The second essay discusses local politics. Before you can begin this essay, you must complete the Essay 2 Form first (See below). Once finished, choose a state politician who currently represents you, such as a state senator, a state representative, a mayor, a sheriff, etc. and research him or her. If there is an upcoming election, you may also research a state-level candidate who might represent you. No matter what, you may not research the current Governor or someone from the US House of Representatives or the US Senate. Essays about politicians whom this essay assignment bans will be penalized twenty points. Consider these questions as you research: did he or she make any campaign promises? Has he or she fulfilled those promises? Did he or she propose, write, sponsor, or co-sponsor any bills or amendments? Was he or she a key vote on a bill or amendment? Did he or she give any speeches or make any statements? You are not required to answer these specific questions in your essay; instead, they are food for thought. For your essay, argue what about this politician needs the most improvement. While this essay may discuss where this politician succeeds, the majority of the essay should discuss your politician’s greatest deficiency. When you quote, paraphrase, or summarize a source, you must include an in-text citation and an entry on the works cited page. As for style, this essay is informal, so feel free to use first and second person (I, you, we, etc.), contractions (can’t, won’t, didn’t, etc.), but don’t be too informal (see the Style Guidelines below). Here are some videos to help you write this essay, not to mention make you more politically engaged in general. If you want to speed up the videos, click the gear in the lower right corner of the player and increase the playback speed. Possible Sources mvp.sos.ga.gov (This source will help you answer most questions in the form below) house.ga.gov senate.ga.gov ontheissues.org billtrack50.com ballotpedia.org politifact.com local newspaper websites, such as Atlanta Journal Constitution, Gainesville Times, Dahlonega Nugget, etc. official website of your county, such as hallcounty.org, lumpkincounty.gov, etc. Essay 2 Form (If you are too young to vote, complete the form as if you were registered.) What is your voting precinct? What is the address of your polling place? What is your US congressional district? What is your Georgia house district? What is your Georgia senate district? Who are your US senators from Georgia (two total)? What are the phone numbers of those US senators? Of Georgia’s fourteen US representatives, who represents your US congressional district? What is the phone number of that US representative? Who is your Georgia house representative? What is the phone number of that Georgia representative? Who is your Georgia senate representative? What is the phone number of that Georgia senator? Who is the mayor of the town or city closest to your home? What is the phone number of that mayor? GUIDELINES Content Must end at least on the fourth page Must use an open thesis, not a closed thesis Must include at least one article from a reputable website, newspaper, or magazine (This includes online versions.) Must quote from each source at least once Must not include floating quotations Must not include more than one block quotation. Also, this block quotation must not exceed six lines. Must not misspell words Must not mistake similar words, such as then and than and whether and weather Must not have any missing words, such as “The United States America” Must include the Essay 2 Form after the works cited page. There is a 20 point deduction if the form is missing. Organization The essay begins with an introduction The introduction must include a hook The introduction must include a thesis Each body paragraph must include a topic sentence near the beginning Each body paragraph must include a concluding sentence near the end Adjoining body paragraphs must include a full-sentence transition The essay ends with a conclusion The conclusion must include an unhook Style Must not use the words thing and stuff Must not use physical descriptors to describe importance, such as “big deal,” “huge success,” “hard time,” “a bit,” “a bunch,” “a lot,” “lots of,” “tons of,” etc. Must not use more than one long string of prepositional phrases in each paragraph. A long string is three or more prepositional phrases in a row. Must not use more than one phrasal verb in each paragraph Must not use more than one passive voice sentence in each paragraph Must not use more than one expletive sentence in each paragraph Note: you will not be penalized if the text that you quote doesn’t follow these style guidelines. Also, the “in each paragraph” restrictions allow you one instance per paragraph. Format Double space 12 point text Times New Roman typeface 1 inch margins 0 point spacing before and after paragraphs (See the Paragraph menu in Word) MLA heading on the top left of the first page (See Sample Essay 2) Page numbers with last name on the top right of the document’s header Centered title after the MLA heading Left aligned text Tab at the beginning of each paragraph Must cite quotations, paraphrases, and summaries with MLA in-text citations (See In-text Citations) Must use paragraph numbers (par.) in in-text citations for source’s that don’t have proper page numbers, such as webpages Must include an eighth edition MLA works cited page, which does not count toward the page limit (See Works Cited Pages) Must alphabetize the works cited entries Must use hanging indentations on the works cited entries Must quote titles of articles and webpages in the essay and the works cited page Must italicize titles of newspapers, magazines, websites, and databases in the essay and the works cited page Must type n.p. if there is no publisher and n.d. if there is no publication date for each website’s works cited entry. Must include the access date at the end of each online source’s works cited entry Grammar N/A .
