Final Paper Rubric

The goal of this paper is to investigate how communication can help solve problems in your life and the world. You will identify one problem that communication research can help fix. You will need to find at least two academic source to support your claims and the paper is a minimum of five pages long.

I'm open to a wide variety of topics but if your topic involves the invention of a new technology (I wish my iPhone could read my mind and text it to my bestie) please demonstrate why communication research has suggested that the invention of this technology would be beneficial.

The paper should be organized into 4 clear sections: Ill/Introduction, Blame, Cure, Conclusion. (For those of you that have taken COM 220 this format should look familiar :)

The Ill/introduction clearly identifies the problem at hand and overviews the course of the paper.

The blame explains why this problem has not yet been solved, and goes deeper into the mechanisms of the problem (this is a great place to put an academic citation).

The Cure explains how the field of communication can begin to fix the Ill (another great spot for academic citation)

The Conclusion is a summary of the argument you've made throughout your paper, as well as an explanation of what needs to be done in order to continue fixing the Ill that you have identified

I will not take off points for grammar on any writing assignments unless it impedes my ability understand your argument. For writing style questions see The Elements of Style by Strunk & White. Howard Becker's Writing for Social Sciences also has advice on developing good writing habits. Citations should be formatted according to the Chicago Manual of Style.