Objective: Practice assessing audience and using inferences to identify the form, focus, and rhetorical approach for your writing; to explore and reflect on practices for developing arguments; effectively integrate information from other texts to support your argument; gain experience writing for real-world audiences.

Description:
The use of social media as a means to address political, social, and economic injustice has increased dramatically in the last ten years as more and more people are turning to online platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to get their messages across. However, such use has also led to debates over whether or not the internet actually helps or hinders the pursuit of real, meaningful change.

Instructions:
Write a FIVE paragraph essay that responds to the following question:

Should we rely on the internet and social media to promote social justice?

This essay serves multiple purposes. First, it is an opportunity for you to apply the rhetorical techniques that we have found in other texts to your own argument. This essay also gives you an opportunity to move beyond comprehension and analysis to argue your own position. To do this, you will need to have a more nuanced sense of this debate, analyze various positions on the issue, and then position yourself among that debate, using evidence for your stance.

In order to learn more about this debate, you will need to engage in research. During the course of writing this essay, we will practice sound research practices such as evaluating sources and incorporating citations and paraphrases. For this essay, you will need to cite AT LEAST FIVE outside sources obtained from any of the Monroe College Library Databases (ONE of these sources MUST be peer-reviewed). You may cite from any of the required readings from Unit 10 as well.

Criteria:
Clear statement of your position
Appropriate moves to establish your authority
Detailed and nuanced presentation of issues affecting your position
Series of logical claims or points to justify your position
References to and discussion of information from at least FIVE sources obtained from the Monroe College Library Databases or the Unit 10 readings (at least one of the five sources must be peer-reviewed)
Overt connections between claims and support
Presentation and refutation of relevant counterarguments
Clear, logical organization including effective use of paragraphing
Effective use of paraphrasing and quotation
Sentences relatively free from errors
Correctly formatted Title Page, Abstract, and References Page

Format: APA (see https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style).

Length: approx. 1000 words.

Steps:
Find credible sources about your issue/topic and read them
Identify multiple perspectives about your issue (not just two)
Formulate your own argument about how we should move forward on this issue, based on the evidence that you have read Use the rhetorical principles to guide you as you craft your argument
Revise, revise, revise
Polishedit and proofread your work. Consider reading it out loud.

Questions to Consider:
Why is this issue important? What is at stake?
What is your personal connection to this issue?
What aspect of it do you think is most overlooked?
Why should people care about it, even if they are not directly affected?
Is your evidence convincing?
Can you anticipate how people might argue against your opinion? How could you use that to sharpen your own argument?

Additional Instructions: Use the APA Essay Template

1.    Read Affirmative Action Pojman Reading Guide
2.    Read The Case Against Affirmative Action
3.    Read the example of how your page should look like Example
4.    Read all instructions attached.
5.    Write a RAOR commentary which includes the four parts discussed above. 200-300 words

Assignment Objective:  Develop an audio-narrated PowerPoint presentation based on the research you have conducted about your chosen topic. All APUS students have access to PowerPoint and the rest of Microsoft Office (for Windows or MacOS) through the Resource Center link on the left.

Assignment Instructions:  Using the course project steps completed to date, you will develop your presentation based on the work you submitted for Assignments 1 and 2 as well as the feedback you were given.

To prepare for this assignment, I recommend that you do the following:

Read these directions carefully.
Review the grading rubric below. The grading rubric is a detailed evaluation that I will use to assess your performance. It also will help you understand what is expected of you as you prepare your assignment.
Message me with any questions!
Presentation requirements:

Your presentation will be submitted as an audio-narrated PowerPoint. It must narrated by you. You may not use text-to-speech technology to do the narration for you, unless noted in an approved accommodation from a current letter from DSA which you have provided to me.  For instructions on how to create audio narration in PowerPoint, see the following link: Record a Slide Show With Narration.  Audio narration is a requirement!
There must be both text (in concise phrases) and visual elements (e.g., photos, videos, graphs, figures). Since this is a geography class, you must include at least 2 relevant maps in your presentation.
Your presentation must contain approximately 10-15 slides (excluding references) and run approximately 5-10 minutes.
Less than 10% of your presentation should be direct quotes.
Proper use and pronunciation of geographic terminology are required. 
Be sure to properly cite your work, both internal to the presentation as well as within the reference slide (this includes photos, graphs, figures, videos, etc.).
All references listed on the reference slide should be cited internally within the presentation, and vice versa.
The required elements: Your presentation should contain the following elements in the order listed below. Specific content for each section is detailed in Assignment 2: The Outline.

In addition, I expect that any feedback provided to you from Assignment 1: Annotated Bibliography and Assignment 2: The Outline be incorporated into this assignment. Please go back and review those comments.

Introduction this section must contain your topic, why you chose your topic, and preview where your topic developed and diffused to.
Body (Content) this section must contain examine how your topic relates to four geographic concepts: regions, cultural landscapes, diffusion and distance decay
Conclusion Slide this section must contain four to six points that sum up the main topics of the presentation.
Reference Slide (and Internal Citations) this section must contain the following:
Internal citations – This is not just a separate section; rather, referencing should occur throughout the presentation via parenthetical citations anytime you paraphrase, make direct quotes, or use visual components from other sources.  Please be sure to cite any language, images, videos, etc. in the presentation that should be cited.
Reference Slide – Your paper should also have a final reference slide listing at least 5 credible sources researched for your presentation.
Do not include your summary/evaluation from Assignment 1: Annotated Bibliography; simply list the references utilized in your presentation in APA format on the reference slide.

Read the Primary reading: Paul Taylor, Respect for Nature, Chapter 3: The Biocentric Outlook on Nature (69p).

Our textbook Sustainability does not refer to Paul Taylor or biocentrism explicitly.  If you would like to apply a biocentrism to a particular case study or topic that you find, feel free to do that.  Or, you may watch the video in the Content for the week and critique Garry Deweese’s summary and critique of Paul Taylor and biocentrism.

Read the Primary reading: Paul Taylor, Respect for Nature, Chapter 3: The Biocentric Outlook on Nature (69p).

Our textbook Sustainability does not refer to Paul Taylor or biocentrism explicitly.  If you would like to apply a biocentrism to a particular case study or topic that you find, feel free to do that.  Or, you may watch the video in the Content for the week and critique Garry Deweese’s summary and critique of Paul Taylor and biocentrism.

Write a four-part essay to explain and argue whether the rule of law is valuable.

The structure of this essay is the following:

Part 1: They say that the rule of law is/is not valuable because
Part 2: I say that the rule of law is not/is valuable because
Part 3: One might object that
Part 4: I reply that

Notes:
(i) The format of this assignment is essentially the same as the previous two, except that it is expanded from four paragraphs to four parts, and you will need to elaborate your arguments in greater detail. However, you still need to write concisely and should avoid writing long, multi-argument paragraphs.

(ii) Word limit: 600 words.

(iii) Include a word count.

(iv) Please draw upon at least one of the guest lectures to explain and/or support your arguments. (I made the essay question more general so that you would have more room to use what youve learnt in the guest lecture.)

(v) Make sure that the argument in part 2 is contrary to that in part 1, though it need not directly engage the one in part 1. But your objection in part 3 should directly engage the argument in part 2, and your reply in part 4 directly engages the objection in part 3.

(vi) Write clearly and comprehensibly. Your assignment will be assessed partly based on clarity and comprehensibility.