A winner of the James F. Slevin Assignment Sequence Prize, this sequence originates from the Department of Government, Govt 1101, Power and Politics: Bad Grrrls: Feminism, Religion, and Politics. The main goals are to teach students how to a) collect evidence on both sides of a controversial topic and b) use this evidence to determine a position, construct an argument, and write persuasively, adjusting analytical writing styles to different audiences. Essay 1: an academic position paper on a research topic of students' choice. Essay 2: an opinion article for a newspaper. Essay 3: a creative spoken monologue for an audience unfamiliar with their topic. Essay 4: a team debate case formed around two central questions from the course. Materials include a rationale for each assignment, the preparatory work, the students' assessment of the assignment, the instructor's assessment, and copies of handouts for such pre-writing work as brainstorming, outlining, and creating character profiles. 28 page pdf

genre; in-class activities; oral presentations

paper or project