AP Government and Politics - Individual Project Requirements:

 

Annotated Article Reviews:

Throughout the semester, students will be expected to collect news articles related to government and politics at least three times per week. Such articles are to be kept in the student’s notebook.  Each article is to be summarized and annotated with student comments on a separate sheet of paper. Annotated comments should briefly express student reaction to the news and opinions expressed in the article (e.g. possibilities regarding the implications of such news to government policy, curiosity, disagreement with a point of view, comparison with other news items). In addition, each article review must clearly identify the title of the article, the name of the author, the name of the publication, and date of publication in a formal bibliographic format.

Early entries will become raw material for the position paper and should focus on one of the 5 topics for said paper. After the position paper is complete, entries should shift focus to one of the 5 topics assigned to the Solving Social, Economic, and Foreign Policy Problems/Challenges project (see Group Project Requirements). In addition to providing material for these projects, entries will also be collected for a grade four (4) times during the semester. All entries turned in for a grade must be typed and should not exceed one (1) page double-spaced.

**Note: Actual articles are required. Websites that are not journalistic in nature will not be accepted. Do not simply look for websites that contain information pertaining to your chosen research paper or group policy topic.

 

Good Sources for News Clippings:

• Wall Street Journal
• New York Times
• Washington Post
• Miami Herald
• The Economist
• Newsweek
• Time
• U.S. News and World Report
• CNN.com
• MSNBC/Newsweek.com
• Fox News.com

 

** Note: Many of these publications have internet sites that may be a more convenient source of material

 

Position Paper:

For this project, choose a topic from the list below. During the first eight weeks of the course, you should choose your article review clippings based upon this topic and use such articles as a starting point for the position paper. Based upon such current information and additional research sources of your choice, structure the paper as follows:

• In the first paragraph of the paper, define the topic, frame the debate that is currently under consideration regarding the topic, and identify your position in the debate (thesis).
• Develop the historical context: how do current facts/events compare with historical facts/events regarding the topic?
• What goals are being discussed with regard to the topic? What policies have been suggested to meet those goals?
• Who supports the various policy proposals and why? Assess the strength and weaknesses of the policy proposals.
• Are policy proposals realistic? What alternatives might you suggest? Support your conclusions.
• Provide a bibliography for all sources used (MLA format of course).
• Provide footnote citations to reference quotes AND other information that you have researched to support your presentation and conclusions.
• The paper should gather and present your learning about the topic in 4-5 typed, double-spaced pages.

 

Topics for Paper: Social/Economic Policy Issues

§        Immigration

§        Energy

§        Education

§        Poverty

§        Environment

 

Grading Rubric