Completeness
Did you address all aspects of the prompt? If there are sub-questions contained
within the prompt, did you address those?
– Quality of arguments:
This includes 1) persuasiveness, 2) presenting multiple arguments, if appropriate
(e.g. from different viewpoints or competing arguments that address the same
issue) or arguments for or against an idea, 3) complete arguments that fully
address causal connections or related aspects, etc.
– Quality of evidence provided:
Each argument should be backed up by some form of evidence. This could be 1)
the use of examples that illustrate your point, 2) the inclusion of data (e.g. from
the textbook or another source you found, or 3) scholarly references … Please
note: It may not always be necessary to include data or scholarly references!
Often, the textbook and your notes as well as your interpretations of them may be. Is Congress “broken?” We discussed a number of problems with Congress during this
class. Here is a brief video in which David Hawkins, a senior editor at Roll Call (a
news/blog website) discussed five reasons why HE thinks Congress is, in fact, broken:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAmfeTfItpM. Please watch the video and write a
research essay in response to his claims. Do you agree? Disagree? And why? Be sure to
include your own analysis and examples/evidence as appropriate