Choose one of the two below: 1. How will the changing ethnic makeup (do NOT limit your essay to a single ethnicity!) of Texas affect state politics? 2. Texas has an outdated state constitution, and should be replaced. Do you agree or disagree, and why?GOVT 2304/2305/2306/2311
Essay Guidelines Sheet
*The following is a list of items that the student should follow while preparing his/her essays for submission. Grading is heavily weighted towards the student following these guidelines.
1. Paragraph Structure: All essays must be properly organized. A normal essay should consist of at least three (3) paragraphs. Be sure to indent the first sentence of each paragraph.
2. Length/Font Size/Margins/Spacing: Only those papers which meet minimum stated requirements for length will be accepted. If the minimum stated requirement is two (2) pages, do not submit a paper of 1.75 pages. Standard Font Size for this course will be 12, and maximum margins (sides, top, and bottom) will be one inch. Double-Spacing will be expected for all written assignments.
3. Contractions: Do NOT use contractions when writing a formal paper. For instance, instead of “don’t”, write out “do not”.
4. “You”: Do not refer to your reader when writing a formal paper.
5. Spelling: At the college level, there should be no spelling errors for any essay. Always use Spell-Check, but do not rely upon it, as it often will not catch “there” or “their” being used improperly.
6. Punctuation: Always ensure that you have used the appropriate punctuation marks. For example, if you ask a question, use a question mark.
7. Capitalization: Be sure to capitalize all proper nouns and names. For instance, “earth” is another word for soil or dirt, whereas “Earth” is the name of a planet.
8. Page Numbers: Make sure that all pages of your essay are numbered.
9. Numbers: Those numbers ten and less must be written out. Thus, it should be written “six” rather than “6”.
10. Extensive Quotes: The use of quotations to support your essay is expected. Indeed, it is best that you quote each source at least once within your paper. However, quotes greater than three (3) lines should be single-spaced and indented on both sides. Finally, quotations should not be more than 20% of your essay’s total length.
11. Notes: When you are using another author’s work, and presenting it in defense/support of your own, you must acknowledge them. For this course, we will use parenthetical citation. For example: “Blah, blah, blah.” (Bunye, p1). Do not use Introductory-, End- or Foot-Notes.
12. Bibliography: If you use or cite any source within your essay, you must provide a separately-paged Bibliography. This should include the author’s name, title, source, and date. Do NOT merely list a website address!
13. Sources: All textbooks, dictionaries, and encyclopedias (of any sort) are unacceptable sources for any essay for this course. In general, avoid using any sources published prior to 1990; too much has changed in politics and government for older material to be as relevant as we would prefer.
14. Cover Sheet: ALL essays/papers submitted for this course MUST have a cover sheet. This will include the title of the essay/paper, the student’s name, appropriate course, and date,
15. Cliché: Avoid these over-used phrases, such as: “in this day and age”, “due to the fact that” and “all in all”.