Essay Assignment- Synthesis and Research Length: five-to-seven pages (essay must be over five full pages)

Globalization is considered a set of complex processes by which goods, services, capital, ideas, and culture are exchanged on the international level. This means that globalization is not just an economic phenomenon, but also political, technological, cultural, and social in its scope, as Anthony Giddens claims in his essay "Globalization" (17). Many writers acknowledge both the positive and negative effects of globalization. Supporters, such as Giddens, Fareed Zakaria, and Al Gore argue that globalization benefits the world through the promotion of such ideals as human rights, democracy, and freedom and that it enhances the prosperity of the world through free trade, free investment, better technology, and protection of the environment. On the other hand, critics argue that we need to control the "runaway" global process because it creates homogeneity among world cultures (Brendon O'Connor), violates local norms of propriety (Martha Bayles), widens economic inequality (Giddens), and damages the environment (Jared Diamond).

What do you think? Is globalization positive or negative for the world? For example, does the coming together of countries to share environmental resources and techniques have positive or negative effects on the world? Although there are diverse effects of globalization, to avoid superficial coverage of each topic, choose no more than five specific topics (minimum three topics). The topics must be different from the ones you chose for Essay #1 and Essay #2, and one topic must be the environment. As this assignment requires synthesizing different source materials, it is vital to make clear connections among source materials and between your own ideas and those presented in sources; utilize comparison/contrast, counterargument, and analysis. You should formulate a clear and focused thesis and provide a detailed account of your evidence. In your essay, you should formulate a clear and focused thesis and provide a detailed account of your evidence. You should cite 2-3 quotes per body paragraph from at least SEVEN TOTAL ACADEMIC SOURCES, including four from the textbook (choose from all of the authors we're reading this semester, but don't use the same quotes you used in your previous essays) and three outside sources (one outside source may be a newspaper, but the other two outside sources must be academic sources).