Commentary Essay

Purpose/Goals: Trends rise and fall on an almost daily basis. You see them on the news, on social media and around you every day. Commentary uses analysis and interpretation to find patterns of meaning in events, trends, and ideas and not merely to report findings.

Assignment Description: For this assignment, you will analyze and examine a trend. First, you will identify a current pattern or trend. In order to do this, you will find at least three examples of the trend to establish its existence. Second, you will explain its meaning and examine the causes and effects of the trend. Third, you will provide your evaluation of the trend. This means you will either praise the trend or critique it and explain why you feel that way (using evidence to support your claims). These topics are off-limits for this paper: Abortion/Teen Pregnancy, Euthanasia/ PAS, Death penalty, Legalizing marijuana, Gay marriage, Gun control, Lowering the Drinking Age and Sheriff Joe Arpaio. If you turn in a paper on one of these topics, you will automatically earn a zero for this assignment.

Source Requirement: You need to find four (4) outside sources for your review. Remember, your research should support your points, not make them for you. The research used in your paper can support your claims on why you are arguing something is a trend. It can also explain or support your discussion of the causes and consequences of the trend or support your evaluation of the trend. At least three of your sources need to come from the ASU library or its databases.

Audience: The audience for this assignment will be determined by your trend. Who will care about your topic? What will they need to know before they can understand your discussion of the trend? You need to establish and explain this in your introduction.

Length/Format:

Your paper must be a minimum of 1200 words and should be no more than 1500 words. Your paper should be in 12 point Times New Roman or Calibri font. It should be double-spaced and have 1” margins on all side. Your paper should follow all MLA formatting guidelines and include a Works Cited page.

Grading Criteria:

-Your paper should examine a trend, provide examples and provide an evaluation

-Your paper should be clearly written, well-organized, and insightfully argued

-Your analysis should show evidence of critical engagement with the subject and be supported by outside research

-Your analysis should go beyond surface impressions to explore the social and ideological implications of your chosen subject

Grading Breakdown

Topic Paragraph: 10%

Individual Conference: 10%

Full Rough Draft/Peer Editing Day: 10%

Content: 50%

MLA Format/Citations: 15%

Grammar and Mechanics: 5%

Due Dates:

Topic Paragraph Due: Tuesday, March 1st in BlackBoard

Full Rough Draft Due/Peer Reviews: Tuesday, March 29th in Class

Final Draft Due: Sunday, April 3rd in BlackBoard by midnight