Go to the Points of View Reference Center on the USM library website (the link takes you to a page of University databases starting with the letter P. Scroll down to find the Points of View Reference Center). Choose a topic. When you click on the topic, you will see some general information, and then, on the side, a 'Point' and a 'Counterpoint' essay. Choose an article you agree with and read that essay.
Do some further research on this topic using online sources (which may include library databases): your purpose is to find evidence to support, and evidence against, the position argued in the article you chose. Keep in mind that finding another person (however famous or powerful) who argues the same thing is not (in itself) evidence! You are not required only to use academic sources, but you should use sources you think you can defend as credible.
Your final paper will have two separate sections, as described below.
All written assignments should be typed, double-spaced in a 12-point font, and carefully edited and proofread. You will do your own research, but all secondary sources must be carefully cited.
Write a three page response paper to the article you chose. For example, if you chose the 'Counterpoint' article as more reflective of your own views, then you should write a paper that argues against the 'Counterpoint' article. Write as persuasive an argument against the article you can, and use your research to support your argument. The focus of this section should be building as persuasive a case as you can against the article you have chosen (i.e. against your own opinion!)
Write a three page report on your research. Your report should:
describe how you looked for sources of information and why.
evaluate the sources you found. Which ones seemed trustworthy, or untrustworthy? Why? Which ones did you not use in the paper, and why? Would the writer of the original article trust the sources you ended up using?
say whether your own opinion has changed as a result of the research you have done. Why or why not?
The report must include a bibliography of all the internet sites you used in your research (this does not count towards the 6 pages of the essay).
If you want to refer to a study guide for this assignment, you can use the American Political Science Style Guide. The most important thing is to be *clear* and *complete* in the information you provide for each source. Make sure that someone else could find your source based on the information you provide in the bibliography.
The program has a zero tolerance policy regarding plagiarism: plagiarism may result in an F for the course. The following is a useful definition of plagiarism:
"Plagiarism is representing someone else's ideas, words, statements or other works as one's own without proper acknowledgment or citation. Examples of plagiarism include:
• Copying word for word or lifting phrases or a special term from a source or reference – whether oral, printed, or on the Internet – without proper attribution.
• Paraphrasing, that is, using another person's written words or ideas, albeit in one's own words, as if they were one's own
thought.
• Borrowing facts, statistics, or other illustrative material without proper reference, unless the information is common knowledge, in common public use."
(University of Michigan, LS&A Bulletin, Chapter IV, p.23, http://www.lsa.umich.edu/UMICH/lsa_bulletin/Home/Archive/Bulletin2009.pdf, accessed August 20th, 2009)
Other examples include: cutting and pasting material from the web and presenting it as your own work; taking material from the web and writing it up in your own words without providing a footnote to the source; cutting and pasting material from the web and changing some of the words in the hope that we won’t find it on Google. To properly cite internet sources, refer to the example above.
Please note, additionally, that while presenting someone else's words and ideas in your paper and properly attributing it to its correct source is not, strictly, plagiarism, a paper constructed largely from paraphrasing, or copying, the words and ideas of others may also receive a failing grade. You are being graded on how well you can use your skills to do research, evaluate sources of information, and make an argument, not on how well you can cut and paste.
Plagiarism or other cheating will result in an automatic failing grade. If you have any questions about what constitutes plagiarism, or about other aspects of academic integrity, please ask! A useful resource is the Student Handbook, pp.49-50: (http://www.usm.edu/union/studenthandbook.pdf).