accepted.

 

ASSIGNMENT TWO                                                                                                                                                        

Political Issues Paper

 

All Papers: Write everything in your own words. Plagiarism will result in an F in the class. All papers should be double spaced in 12 font with one inch margins. No late papers will be accepted.

 

Assignment: Issues Paper

            1) Pick a political issue from the following list. The issues are: Free speech, Iraq policy, Iran policy, Congress’s war powers versus the president’s war powers, abortion, tax policy, an economic issue, global warming, bio-fuels, the glass ceiling for women, affirmative action, immigration, health care, gun control, religion in the public sphere, the Patriot Act, gay marriage, judicial activism, stem-cell research, the death penalty, school choice (vouchers), the stimulus package. If your topic is not on the list, get my approval before you start writing.  

            2) Find three opinion pieces or editorials or columns that express three different views on the political issue you picked. The paper will work best if you pick three starkly divergent points of view. To help with your research, go to the TVCC Library website and go to Research Tools, go to Galanet, then to Info Trac Newspapers, then do an advanced search for your topic. Make sure to get three OPINION pieces and one news articles.  

            3) Then write a five paragraph essay. In your introduction, give a basic overview of your topic and provide some factual information. Cite a news article in your introduction. And describe the three sides of the issue. Then in the body of your paper, write three paragraphs each summarizing the three different views of each editorial. Lastly, write a conclusion. Here is where you declare which editorial you think was the best and why. Only in last paragraph do you express your own opinion.

            4) Citation:  Use an informal “in text citation” method for your four citations. Somewhere in your introduction, cite a factual news article. For example, “According to the January 29 edition of The Wall Street Journal, there are 150,000 guns purchased every year.” Then in the first sentence of the three paragraphs composing the body of your essay, cite the name, publication, and date of your editorial or column. For example, “Jane Newgood, in the Dallas Morning Star on 2/23/2009, said she thinks all hand guns should be banned.”

            5) Due Date:  This paper is due at the end of the 13th week, either a Wednesday or a Thursday, depending if you have a M/W or a T/TH class.