Writing Advice For 5 page Critical Essays

This is a writing assignment designed to reinforce good professional writing skills. Each student will respond to one of three questions provided in Blackboard. The paper is a critical essay; therefore you must make your own argument persuasively. Leaders have opinions, make arguments, and seek to persuade others to follow them. Clearly making and supporting an argument in a way that is easily accessible to a reader is an essential skill for any professional. The paper should be at least four but no more than five pages, clearly structured with: 1) an introduction that states a clear argument (not a statement that will "explore" or "discuss" the issues) and presents a road map for the paper (i.e., introduces the structure of the paper); 2) a brief summary of the main arguments/ideas of each of the implicated authors; 3) an analysis of these that builds support for your argument; and 4) a concluding paragraph that summarizes the paper and highlights why the argument matters. Note that a page of end notes does not constitute a page against the 4-5 page count.

This is a writing assignment designed to reinforce good professional writing skills. Professional (workplace) writing is significantly different from the kind of academic or descriptive writing you may be accustomed to.

A multiple drafting process is used to help you to learn this new form of writing. You should expect to need to write more than one draft no matter how good a writer you have considered yourself to be in the past. Rewriting is both a practice and a skill common to all seasoned professionals. Particularly with this writing assignment, initial feedback may not reflect your general writing skills as much as it reflects the process of learning a style that may be new to you.

The first draft will be assessed by your peers using the attached assessment matrix. In addition to benefitting from the feedback you receive, the review will also enable you to become familiar and work with the assessment matrix. The matrix recognizes that there are many elements to your writing. You should note, however, that in the grading process not all elements of the matrix are weighted equally. Like riding a bicycle, writing (and applying this matrix) cannot be learned solely from reading about them.

The paper should be a critical essay where you make your own argument. Leaders have opinions, make arguments, and seek to persuade others to follow them. This assignment is not intended as an academic/intellectual exercise, but as a writing exercise wherein you make and logically support an argument within the parameters described below. Clearly making and supporting an argument in a way that is easily accessible to a reader is an essential skill for any professional.

The paper should be no more than five pages. It should be clearly structured with:

1. An introduction that

a. states a clear argument (not a statement that will "explore" or "discuss" the issues), and

b. presents a road map for the paper (introduces the structure of the paper). Another way of thinking about the "roadmap" is as a table of contents in sentence form.

2. A brief summary of the main arguments/ideas of each of the implicated authors, as relevant to the student's argument. You can think of this as akin to a literature review.

3. An analysis of these that builds support for your argument, presenting your own ideas about the issue. For a good example of how to structure your ideas to bridge from theory to practice, see Etzioni, Amitai. "The Elements of a Good Society,"

Chapter 1. The New Golden Rule: Community and Morality in a Democratic Society. New York: Basic Books, 1996: 3-33.), especially his section on "Implications for Practice and Society."

4. A concluding paragraph. Summarize the paper and highlight why the argument matters. An "A" paper must include each of these components, present a well-supported argument, and reflect the basic mechanics of good writing (correct grammar, punctuation, etc.). More specific guidelines are indicated in the assessment matrix.

Develop a clear and comprehensive answer to the selected question, being careful to respond to every part of the question. You need to demonstrate that you have read thoroughly all of the relevant materials by referring directly to the authors' arguments in your summary  section. You need to demonstrate original thinking on the issue of how to bridge theory to practice in your analysis section. There is no single correct answer for any of the questions. Your answers will be evaluated in part on how clearly and imaginatively you develop and present your position.

Critical Questions

1. What is the responsibility of the government in the Federalist and the Antifederalist views, and how would this be interpreted through today's political parties and their subdivisions? What are the implications for the public administrator? (Response should at a minimum reference McSwite ("The Political Background of the Issue"), the Federalist Papers, and Rohr).