Historical Debate Assignment:
Information literacy is a crucial skill needed to navigate society, particularly in the everexpanding world of social media. Informed people need to be able to evaluate sources,
weigh evidence, draw conclusions, and write effectively. This assignment will attempt to
measure all aspects.
Short instructions:
Consider the topic you have chosen or been assigned as a debate or a discussion. You
must consider the arguments of both of the assigned sources. Your final project will be
an 600-800 word paper.
Detailed instructions:
I. Report: Write a 600-800 word paper using your selected sources. The report
should do the following:
a. Describe/Discuss the issue that is being debated. (what happened, why
was it important, why does it matter now)
b. Identify the argument of each perspective. It is probably best to write
about one perspective first before moving on to the opposing view.
c. Reflect on the evidence provided in each source and consider how well it
supported the author’s thesis or the point of view you have identified in the
source.
d. Conclude by talking about the following:
i. Discuss which perspective you found more convincing and why.
ii. How did these readings change the way in which you understood
the subject?
iii. How are the issues presented in the readings still relevant to you
today? Please explain how your personal background and life
experience might influence your perspective on this topic.
iv. Imagine that you have been asked to tackle a CURRENT national
or global issue. How would you use the readings to help you do
so?
II. Documentation: You must cite all quotes and paraphrases with intext
citations. Failure to do this will result in zero credit for this assignment.
A few notes on achieving a good grade on this project:
1. This is formal writing. That means proper grammar and
spelling. It also means proper format. You need an
introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Each
paragraph needs to have a topic sentence with supporting
details that speak back to that topic sentence. All
paragraphs at some level need to speak back to your
thesis. Poor organization, spelling, and grammar will lower
your grade, sometimes SIGNIFICANTLY.
2. Citations and Plagiarism: A quotation is when you take
evidence and wording directly from a source and put it in
quotation marks. This needs a proper citation.
a. A paraphrase is when you take something from a
source that is not common knowledge and put it in
your own words. This also needs a proper citation.
i. It is helpful to consider this as you compile
evidence. As you write, ask yourself, “Did I know
this information before I read the book?” If the
answer is no, then you should cite accordingly.
3. Quotations: All quotations should be LESS than 3
sentences in length. Anything beyond that and there will be
deductions.
4. Word count: I am picky here. You must hit the minimum
word count. I prefer you shoot for the higher end. Failure to
meet the minimum will result in a maximum score of a 70.
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