Guidelines for a successful assignment:

• Provide choices that spark the students' interest in and understanding of the assignment
• Clarify the purpose or aim of the task
• Identify the reader(s)-- not necessarily the teacher
• Set a role for the student to take, vis-à-vis the topic and the readers
• Outline the format and genre the student must follow (not necessarily an essay)
• Indicate the criteria for doing the task successfully
• Establish the due date
• Offer important data or pose a few leading questions and/or suggestions to help students start

 
(from Rhetoric for Writing Teachers 3rd Ed., Lindemann, Oxford Press, 212)
 

TERM PAPER (300 points)-- DUE NOVEMBER 20

The students in the class will be placed in groups of five to six students. Each group will be assigned a regulatory body to study and report on to the rest of the class. Each group will teach one class period at the end of the semester.

In the middle of the semester you will be required to turn in a five-page description of your paper topic with at least 15 references. Of those 15 references, 6 should be some form of government document. Citation form and stylistic matters will be discussed in class prior to the date on which the paper is due.

Write the paper in documentary style. THIS IS NOT AN OPINION PAPER. The first section should include a history of the regulatory body. This might include the origin of the organization and significant changes in the recent past to the policy. The second section of the paper should focus on the political environment of the regulatory process as it affects the organization. The final section should deal with how the environment of regulation has altered the way in which the
work of the organization is accomplished or any other organizational impacts. This is your conclusion section. Weigh the evidence, discuss why you think what you think, and then summarize. SAVE YOUR OPINIONS FOR THE CONCLUSION and when you offer opinions, back them up with facts. If your paper is purely an opinion paper, it will hurt your grade.

The finished document should be between 45-50 pages. There should be at least 50 citations. (Don't let this length daunt you - remember, this is approximately 10 pages per person.)

The grading of the paper will be broken into four parts: content-50%; style-25%; research-10%; conclusions-15%.

Be sure to use an appropriate style for citations. You must use a citation for every idea or fact that is not your own, not only for quotations. To not cite the use of someone else's ideas or information is plagiarism, one of the worst forms of academic dishonesty. If you are in doubt how to make citations, consult a style manual or read a journal article. Style manuals are
available at the reference desk in the library.

The paper must be typewritten on 8 1/2 by 11 inch papers. It must be double-spaced with one inch margins all around. There should be at least 250 words on each page. Do not attempt to change margins, spacing or fonts to shorten or lengthen the paper. I will check.