America Political 010W Writing

2/16/22, 4:00 PM Writing Assignment #1

https://elearn.ucr.edu/courses/35132/assignments/290833 1/2

Writing Assignment #1

Due Jan 28 by 11:59pm Points 100 Submitting a file upload Attempts 1 Allowed Attempts 2 Available after Jan 14 at 12pm

New Attempt

Background:

In Federalist Paper no. 10 James Madison presents part of his vision of what America could be because of the structure of the Constitution—a representative republic free from the oppression of minority or majority factions. Many of the texts for this course present a similar notion of what America can or should be (i.e. a democratic, egalitarian society). But, these texts also address the ways in which we have failed to live up to this ideal or how we have failed to “achieve our country”…

Primary Question:

For this assignment begin writing an argumentative, thesis-driven essay answering the following questions:

Have we failed to achieve our country? Why or why not?

If so, what has kept the United States from living up to its ideals? If not, in what ways has the US lived up to its ideals?

And, is it possible to achieve our country with our Constitution in its current state? Why or why not?

Requirements:

You must have a debatable/argumentative thesis statement. To address this question you must use Federalist Paper no. 10, The Constitution, How Democratic is the American Constitution?, and How Democracies Die.

DO NOT incorporate outside research unless you have cleared it with your TA. DO NOT cite lecture. Go to the sources themselves. Lecture will not count as a valid source.

750-1000 words (double spaced, Times New Roman, 12 point font, 1” margins) Use whatever formatting style you prefer unless your TA specifies their preference. Cover page including your name, TA’s name, class, date, title of paper, and one paragraph (100-200 words [does not count towards your overall word count]) explaining what you feel most confident about in your paper and what you’re most concerned about. In-text citations as well as a works cited page

2/16/22, 4:00 PM Writing Assignment #1

https://elearn.ucr.edu/courses/35132/assignments/290833 2/2

Total Points: 100

Rubric

Criteria Ratings Pts

5 pts

5 pts

20 pts

20 pts

15 pts

20 pts

15 pts

Please remember, this is a rough draft. You will likely not have a fully articulated argument in this assignment. But we want to see that you have engaged with the material and are moving in the direction of original scholarship. Because this is a rough draft, your grade will largely be dependent on the existence of an argument (even though it may not be fully articulated), your understanding of the material, the use of resources, and the quality of writing. Meeting all of the requirements above will also factor into your grade.

Cover Page

Does the student have a cover page which includes all of the necessary information (including your name, TA’s name, class, date, title of paper, and one paragraph (100-200 words explaining what you feel most confident about in your paper and what you’re most concerned about)?

Thesis

Does the student have a debatable/argumentative thesis statement that adequately answers the prompt?

Argument

Does the student translate the argument in their thesis to the paper itself, and do they do so convincingly?

Prose

Is the paper well written?

Organization

Is the paper as a whole well organized? And, is there good organization of the argument within the paragraphs themselves?

Material

Does the student show a good understanding of the course material?

Evidence

Is evidence well-used throughout the paper and is it cited correctly? Are all necessary sources used?