Political Science Term Paper

Order Description

Term Paper:

For the term paper, we will lean heavily on the book by the Lost Boys of Sudan, “They Poured Fire on Us from the Sky.” I strongly suggest reading the book. First, it is an amazing story that will draw you in whether you want it to or not. Second, it will be very helpful in completing the term paper.

Your assignment is to compare the “typical American” (this does not mean YOU; it means your understanding of how the stereotypical American thinks) understanding of certain political concepts with how you believe the Lost Boys understand those same concepts, and support your arguments with outside research. Those concepts include:
1) the purpose of government
2) human nature (are people good or evil by nature?)
3) group identity
4) freedom
5) America
6) role of women
7) education
8) war
9) religion

You should select five (5) of the above-listed concepts to discuss. If you wish to discuss another concept not on the list, get permission from me first or you will not receive credit for that concept.

Use examples from the book to clarify/defend your points about the Sudanese perspectives, and evidence from other researched sources to defend your arguments about the “typical American” perspectives. You are essentially writing a persuasive paper, trying to convince me that you are successfully identifying and explaining each side’s perspectives. A basic thesis statement for a paragraph would look something like: “I believe the Lost Boys see the purpose of government as ….” You would then make your argument and try to back it up with evidence. The next paragraph would then start with something like “The ‘typical’ American perspective of the purpose of government is …” although feel free to be much more brilliant in your writing style.

When using references, either direct quotes or paraphrased material, a full citation of the source is required. You MUST provide supporting evidence for EACH AND EVERY concept and perspective in the paper. Also, be sure to list all of the sources you used in your paper in a works cited page at the end of your paper. You must cite your sources using Turabian, APA or MLA formats. I highly recommend using the Citation Machine website or Easy Cite’s website that are on the Web Links page to help with this.

Your paper should be 5-7 pages (plus your Works Cited Page) in length, typed and double-spaced. Use normal fonts (10-12) and margins, and number your pages. I am not a fan of title pages or report covers. Keep your heading simple and single-spaced (your name is all that is required, really). I grade both content and style, so be sure that both are quality work. Sixty percent of your grade will be on content, and forty percent will be based on style (spelling, grammar, punctuation, capitalization, proper essay structure, professional academic language, good essay flow, avoiding contractions and abbreviations, etc.).

If you do not use Microsoft Word, please be sure to save your file as an .rtf file, or I will not be able to open it. To submit the assignment, go to the Assignments page in Blackboard and select Term Paper, and follow the instructions. DO NOT CUT-AND-PASTE YOUR ASSIGNMENT AND DO NOT EMAIL YOUR PAPER TO ME. Let me know if you have questions. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Your assignment will be submitted to Turnitin.com as part of this submission process, to be verified for potential plagiarism. Students agree that by taking this course all required papers may be subject to submission for textual similarity review by Turnitin.com for the detection of plagiarism. All submitted papers will be included as source documents in the Turnitin.com reference database solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of such papers. You may submit your papers in such a way that no identifying information about you is included. Another option is that you may request, in writing before the due date of the assignment, that your paper not be submitted to Turnitin.com. However, if you choose this option, you will be required to provide documentation to substantiate that the paper is your original work and do not include any plagiarized material. Please let me know if you have any questions in this regard. Otherwise, I will assume you understand the proper citation of sources and the avoidance of plagiarism.

The paper is due by 11:59 p.m. on October 23, 2015. No late papers will be accepted. Make sure you submit your paper early enough before the deadline so that you have time to react to technical glitches. If you try to submit your paper one minute before the deadline, and the system has crashed, it is your problem. It is your job to get your paper submitted on time, no exceptions. Email me if you have questions regarding the assignment. Good luck.
An important note: Please put your name on everything you turn in. If you do not put your name on something that is to be graded, you will receive no score for that grade. No exceptions. Part of doing the class work is attention to detail. Therefore, make sure your name is on your exams and paper. If it is not, you get a zero and I will NOT change the grade when you come crying to me. FYI. I will not return exams (but they can be reviewed in my office during office hours or by appointment), but you will be able to view your graded term paper on BlackBoard. If there has been a grading error, you must show me the error in order for me to fix it. I have to be able to see the mistake in order to fix it.

Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. The University adheres to a strict policy regarding cheating and plagiarism. Become familiar with the policy (https://sa.sdsu.edu/srr/conduct1.html) Any cheating or plagiarism will result in failing this class and a disciplinary review by Student Affairs.

Examples of plagiarism include but are not limited to:

· Using sources verbatim or paraphrasing without giving proper attribution (this can include phrases, sentences, paragraphs, and/or pages of work)

· Copying and pasting work from an online or offline source directly and calling it your own

· Using information you find from an online or offline source without giving the author credit

· Replacing words or phrases from another source and inserting your own words or phrases

· Submitting a piece of work you did for one class to another class