Writing Assignment

Nail It!

For the major writing assignment, students will act like good investigative reporters (anthropologists in disguise). In the second half of 2007, Utah witnessed the unprecedented expenditure of nearly 8 MILLION dollars on advertising to promote or defeat the implementation of a school voucher program. This doesn’t include 1000s of volunteered salvos to the editor of virtually every newspaper, blog and call-in show in the state. The issue(s) was buried under an avalanche of hype.  

In this assignment, you will take on such an important but potentially divisive or controversial issue, like vouchers, and, using the kind of analysis and critical thinking employed in this class, nail it! You will cut away the hyperbole and present, succinctly, what the issue is and what is driving or causing it. School vouchers are a complex weave of racism, fundamentalist religion, hyper-parenting, unionism and the notion of triage—to name a few.

You will prepare an abstract of your paper, including title, and post it on the class website to claim your topic. In the “Nail It!” link under the “Writing Assignment” icon, you will find a link to “Post your Topic.”  Take care to describe your topic in sufficient detail so that other students, interested in the same general topic, can take a crack at it without invading your territory.  Vouchers are a good example of a topic where as many as 4 different essays might be written that wouldn’t completely replicate each other. 

You will bring your abstract to class on March 17th where we will discuss them and provide feedback that should be helpful.

Regarding sources, you will need to use a mix of scholarly articles (similar to those assigned in class), websites and articles from the news. What the assignment is designed to test is your ability to evaluate “hot” topics through the application of research evidence, an understanding of the way culture works and your own common sense. Bringing in to the paper issues raised in class and/or assigned readings is a good thing to consider.

Submit the final draft to the class website on March 24th. Submission instructions can be found under the “Writing Assignment” icon. There is a model paper from last year, please read it carefully for ideas regarding length, format, documentation, etc.

Dr. Lancy will grade them (up to 70 points) on technical proficiency, including spelling and grammar, completeness of the literature search and review, research design, adequacy of effort, clarity of writing, and originality of thought. The highest accolade will be to publish the best papers on the class website. A list of potential topics can found on the class website. On the “Nail It!” page, under the (you guessed it) “Writing Assignment” icon.