Description
This assignment requires you to write two (2) brief
two-page double-spaced of text
reaction papers to a particular current event dealing with Texas politics and government. You are
free to choose any current event that interests you personally, just with the requirement that it
must be clearly related to Texas government. You should find these current event articles through
any reputable news source that you choose. If you have a concern or question on whether a particular article satisfies this requirement as a valid source, please feel free to ask. A few reputable news sources that you can consider (but certainly not the only ones) are:
The Texas Observer (texasobserver.org)
The Texas Tribune (texastribune.org)
The Houston Chronicle (chron.com)
Texas Monthly (texasmonthly.com)
New York Times (nytimes.com/topic/destination/texas)
Huffington Post – Texas Politics (huffingtonpost.com/news/texas-politics)
National News organizations (CNN, NBC, CBS, Fox) also regularly cover Texas political news.
The paper will require more than simply re-describing the article, I want you to critically think about the information in the article and discuss the importance or significance it has for Texas government and politics. You are certainly allowed, in fact encouraged, to provide active voice, and include your own personal perspective on the current event, but I will require you to incorporate information that we have covered in this class into your reaction paper, where applicable. This is not intended to be a one-page political rant about a current event.
You will need to do three major things in these papers. The first part of the paper will be a brief summary of the current event in your own words. Over-reliance on direct quotes from the article will result in deduction. The second part of the paper will be your reaction, this can be a critique of the piece or event, or the significance of the event, simply your perspective on such. This is intended to be your thoughts, thus please use first person. The third component of your papers will be relating the current event to course material in some manner (i.e. where does this article fit into the course material – textbook chapter, discussion, film, etc.). Each of these are required in both papers.
Grading rubric: Current Event Reaction Paper Rubric Substantive Components Summary of Original Article or Event (25 Points)______Provides summary of original article or event, using student’s own words (not overly reliant on direct quotes). Accurately describes event. Reaction to Article or Event (25 Points)______Provide your own personal perspective regarding the article or event and what you thought about this issue (i.e. do not be afraid from using first person). Relate to Course Material (15 Points)______Discuss how this article or event relates to some relevant material from the course. Keep in mind that this may relate to material that has not been covered yet, so you may need to look ahead in the textbook. Need to be explicit, not just vague references. Technical Requirements Working URL Link to Original Article (10 Points)______Must be a complete working link to the original source, either included in the actual paper, or in the comments box on the D2L Dropbox submission page.Length of Paper (20 Points)______Paper must meet the 2-pages of text double-spaced length requirement. As a reminder again, improper formatting to increase the length is easily changed with an electronic submission. Also, large headers (I am looking at you MLA…) and the works cited/URL link do NOT count towards the length requirement. Your name at the top will suffice. Extraordinarily short submissions can be deducted further at my discretion. General Style (5 Points)______Proper proofreading and editing. This is a college paper, and as such, I expect proper editing. A simple error occasionally is acceptable, but if it is bad to where it is difficult to follow your discussion, this will incur a deduction