Essay Assignment
Find two articles about the USA Patriot Act or other more recent government actions designed to enhance national security. Use the articles and the information in this lesson to write an opinion essay based on the following statement:
The U.S. government should curtail civil liberties to prevent terrorist attacks.
Below are two possible ways to look at the issue.
Pro: The United States is engaged in a war on terrorism. It would be foolish to sacrifice public safety to protect minor civil liberties. Only potential terrorists or criminals will be affected by such laws. Besides, President Bush's anti-terrorist policies are nothing compared to violations by previous administrations.
Con: Previous administrations had a more narrow view of civil liberties. Laws like the USA Patriot Act are much broader and affect more people. Such policies give the government way too much power over its citizens. Plus, they unfairly target innocent citizens from Arab or Muslim countries.
Be prepared to submit your essay during your submission or turn your essay in using the method preferred by your teacher.
The criteria for grading the paper are as follows:
Essay Grading
Criteria Explanation Points Value
Proper length The proper length is a standard 5 paragraph essay, no longer than three pages, and double-spaced. 10
Thesis statement A thesis statement is the main point of the paper. A good thesis statement expresses the author's opinion in one sentence. In a standard five paragraph essay, a thesis statement is usually the last sentence in the introductory paragraph. 20
Supporting paragraphs Each supporting paragraph has a clear topic sentence that supports the opinion expressed in the thesis. 30
Conclusion The conclusion restates the original thesis in different words and summarizes the points discussed in the essay. 10
Grammar and Spelling The essay is free from grammatical and spelling errors. 10
Citations The essay correctly cites at least two sources, preferably newspaper or magazine articles.
Use in-text citations and a bibliography. The bulleted points below illustrate how to cite sources within a paper:
When you are restating someone's idea in your own words, do not use quotations. Instead, use parenthesis and the author's name and page number (Smith, page number).
When you are using exact text, "separate the quote with quotation marks" (Smith, page number). The period in the quote comes after the parenthesis, as shown above.
When a quote exceeds three lines of text it should be indented by one inch and separated from the rest of the paragraph. In this case, do not use quotation marks. Note: If you are handing in your essay through the submission, you will not be able to indent text.
A bibliography comes at the end of your paper. It is where you credit sources you have used to write your paper. A bibliographical citation must include enough information that an interested reader could use to locate the article if they wanted to. The last name of the author should be listed before the first name. Use the following format to cite the articles you find:
Smith, John. "Title of the newspaper or magazine article." Title of the newspaper or magazine. 24 May 2006: section or page number.
Articles should be arranged in alphabetical order by last name.
If you are citing a webpage, include the URL address and the date you accessed the article.
