Introduction to American Government
Short Writing Assignments Instructions
During the course of the semester, students are required to submit a short writing assignment in which you summarize and analyze a newspaper article on a political issue. The Short Writing Assignment will be 20% of the course grade. Students have access to newspapers online through Proquest on the, including the following major newspapers: New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal. Please Note: You do not have to use ProQuest if you have other access to newspaper articles.
The writing assignment should be between 1-2 pages double-spaced. The first half of the paper should be a summary of the newspaper article’s main points. The second half of the paper should be your analysis of the newspaper article. Your analysis can take many different forms: Do you agree or disagree with the article’s main points, and why? How will this political issue affect the United States? Will a new law make a positive or negative change to American politics?
You also must cite the article you use to get full credit:
Citation Format:
Author’s Last Name, Author’s First Name. Article Year. “Title of Article,” Name of
Newspaper, Article Date.
Example of Citation:
Davis, Eric. 2016. “Congress Looks to Pass New Immigration Law,” New York Times,
September 17, 2016.
Note: You just need to cite the article, not provide a link to the article. Also, a link to the article is not a substitute for the citation. You must have a citation to get full credit.
The paper should be double-spaced, in Times New Roman font, with 1-inch margins all around. Papers should be uploaded in PDF or Microsoft Word format to Canvas. You will upload the Short Writing Assignment under the “Assignments” page under “Short Writing Assignment.”
Additional Instructions:
1. You do not have to use ProQuest.
2. You don’t have to use the major newspapers listed above. However, it must be a reputable
newspaper, not a blog.
3. Cite the article you use. You don’t need to use a specific citation format. Just include the
basic information about the article: Author, Title, Date of article, Newspaper.
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An Overview of American Government
Instructions for Short Writing Assignments
Students are required to submit a short writing assignment during the semester in which they summarize and analyze a newspaper story on a political issue. The grade for the Short Writing Assignment will be 20% of the overall course grade. Students have access to newspapers online through Proquest on the, including the following major newspapers: New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal. Please Note: You do not have to use ProQuest if you have other access to newspaper articles.
The writing assignment should be between 1-2 pages double-spaced. The first half of the paper should be a summary of the newspaper article’s main points. The second half of the paper should
