CURRENT *CONTROVERSIAL* ISSUES: choose one:

California’s criminal system is not doing enough to protect individuals and businesses from theft, assault, hate crimes, and so on.

California is a model in criminal reform laws, such as petty theft, grand theft, and shoplifing penalties and the elimination of cash bail for those who cannnot afford it.

The Social Spending and Climate Bill is the right direction for the US right now.

The Social Spending and Climate Bill is NOT the right direction for the US right now.

Value: 25% of your total grade.

TOPIC: Using and documenting at least SIX sources, make a decision based on critical thinking regarding the issue (the textbook can be one of the sources). .

You must use at least five quotes, MLA style (no “floating” quotes, but quotes with signal phrases).

Floating quote (avoid): “Distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine must be equitable in terms of social justice” (Alvarez).

Quote with signal phrase (yes!): According to the American Civil Liberties Organization, “distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine must be equitable in terms of social justice” (Alvarez).

Assignment: Research a problem and propose a solution, assessing the credibility of sources and accurately documenting all sources.

Write a minimum 1,600 word MLA-style paper (using quotes, a Works Cited page, and in text citation) addressing multiple sides of the issue. Include a one-sentence underlined thesis statement that is your conclusion after careful analysis of the issue. You will be graded for content,organization of ideas, understanding of critical thinking components (see list below), writing style (grammar and word choice), and proper use of MLA style (see links for examples).

Read, analyze, identify, and evaluate the argument using components from our class and textbook, and come to a final conclusion on the issue.

Use your sources (articles, statistics, quotes, authorities, and so forth) to support your position.

Include the following categories: (these can serve as your SUBTOPICS if you wish):

A) Chapter 7: Identify arguments (at least two for each side of the argument) FOR AND AGAINST your position on the issue and evaluate at least ONE of your arguments based on the FOUR TESTS.

B) Chapter 7 (pages 148-153) and Chapter 8: (167-170) : Identify logical fallacies (at least two) OF THE SIDE OF THE ARGUMENT YOU OPPOSE and identify which kind of logical fallacy they are.

C) Chapter 4: Identify vagueness and ambiguity of claims on either side of the argument (at least two total)

D) Consider/address the ethics and how ethics relates to the controversy (Chapter 16)

E) Finally, identify how you have used the FOUR PHASES (226-228) of decision making to make your final decision. This is a brief summary of the Four Phases, though the book goes into much greater details:

1) What were some the possible conclusions on the issue?
2) Which choice was the most attractive or stood out?
3) In compared to the other possible conclusions, why is your option better than the others ?
4) What makes you finally confident in your conclusion? Did you de-emphasize, bolster, trade off, or collapse the other options?

1C Research Paper Rubric
1C Research Paper Rubric
Criteria
Grammar, Punctuation, Spelling, Vocabulary, Sentence Structure and so forth 20%

Evaluate a generalization,, Identify vagueness and ambiguity of claims, Evaluate the Credibility of Claims and Sources, Identify Fallacies, and Consider Ethics 40%