Connections Essay

(Total value: 10%)

Due Date:

MONDAY/WEDNESDAY CLASS: 2/18/09

TUESDAY/THURSDAY CLASS: 2/19/09

TURNITIN.COM SUBMISSION REQUIRED, TEN (10) MINUTES OR MORE PRIOR TO BEGINNING OF CLASS ON OR BEFORE THE DUE DATE, AFTER WHICH THE PAPER WILL LOSE 10% FOR ONE CLASS PERIOD LATE, PER LATE WORK POLICIES ON THE COURSE SYLLABUS.

General Guidelines:

• Page count: 3 full pages minimum to 4 full pages maximum, plus a works cited page. If your paper falls short of the minimum required page count the grade will certainly suffer.
• In terms of what type of final grade this paper can earn, you should read the grading criteria (below) carefully, and before turning in your paper, perform a final proofread against the grading criteria.
• It is important for you to realize that this assignment must be written in a different prose style than all previous course work, for we have now shifted our emphasis from personal writing to academic prose. We will spend much time in class devoted to the particulars of academic prose, so papers that use a personal writing prose style will receive an unsatisfactory grade at best.
• Make certain that the essay has a thesis.
• Use MLA Style Guidelines.
• Use the formatting guidelines established during class lectures.
• Remember to title your essay in the form of a two part title. The two parts should be separated by a colon, and neither part should read “connections essay.”
• Remember that you are to write an argumentative paper, which means that you should choose an issue associated with the assigned topic, take a stance on the issue, frame your thesis as the final sentence of your introductory paragraph, and write a persuasive paper about it.
• Use a document header, as you should on all assignments, regardless of their length.
• Remember: this assignment is an argumentative essay, so it must have a strong thesis, which means that you must take a stand on the issue in your thesis. A thesis is a debatable claim.

Background:

· This essay is about privacy. Students should choose one of the following topics, all of which we will discuss at length during class.

1. RFID technology

2. The microchipping of people

3. National ID Cards

4. Employee surveillance in the workplace

5. Cameras on city streets

6. The cashless society

7. The Patriot Act

8. Black boxes in cars

9. National DNA database

Prompt:

Based on our class discussions, choose one of the topics from the list above.

· Using the OSU library resources, either online or at the physical facility, locate three outside sources, which means scholarly articles that relate to the reading you chose. You must quote from these sources in your paper. Understand that you cannot use outside sources that can be brought up on a computer screen with just an Internet connection. You must use some of the subscription databases that are available through the OSU Library System.

• Students are to quote and paraphrase from the sources, using both in-text citations and corresponding works cited page citations.
• Students must locate two valid outside sources and quote and paraphrase from them, using both in-text citations and corresponding works cited page citations.
• Students are to devise their own thesis and argument over an issue related to these articles.
• Engage all of the above sources in their entireties, explore the websites, and be prepared for a class discussion on our second class meeting, and probably thereafter.
• Bring copies of the materials you feel are important to every class meeting until the final paper is due, for I will allow time for you to work on the paper during class.
• We will spend class time discussing the topics, so students do not have to work through ideas on their own.
• Students are to devise their own thesis and argument over one of the assigned topics.
• Students must locate three valid outside sources and quote and paraphrase from them. Below are the criteria for what I will consider valid outside sources.

Grading Criteria for your Prose Style and for Formatting (papers will also be graded on all other guidelines addressed in this prompt):

• Use a document header, as you should for all assignments.
• Use a two-part title separated by a colon, neither part of which should contain the name of the assignment.
• The formatting guidelines on the syllabus/class lectures must be observed.
• The paper should meet the page count requirements, and all other requirements of this prompt and the syllabus.
• Writing must be free—or predominantly free—of typos, awkward/unclear phrasing, and sentence level errors.
• Do not use contractions.
• Do not use first person pronouns such as “I” “me” “my.”
• Do not use second person pronouns such as “you” “your” “yours.”
• Do not engage in personal stories, meaning stories of your own life experiences, or the experiences of friends, family, and so on.
• Do not begin sentences with conjunctions: but, and, or, nor, for, so, yet.
• Do not pose any questions in any assignments. This means, quite literally, not to use questions. Make statements instead.
• Do not quote the bible or make allusions to religion in any way.
• Avoid any form of direct address to the reader, such as "think about the fact that . . ."
• Avoid too casual of a prose style, such as sentences that begin with words like "well, sure, now, yes, no."
• Do not use the phrase “a lot,” which can usually be replaced with one of the following words: many, most, much.

Remember:

• Use direct quotes throughout your essay, which must be followed with an in-text citation and a corresponding citation on your works cited page.
• Remember that MLA Style Guidelines is a critically important element of this course, and if you negotiate them at an exceedingly low skill level this paper will receive an unsatisfactory grade at best.
• You are required to turn in your paper in a pocket folder, along with printed copies of your outside sources. Failure to negotiate this properly will cost points. Do not turn in your project as a mass of papers stapled together, nor should it be in a three-ring binder or anything other than a pocket folder.
• MLA Style Guidelines is a critically important element of this course, and if you negotiate them at an exceedingly low skill level this paper will receive an unsatisfactory grade at best.
• It is important for you to realize that this assignment must be written in a different prose style than all previous course work, for we have now shifted our emphasis from personal writing to academic prose. We will spend much time in class devoted to the particulars of academic prose, so papers that use a personal writing prose style will receive an unsatisfactory grade at best.

Criteria That Determines a Valid Outside Source: (we will go over this at length during class)

• You cannot use newspapers, magazines, websites, or any web-related material that can be reached with just an Internet connection. In other words, you must use the OSU library interface to use databases to which the OSU library subscribes.
• Your outside sources must be articles from peer-reviewed scholarly journals, and the articles must have the equivalent of a works cited section at the end, which might also be titled as one of the following: references, bibliography, sources cited, and so on. Alternatively, there may be no such section at the end, but the articles might be footnoted throughout, which is also acceptable if the footnotes give the publication information that is typically found in a works cited citation.
• An article must be a minimum of five pages in length, or it will be considered invalid.
• Do not use articles from anonymous authors, or they will be considered invalid.

How to turn in this essay: a paper copy is due during class on the due date. Additionally, an electronic copy is due, ten (10) minutes or more prior to the beginning of class on or before the due date, after which the paper will lose 10% for one class period late, per late work policies on the course syllabus; it must be turned in to TurnItIn.com as a MS Word doc or docx file. Use the TurnItIn.com “file upload” method on the submit screen. You will be instructed during class about how to create a TurnItIn.com account, and how to turn in your work. Your essays will be considered late until both the paper copy and the electronic copies are turned in. All other rules for late work, as delineated in section six of the course syllabus, also apply. Moreover, your electronic turn-in must be an exact duplicate of the paper copy. In other words, no further corrections or revisions will be accepted. Also, if the electronic and paper copies do not match up it will have a negative impact on the assignment’s grade.

Due Date:

MONDAY/WEDNESDAY CLASS: 2/18/09

TUESDAY/THURSDAY CLASS: 2/19/09

TURNITIN.COM SUBMISSION REQUIRED, TEN (10) MINUTES OR MORE PRIOR TO BEGINNING OF CLASS ON OR BEFORE THE DUE DATE, AFTER WHICH THE PAPER WILL LOSE 10% FOR ONE CLASS PERIOD LATE, PER LATE WORK POLICIES ON THE COURSE SYLLABUS.