^{Socy1005
Paper Guide – Paper 2 – “A Local/Regional Conflict”}

[Prof. Willard Uncapher]

^{Format
– 1 point}

1. Title- please include a title.

a. This way people can refer to you work, and can have a sense of what it is about.

2. No need for special cover sheet.

a. You can provide one, particularly if you want to include some goovy graphic, but generally there is no need to waste paper. A typed, stapled, page numbered document without a cover sheet is fine!

3. Number your pages. And staple or connect them together.

a. They do get separated! You don’t have to number the first page.

^{Content – 4 points}

1. Follow the topical instructions.

a. Did you properly investigate a local conflict?

b. Did you look at how a variety of perspectives, of different ‘stake holders’?

c. Did you distinguish or investigate what could or could not be easily resolved?

d. Did you attempt to provide a larger perspective on how to solve the issues, perhaps using course book, Getting to Yes?

2. Do some research

a. Did you actually research and look into this matter, or did you simply provide your own ‘perspective’?

^{General Organization – 3 points}

1. Present a Thesis/Overview/Key question near the beginning of your work.

a. This tells your reader what you are going to discuss. It gets them interested and focused.

2. Present Both/ More than one side.

a. You should credible present the views of people who will disagree with your points. If you do not give a credible voice to people who disagree, then they will not pay attention to your argument. You will not be able to convince them of anything.

3. Questions without answers are OK.

a. These are known are rhetorical questions. Feel free to ask more questions than you answer! Part of the point of education is to alert you, and for you in turn to alert you readers to what the important issues are, so that they and you can think about it.

4. Properly document your quotes and research materials.

a. Footnotes and references help the reader not only assess your material, they help the reader find new ways to look at your subject. If you document your reading well, then the ideas that you present that are all your own will be clearer- they will have no references!

5. Consider documenting your ‘secondary’ points.

a. You can guide your reader to more material that you think will be useful to your presentation.

6. Draw a conclusion.

a. Don’t forget to spend adequate amount of time assessing your evidence and drawing your own conclusions. This generally takes more than a (final) paragraph!

7. Don’t just use books and articles taught in the course.

a. You can use them, and they were chosen because they should be useful for a consideration of ‘communication technology and society.’ But doing some outside research is important as well. Surprise your audience!

^{Grammatical Points – 2 points}

1. Spelling and grammar- these do count.

a. Don’t just use a spell checker. Give yourself enough time to read over your paper. The point of having good grammar to make yourself clear, and to avoid ambiguity.

2. Avoid large generalizations.

a. Yes we know that ‘the Internet is changing society.’ People tend to use large generalizations since it helps the writer feel that she or he is on to something important. However, if the writer keeps suggesting vague things that the reader knows, the reader will lose confidence in the writer. Instead of generalizations, consider asking more questions!

3. Avoid using the word ‘it’ too much.

a. Yes it is useful to use the word it to avoid redundancy. But see if you can find another word. The word ‘it’ often hides vague thinking. Writing and thinking are hard, and part of the struggle of writing is converting vague writing into something focused, evocative, and informative. Getting rid of as many ‘its’ as possible is usually part of the final rewrite.

4. Avoid the ‘passive tense.’

a. Another struggle in good writing is trying to convert the passive tense into something active, trying to name the ‘agent’ in an action, trying to give a name to the group or individual doing something.

5. Avoid clichés.

a. Like ‘everyone knows that…

Socy1005 Paper Guide – Paper 2 – “A Local/Regional Conflict”

Format – 1 point

1. Title- please include a title.

a. This way people can refer to you work, and can have a sense of what it is about.

2. No need for special cover sheet.

a. You can provide one, particularly if you want to include some goovy graphic, but generally there is no need to waste paper. A typed, stapled, page numbered document without a cover sheet is fine!

3. Number your pages. And staple or connect them together.

a. They do get separated! You don’t have to number the first page.

Content – 4 points

1. Follow the topical instructions.

a. Did you properly investigate a local conflict?

b. Did you look at how a variety of perspectives, of different ‘stake holders’?

c. Did you distinguish or investigate what could or could not be easily resolved?

d. Did you attempt to provide a larger perspective on how to solve the issues, perhaps using course book, Getting to Yes?

2. Do some research

a. Did you actually research and look into this matter, or did you simply provide your own ‘perspective’?

General Organization – 3 points

1. Present a Thesis/Overview/Key question near the beginning of your work.

a. This tells your reader what you are going to discuss. It gets them interested and focused.

2. Present Both/ More than one side.

a. You should credible present the views of people who will disagree with your points. If you do not give a credible voice to people who disagree, then they will not pay attention to your argument. You will not be able to convince them of anything.

3. Questions without answers are OK.

a. These are known are rhetorical questions. Feel free to ask more questions than you answer! Part of the point of education is to alert you, and for you in turn to alert you readers to what the important issues are, so that they and you can think about it.

4. Properly document your quotes and research materials.

a. Footnotes and references help the reader not only assess your material, they help the reader find new ways to look at your subject. If you document your reading well, then the ideas that you present that are all your own will be clearer- they will have no references!

5. Consider documenting your ‘secondary’ points.

a. You can guide your reader to more material that you think will be useful to your presentation.

6. Draw a conclusion.

a. Don’t forget to spend adequate amount of time assessing your evidence and drawing your own conclusions. This generally takes more than a (final) paragraph!

7. Don’t just use books and articles taught in the course.

a. You can use them, and they were chosen because they should be useful for a consideration of ‘communication technology and society.’ But doing some outside research is important as well. Surprise your audience!

Grammatical Points – 2 points

1. Spelling and grammar- these do count.

a. Don’t just use a spell checker. Give yourself enough time to read over your paper. The point of having good grammar to make yourself clear, and to avoid ambiguity.

2. Avoid large generalizations.

3. Avoid using the word ‘it’ too much.

4. Avoid the ‘passive tense.’

a. Another struggle in good writing is trying to convert the passive tense into something active, trying to name the ‘agent’ in an action, trying to give a name to the group or individual doing something.

5. Avoid clichés.

a. Like ‘everyone knows that…

^{Socy1005
Paper Guide – Paper 2 – “A Local/Regional Conflict”}

^{Format
– 1 point}

^{Content – 4 points}

^{General Organization – 3 points}

^{Grammatical Points – 2 points}