Good Language Mastery

For this final project you will continue with the social issue that you selected (language and power; freedom and security; health and wealth) and you will write an essay where you discuss your perspective. You will use the ideas and information from the summary-response and the quote log to write your case study.

With your essay submission, you will include responses to four reflection questions. They are not part of your essay and are to be answered separately in the “comments” box of the assignment folder.

Earning the maximum possible score on this assignment will require students to

complete all assigned essay components in the initial submission (earning up to 95%)

submit the essay by the priority deadline (earning 5%)

The Case Study Project, Revised Draft is to be submitted as a separate assignment.

Content

Describe a “real life” instance of your selected social issue in a professional or a personal setting.

Discuss your perspective on your selected social issue, including the reasons for your viewpoint.

Discuss how your core values inform or influence your perspective on your selected social issue.

Demonstrate that you are really thinking about your issue—don’t settle for easy answers, don’t pretend that conflicting evidence doesn’t exist, and don’t feel that you have to take an either-or position.

Discuss the complexities of your selected social issue. For example, do not just conclude that using academic language is always good, or that government surveillance is always bad, or that wealth automatically leads to health. Think about the intricacies of these issues and how they play out in everyday life.

Organization

Include an introductory paragraph, where you clearly outline a “real-life” instance of your social issue and you give a thesis statement that indicates your perspective (see Part 2: Writing Your Introduction for an example).

Include 3-5 body paragraphs where you include details, examples, and quotes from at least three of the course readings and two additional readings to help you develop and support your key points (see Part 3: Writing Your Body Paragraphs for an example).

Include one body paragraph where you discuss how your core values inform or influence your perspective on your selected social issue (see Part 3: Writing Your Body Paragraphs for an example).

End your essay with a concluding paragraph where you restate your thesis, summarize your key points, and leave the reader with the “so what?” ( see Part 4: Writing Your Conclusion for an example).

Language Choices

As a writer, you are free to decide how you use language, keeping the following in mind:

style: your language choices should result in a consistent writing style that is purposeful and aligned with your goals

readability: your language choices should ensure that your ideas are clear and easy to follow

When composing your paper, think about the conventions for academic writing, including:

punctuation: this includes things such as recommended use of commas, colons, and apostrophes.

word-level accuracy: this includes things such as capitalization, spelling, word-tense, and usage.

sentence-level accuracy: this includes things such as sentence boundaries, subject-verb agreement, and pronoun-antecedent agreement.

Take time to review your language choices after you’ve written your essay. Think about your goals for the style of this essay and your own writing habits (like using “text-speak,” omitting capitalization, or writing sentence fragments). Revise as necessary to accomplish your style and readability goals.

Reading your paper aloud is helpful technique when reviewing your language choices for style and readability.

Sources and Documentation

To earn the maximum possible points on this assignment, use and cite at least five sources:

Use and cite three of the assigned course readings on your selected issue (language and power; freedom and security; health and wealth).

Use and cite two more sources (course readings or otherwise). Sources that are not from the assigned readings must be listed at the end of the paper on a reference page. List author, year of publication, title, and URL. Full APA format is not required for the reference page.

In-text citations for all sources should be in APA style.

These examples show options for citing a paraphrase:

This is a paraphrased sentence (Author, year).

Author (year) explains that ….

These examples show options for citing a quote:

A recent study showed that “this is the quoted passage” (Author, year, p./para. number).

Author (year) explains, “this is the quoted passage” (p./para. number).

Note that it is possible to earn a B on this assignment by using only three sources from the course readings and no reference page. To earn an A will require an additional two sources and reference page, if needed.

Format and Length

At the top of the page, include your name, the assignment name, and a title that reflects your specific essay focus. (See example below.)

Your paper should be typed, double-spaced and in 12-point font.

Your final product should be a minimum of six paragraphs (about 900-1100 words) in length. However, the quality of the content of this essay is most important. Be sure to fully answer the prompt.

Sample Header and Title for Assignment Submissions

Kim Lee (student’s name)

Case Study Project, first draft (assignment name)

Education Doesn’t Mean Empowerment (title)

Sample Case Study Project

Be sure to review this Sample Case Study before you begin. The student sample includes notes to help with connections to key aspects of the assignment. ATTACHED.

I have created a draft introductory paragraph and body which is ATTACHED. I would like to expand on these with proper grammar and citations. Thank you.