3-4 pages double spaced.
3 (four to five page) articles
use in-text documentation. See chap. 22 R&B
MLA style
Works cited page
 

Evaluate your topic in terms of the requirements we have discussed in class. e.g. think of audience and purpose.

Is your topic of current interest to the audience we have targeted for our ezine publication?

Is there controversy surrounding your topic about which two reasonable people could disagree? (Is there an argument?)

Where does your topic fit into the big picture? What are the value issues inherent in the topic?

Value is the root word of evaluation . . .

This should get you started. The topic should be of current interest, something about which reasonable people can disagree, have inherent value--in other words be important to a fairly large segment of society because of inherent value embedded in the topic.

One might ask "just how important is this issue, to whom and why?"

If, for example, your paper was on the loss of public lands to capital ventures, you might first find an article describing the loss of public lands as a problem. Then you would need another supporting article showing why it was a problem, how many people would be affected, how they would be affected, and offering other ideas, facts or examples related to the issue.

You will also need to find a third article giving the opposite viewpoint. This article might assert, for example, that having access to land where people can live comfortably and within their means is more important to our quality of life than preserving public lands for recreation or other uses.

What are your criteria for judging that a topic is a serious social problem or issue? What criteria do you use to determine whether or not something is a SERIOUS problem for our society?