The Topic
Make an argument about what individuals and/or community organizations (churches, volunteer
organizations, etc.) can do to address a CURRENT international issue you find important. You
should use evidence to describe the problem and to support your proposed response. Do not feel
like you have to solve the problem, rather, your job is to describe how ‘we’ can respond to it.
Your argument should take a clear position rather than being a summary. Some examples of
issues you might write about include:
• Trade
• Migration
• International Conflict
• Civil Conflict
• Human rights
The best essays will include an example (usually an event) to help illustrate their argument.
Style requirements
Please write your essay in either MLA or Chicago (author-date or footnotes are acceptable)
formatting. Beyond this, your essay should meet the following criteria:
• Length: 1,000-1,250 words, +/- 10% (roughly 4-5 double-spaced pages)
o NOT INCLUDING bibliography, headers, paper title, etc.
• Font: Times New Roman, 12-point
o I have to read a lot of these, please save my eyes by using Times New Roman!
• Spacing: Double
o Spacing between lines and paragraphs should be the same
• Sources:
o One academic article (from a peer-reviewed journal) or academic book chapters
that we have not read in class
o Two news articles or opinion pieces
Suggested format
Introduction (1-2 paragraphs, ~ 1 page)
– Has a quick story introducing your problem/topic (e.g., “On September 11 th George W.
Bush was reading ‘The Pet Goat’ to first graders when he was told by an aid that the
World Trade Centers had been attacked. In the immediate aftermath …”)
– States a question that will be answered (why did the US public overwhelmingly support
war in Iraq and Afghanistan?)
– Takes a position on that question (one major reason was a false association with the Cold
War – just as we had ‘defeated’ the idea of communism, we would ‘defeat’ terrorism)
Body (6-10 paragraphs, 2-3.5 pages)
– 1 paragraph reviewing what other people think about the topic
– 1 paragraph arguing why they are right/wrong
– 3+ paragraphs illustrating your argument through a case study/event/example
– 1 short paragraph summarizing the analysis section, i.e. (“This case study shows that
most of the US public had grown up in the shadow of the Cold War and thus were primed
to view events from a binary ideological perspective …”)
Conclusion
– 1-2 paragraphs telling me the lesson that I should take away from your argument, i.e.,
what does it imply about the world, or what are the consequences of not
thinking/understanding something in a particular way
