Please look at the attached file to get the clear requirement!
Nicole
GovernmentAssignment.docYOUR OPINIONS AND REACTIONS TO TWO CONTROVERSIAL
BILLS FROM THE 85TH TEXAS LEGISLATIVE SESSION: SANCTUARY CITIES AND BATHROOM BILL IN VIENAM
(MINIMUM 1000 WORDS)
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In your paper, address as many of the following points as possible: |
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· Where are you from (where you grew up) and did your home town, state, or country influence your political beliefs? · How did you learn about government growing up? · How did the area of the country or the world you’re from help determine your political socialization (“political socialization” being a term from our first unit referring how the attitudes, beliefs, and understanding of one’s government is transmitted to new generations)? · What influenced (and how) your political socialization—your parents, your religion, your peers, your school, the media? · If 18 or older and a citizen, are you registered to vote and have you voted before? Why or why not? · If you are not a citizen, do you plan to be and will you vote? Regarding voting, why or why not? Who would you have voted for in the presidential race if you could have voted? · Do you consider yourself a Republican or Democrat? Other? No party? Independent voter? Why do you identify with a party or do not do so? · Were your parents active in a political party, which one? Are you active or identify with the same party? If different from your parents in this regard, why did you change? · Did you follow the Texas Legislative session and the two issues that are the subject of this essay? If so, how? Following the news? Talking with friends and family? Other? · What are your impressions of the Texas Legislature based on your studies this semester and what you have learned from following the news about their actions? · ON SANCTUARY CITIES: What is your opinion of sanctuary cities? What is opinion of your family and your friends about sanctuary cities? What do you, your family, and your friends think about the Legislature’s efforts to prohibit Texas cities to act as sanctuaries for undocumented aliens? The Trump Administration has threatened to deny all federal funding to cities in the United States which declare their cities to be sanctuary cities and not report to immigration officials any and all information regarding undocumented residents in their cities. What do you, your family, your friends think about Mr. Trump’s policies regarding sanctuary cities and immigration in general? · Do you have friends or family who are directly affected by this legislation? Are they concerned? Are you? How? · What do you think the state and federal government should do regarding sanctuary cities and immigration policy in general? · ON THE BATHROOM BILL: What is your opinion of the bathroom bill? What is opinion of your family and your friends about the issue of transgendered rights regarding the use of public restrooms in Texas? What do you, your family, and your friends think about the Legislature’s efforts to prohibit the use of transgendered individuals from using the restroom that reflects their gender choice and the impact on the community and the economy by passing a “bathroom bill” in the face of boycotts from national sports events, entertainment events, and businesses which have considered such legislation discriminatory and against their policy? · The Texas Legislature failed to pass the Bathroom Bill during the regular session nor during the several special sessions at the (cost of millions of dollars) called by Gov. Abbott in order to pass the bathroom bill. Republican leaders in the Texas state they will continue to work for future passage of a Bathroom Bill despite repeated failures to pass the legislation this year. · The Trump Administration has indicated its support of such “bathroom bills.” What do you, your family, your friends think about Mr. Trump’s policies regarding rights for the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and transgendered) community in general? · Do you have friends or family who are directly affected by this legislation? Are they concerned? Are you concerned? How? · What do you think the state and federal government should do regarding LGBT rights policy in general and the Texas bathroom bill in particular? |
You do NOT have to do any research (unless you wish to do so in order to support key points you address in the paper). I have provided you with a number of articles on topic to assist you if you have not followed the issues to be addressed in your essay and you may read these articles to refresh your memory of what has happened this year on the issue and you may use the information in the articles in the paper IF you wish. However, if you decide to use this material in your paper or even material from your own outside research you MUST show where you got the material otherwise you are guilty of plagiarism and could receive a severe penalty on your grade for such plagiarism. You don’t need to use a formal system like MLA or APA, or Turabian to cite and document the use of these sources. You may simply, in parentheses after “quoting” the material from the outside source tell me where you got it. If you wish to quote from one of the articles I have provided you, simply indicate the title of the article and the date of publication. If you wish to use an article to support your thoughts or opinion, provide a notation indicating the source. For example: (Michael Grunwald, “Trump’s First 100 Days: What Mattered, And What Didn’t,” POLITICO MAGAZINE, 26 April 2017, http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/04/26/trump-first-100-days-president-rating-accomplishments-215071). If you quote or paraphrase from this article again in your paper, you’d need only put in parenthesis after the quote or paraphrase the following: (Grunwald), which would indicate you got the material from the Michael Grunwald article.
