Compare and contrast the role of money in relation to happiness in Bhutan and Qatar in order to draw a conclusion about the relationship between money and happiness in general

The Geography of Bliss: Major Writing Assignment 1
Our first writing assignment will tie into an idea or theme drawn from either Chapter 3 (Bhutan: Happiness is a Policy), Chapter 4 (Qatar: Happiness is a Lottery Ticket), or both chapters. You will shape your writing for the rhetorical situation that you select in order to achieve your purpose(s) with a specific audience of your choosing.
Some possible topics to get you started:
– compare and contrast the role of money in relation to happiness in Bhutan and Qatar in order to draw a conclusion about the relationship between money and happiness in general
– examine the role of religion in relation to happiness in Qatar compared with Bhutan to make some determination about how religious belief(s) may affect/be affected by happiness
– consider how climate and environment may affect culture and, in turn, happiness levels in Qatar, Bhutan, and possibly elsewhere in the world, including the USA
– or, another topic of your choice that is related to something in Chapter 3, Chapter 4, or both chapters
Expectations
To get a passing grade (15 or 20) on this assignment, you should do the following:
Write for a specific audience unfamiliar with our book, The Geography of Bliss. That means you’ll need to spend some time defining any terms that might be unfamiliar to your reader and briefly summarizing relevant parts of your researchers’ work to help your reader understand the background around your inquiry question or thesis (main point).
Use AT LEAST three sources: choose one or both Chapters 3 and 4 from Weiner’s The Geography of Bliss (you may also use ideas or quotations from the Introduction and/or Chapter 1, if relevant to your points). Locate at least two additional resources to provide further information about your topic. You may use any of the published materials that we’ve used for class (available in our Canvas modules), and/or you may use outside sources cleared by me (check with me before using in your graded draft).
Show that you have carefully read Chapter 3 and/or 4, and the other material from class or that you yourself have located, and that you have fully digested and considered the different viewpoints and evidence regarding the topic you’ve chosen.
Identify a clear purpose you want to achieve with this assignment, and communicate that purpose clearly in your writing either explicitly or implicitly.
Shape your assignment into a genre appropriate to your purpose and audience, and make textual decisions that use the conventions of that genre effectively (tone, word choice, patterns of grammar, sentence structure, structure of text, formatting). For example, you may choose to write a series of sequential blog entries aimed at a particular audience, a research report, an argumentative paper, a reflective essay examining your own thoughts and beliefs…you have many other options, as well.
Either from the beginning in an introduction, or by the end of the assignment in a conclusion, state your own focus or position clearly and explain it in depth, effectively communicating it to your intended audience.
Include well-chosen details, examples, and quotes from your sources to help you develop your response. Remember to cite page numbers in parenthesis and to give credit to the original source using MLA in-text citation format (or approved alternative such as APA or Chicago).
Include a Works Cited (MLA style, or approved alternative such as a References page in APA) page
Be typed in 11 or 12 point font and double-spaced.
Note: It will be difficult to complete this assignment successfully in less than 1000 words.
To see how I will be grading your assignment, take a look at the grading rubric at the bottom of this page.

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