Politics and Government Response Essay --DUE NOV 8-- How Democratic is the Constitution? --

An A paper will:

--answer the question: How Democratic is the Constitution?
--contain a sophisticated, provocative thesis, supported by 3 arguments
--contain 3 cogent and sophisticated arguments that support the organizing
idea/thesis
--argue well developed, original ideas and illustrate new understanding
of the topic
--persuasively use evidence from Vidal, Zinn, Wood and HistoryNow handout; contain at least five or six quotes from Vidal and five from the other readings
--discuss both the authors' and the Constitutional Framers perspectives about events
--persuasively use evidence from an outside source
--be well organized, containing a clear introduction that presents the thesis in a highly engaging,compelling manner, followed by smooth transitions from one idea to the next, with a conclusion that synthesizes the different strands and arguments
--demonstrate a clear understanding of the historical time period and demonstrate the cause and effect relationship between significant events
--conform to the conventions of grammar, spelling and punctuation, and be thouroughly proofread and include the signature of one adult to whom it was read aloud


A B paper will:

--answer the question: How Democratic is the Constitution?
--contain a fairly sophisticated, thesis, supported by 3 arguments
--contain 3 cogent that arguments support the organizing
idea/thesis
--argue well developed, ideas and illustrate an understanding
of the topic
--persuasively use evidence from Vidal, Zinn, Wood and HistoryNow handout; contain at least five quotes from Vidal and four to five from the other readings
--discuss both the authors' and the Constitutional Framers perspectives about events
--persuasively use evidence from an outside source
--be well organized, containing a clear introduction that presents the thesis in a compelling manner, followed by smooth transitions from one idea to the next, with a conclusion that synthesizes the different strands and arguments
--demonstrate a clear understanding of the historical time period and demonstrate the cause an effect relationship between significant events
--conform to the conventions of grammar, spelling and punctuation

A C paper will:

--answer the question: How Democratic is the Constitution?
--contain a thesis, supported by 2-3 arguments
--contain 2-3 arguments that support the organizing
idea/thesis
--argue well developed, ideas and illustrate new understanding
of the topic
--use evidence from Vidal, Zinn, Wood and HistoryNow handout; contain at least five quotes from Vidal and five from the other readings
--discuss the authors' and/or the Constitutional Framers perspectives about events
--use evidence from an outside source
--be organized, containing an introduction that presents the thesis, followed by transitions from one idea to the next, with a conclusion that synthesizes the different strands and arguments
--demonstrate an understanding of the historical time period and demonstrate the cause an effect relationship between significant events
--mostly conform to the conventions of grammar, spelling and punctuation

A D paper will:

--attempt to answer the question: How Democratic is the Constitution?
--contain a thesis, supported by 2 arguments
--contain 2 arguments that support the organizing
idea/thesis
--argue well developed, ideas and illustrate new understanding
of the topic
--use evidence from Vidal, Zinn, Wood and HistoryNow handout; contain at least five quotes from Vidal and five from the other readings
--discuss the authors' and/or the Constitutional Framers perspectives about events
--be organized, containing an introduction that presents the thesis, followed by transitions from one idea to the next, with a conclusion that synthesizes the different strands and arguments
--demonstrate limited understanding of the historical time period and cause and effect relationship between significant events
--poorly conform to the conventions of grammar, spelling and punctuation