Assignment:
Any use of AI will result in automatic 0
Topic: Homelessness in the United States: Causes, Impacts, and Solutions for College Communities
Assignment Objectives:
- Construct an informative and cohesive academic essay that provides the intended audience with greater insight about the specific topic chosen. Need Assignment Help?
- Conduct an interview and utilize that information to inform the intended audience
- Gather, summarize, synthesize, and explain information from various sources
- Utilize direct quotes, summaries, and/or paraphrases
- Use either MLA or APA format to cite information from sources (in-text and Works Cited or References)
- Engage in writing as a process, including invention (such as brainstorming for ideas), developing a thesis statement, drafting, revising, editing, and proofreading
- Use grammatical, stylistic, and mechanical formats and conventions appropriate for different audiences and writing situations.
Assignment Description:
A report informs the reader about a specific topic by synthesizing information to draw a broader conclusion about the topic. Synthesizing information refers to bring sources together to provide a new insight or perspective about a topic. A report is not merely a summary of information that the writer has found from various sources. A report should build an analysis and deeper understanding of the topic.
For this essay, you will select a social issue to research and report on. For the purposes of this essay, we are defining a social issue as a problem that impacts your local community and/or American society at large.
You should research both how the social issue affects Americans in general and college students specifically:
- Examples of social issues include: wage inequality, black maternal health, book banning in schools, LGBTQ+ rights, access to education, civil rights, poverty, pollution, affordable housing, police brutality, immigration, racism, climate change, green energy, student loan debt, stem cell research, nuclear weapons, unemployment, corporate influence, fracking, homelessness, drones, prison reform, health care reform, nuclear power, transgender issues, gender equality, etc. It is not necessary to choose one of these specific issues, but the topic should focus on a social issue.
- A minimum of four subtopics should be selected. One subtopic must address how the social issue impacts college students. Other possible subtopics might include: key people (other than college students) affected by the social issue, causes of the social issue, when did this social issue originate (or intensify), why does it continue to be a concern today, which strategies might be effective at addressing this social issue, where is this social issue especially challenging, what is the lasting impact of the social issue, etc.
- As part of your discussion of how the social issue affects college students, you will develop interview questions (Week 3) and conduct an interview (via class Discussion Board) that will be answered by assigned classmates.
- Students may not write about commonly selected topics such as abortion, the death penalty, English as the national language, assisted suicide, school uniforms, prayer in public schools, lowering/raising the legal drinking age, legalizing marijuana, animal testing, gun control, etc.
- Write a direct thesis in which you state what your social issue is and list out the subtopics that you are researching and reporting on. Keep in mind that the body paragraphs should reflect the order of the reasons listed in the thesis.
- Consider that the purpose of this report is to inform other college students about the specific social issue that you have chosen. Other college students are your intended audience.
- Keep in mind that reports are similar in nature to a research paper. You are not writing an argument for Essay #1. Keep your report as objective as possible.
Essay Requirements:
- Word Count: A minimum of 1000 words (This will be roughly three to four pages.)
- Include the Word Count on page one below the date.
- In-text citations and Works Cited (MLA) or Reference (APA) citations are included in this word count.
- Use MLA (Modern Language Associate) or APA (American Psychological Association) format.
- Use a minimum of four sources total (This includes at least three outside sources plus the personal interview that you conducted).
- You may not use Wikipedia or other similar sources (such as Encyclopedias) for this assignment.
- You may use first- or third-person point of view.
- Although you may use popular texts as primary research, you are encouraged to incorporate scholarly research when appropriate. You can access this information from the electronic databases available through G.R. Little Library.
- Recommended databases include: Academic Search Complete, JSTOR, and NC Live.
Only original work will be graded. Students should not submit an essay or assignment that was previously submitted for another course or instructor. Do not use AI to generate your response. Doing so will result in a score of zero for the assignment.