You are to present in this essay your opinions and thoughts on what you know, where you learned it in general, and why you’ve made the decisions you did about voting and arrived at the opinions you had about the candidates for president, and, in particular about the president-elect and his ideas, behavior, plans, and what he will do as president and what you think will be the results. This is NOT a research paper. It is an opinion essay—a discussion of YOUR opinions and what you know of the opinions of your inner circle of family and friends. So, feel comfortable talking about yourself and what is in your mind. NO ONE WILL READ THIS PAPER OTHER THAN ME, YOUR TEACHER. I WILL NOT SHARE IT WITH ANYONE, so your opinions and thoughts will remain yours and not shared unless you want to share them with others. AND I DO NOT, REPEAT, NOT, GRADE YOUR ESSAY ON WHETHER I AGREE WITH YOUR OPINIONS OR NOT. I GRADE ON WHETHER YOU MEET THE REQUIREMENTS SET OUT IN THE INSTRUCTIONS. I am not grading your opinions, just your ability to gather and express them relative to the political issues at hand. Your opinions may differ completely from mine but that does not enter in my grading of your essay. I am as likely to give an “A” to a student’s whose opinions differ from mine as to a student who agree to the letter with my opinions. Actually, a student whose opinions match mine would get a lower grade than the student who differed dramatically with my personal opinions if the essay by the latter student is better written, better organized, better thought out than a slap-dash poorly presented paper written by the former student.
Remember, this is a chance for you to take the stage and tell your audience (me, the reader of your paper) what you think and feel. Do not worry if you think you are not a strong writer. Don’t worry if you are ESL and have, at this time, weak language skills. Write in your best form and style and language skills, but I am nowhere close to being as interested in the formalities of all that as I am in hearing, in reading what you think, what you believe, what you have heard from your family and friends, and what your hopes or your fears may be. (NOTE: Again, no one will read this paper but me. I will erase the papers after the end of the semester. So, do not worry that I might share your personal feelings and believes in the paper. I am the only member of your audience and will protect your privacy.)
MECHANICAL REQUIREMENTS FOR THE PAPER:
· PROVIDE THE word count at the end of the paper.
· DO NOT PLAGIARIZE! If you do any outside research to support some point you wish to make and include it in your paper you MUST show where you got the material. You don’t need to use a formal system like MLA or APA, or Turabian. You may simply, in parentheses after “quoting” the material from the outside source tell me where you got it.
Word Count: 1,810
RESOURCES FOR USE AS DESIRED AND NEEDED IN YOUR ESSAY ON THE TOPIC OF THE TEXAS LEGISLATURE, THE “BATHROOM BILL” AND “SANCTURARY CITIES” LEGISLATION
Use this material for background and for resources to quote in your paper if you see fit.
LONG ARTICLE FROM NOVEMBER 25, 2017 ARTICLE FROM THE NEW YORKER MAGAZINE BY LAWRENCE WRIGHT, “AMERICA’S FUTURE IS TEXAS:
With right-wing zealots taking over the legislature even as the state’s demographics shift leftward, Texas has become the nation’s bellwether.”
(You are not required to read this entire article—although I recommend you save it and read it later if you are at all interested in living in Texas and dealing with political forces in Texas that affect you in the remainder of your life. To find pertinent information relative to the subjects of “sanctuary cities” and “bathroom bill” you need only do a word search in the document to find those sections.)
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/07/10/americas-future-is-texas
LINKS TO ARTICLES ON BACKGROUND INFORMATION TO ASSIST YOU REGARDING TEXAS LEGISLATIVE ACTION ON SANCTUARY CITIES AND THE SO-CALLED “BATHROOM BILL” FROM THE NON-PARTISAN, NON-PROFIT ONLINE NEWSPAPER, THE TEXAS TRIBUNE
(You do not need to quote from or use these articles in your essay; these are for you to read quickly to further acquaint you with the two issues if you are not fully aware of them, although you likely have some awareness of them since you are required in the class to keep up with current events in Texas government.)
ON SANCTUARY CITIES (BILL PASSED AND SIGNED BY GOVERNOR):
https://www.texastribune.org/2017/08/30/judge-temporarily-blocks-sanctuary-cities-law/
https://www.texastribune.org/2017/05/07/abbott-signs-sanctuary-cities-bill/
https://www.texastribune.org/2017/05/07/abbott-signs-sanctuary-cities-bill/
https://www.texastribune.org/2017/05/08/5-things-know-about-sanctuary-cities-law/
https://www.texastribune.org/2017/06/01/san-antonio-austin-suing-texas-over-immigration-law/
https://www.texastribune.org/2017/06/21/houston-votes-join-sanctuary-cities-lawsuit/
https://www.texastribune.org/2017/06/23/trump-administration-weighs-sb4-court-battle/
https://www.texastribune.org/2017/06/27/el-paso-joins-suit-texas-immigration-law/
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ON THE “BATHROOM BILL” (DID NOT PASS BOTH CHAMBERS IN THE SAME VERSION THEREFORE DID NOT PASS THE LEGISLATURE AND WENT THE GOVERNOR FOR SIGNATURE; CONSIDERED SEVERAL IN SPECIAL SESSIONS COSTING MILLIONS OF DOLLARS CALLED BY GOVERNOR; NEVER COMPLETED, MEASURE DIED):
https://www.texastribune.org/2017/02/14/musicians-and-artists-come-out-against-texas-bathroom-bill/
https://www.texastribune.org/2017/03/14/texas-senate-signs-so-called-bathroom-bill/
https://apps.texastribune.org/texas-bathroom-bill-annotated/
https://www.texastribune.org/2017/03/23/dozens-national-meeting-planners-may-take-texas-their-list/
https://www.texastribune.org/2017/06/06/abbott-special-session-announcement/
https://www.texastribune.org/2017/06/06/texas-bathroom-bill-debate-set-round-two-special-session/
