(Government)

MECHANICAL REQUIREMENTS FOR YOUR WRITING ASSIGNMENT

Mimimum word count of 1,200 words. You may write a longer paper, but you will be penalized for a shorter paper.

• FIVE POINTS off grade for every 25 words under the 1,200-word count minimum.
• You must do a word count of your paper and type the word count at the end of the paper in bold print. FIVE POINTS off grade for failing to do this. When you type a document on Microsoft Word, Word automatically counts the number of pages and words at the bottom left of the workspace in the status bar. If you don’t see the word count in the status bar, right- click the status bar and click “Word Count.” You can also go to “Tools” on a classic Word menu, pull down, and click on “Word Count.” On some versions of Word you can click on “Review” and then on “Word Count.” If your word count is below
• Write your essay on a word processor preferably with Microsoft Word, or a word processor and then highlight your document, copy it, then paste it onto the dialogue box on the Canvas site for submission of your paper. Look over the pasted document to make sure nothing has been left out. (Double-space your paper when you’re writing it so that it is easier to proof-read when completed…and you need to proof-read your paper to see if it makes sense, there are no errors or unattributed quotes or paraphrases, etc. But when you copy and paste it onto the submission site on Canvas it will be converted to single-space.)
• WRITE THIS PAPER IN YOUR OWN WORDS. Don’t worry if you’re ESL or if you don’t think you’re a good writer. I want to hear your ideas, your experiences, your impressions, all in your own words. I won’t grade for grammar except if you make careless, egregious grammatical mistakes. I’m primarily grading on content and meeting the minimum requirements set out in the instructions.
• DO NOT PLAGIARIZE! Do your own work. You have to write what is in your head, your heart, your mind. YOUR words are better than anyone else’s in telling me about what you know and what your think and believe. Don’t risk flunking this assignment by plagiarizing because you can do really, really well on this assignment without plagiarizing.
• Whenever you use words from a source I’ve provided, you MUST show that you have borrowed those words. If you don’t that is plagiarism and is an academic crime that will be punished on this paper and on anything you write in college. “Quote the source used as you see me doing here and show where you got it from.” (Source #1) That’s how you can do it for this paper. I will give you the sources to use. Anytime you quote the source or paraphrase the source and use it in your paper you must document that by indicating you borrowed it from that article or web page. I have labeled each of the sources as Source #1, Source #2, Source #3, and so on. Just put which source you’re quoting or paraphrasing at the end of the sentence or sentences you’ve used it in and that will be sufficient to document its use and avoid plagiarism. IF you DON’T know what plagiarism is all about do a Google search and learn. You should know at this point in your college career, but just in case, don’t risk making an egregious error and flunk this assignment by inadvertently plagiarism. Even if you didn’t mean to do it, you’ll still be punished for doing it. (If you run a red light and are stopped by the police, try telling him or her “I didn’t know that I had to stop. It’s not my fault” and see if you don’t get that ticket. And so, at the end of any sentence where you have quoted a source directly or paraphrased the information from the source, you would indicated where you got it simply by typing in parenthesis at the end of the sentence the number of the article used, as I show you here. (#20)
• DO YOUR OWN WORK! Do not work on this with another student. If you copy another student’s paper in part or whole, both you AND the student you copied from will be severely penalized. You will likely receive a grade of F…perhaps even a grade of ZERO. Be aware, I check carefully for plagiarism and sharing of work. And I am quite good at finding cheating and more than willing to flunk a student for plagiarizing and copying another’s work. BUT if you do your own work, if you correct cite and document where you got words or information from an outside source, if you follow these instructions, then you likely will earn a very good grade, a grade which will be 25% of your final course grade. Remember, you can flunk not only a test or a paper by cheating, but you can also be tossed out of the class with an F and ever tossed out of college for cheating. Don’t do it.
• If you have questions about the assignment or need assistance, don’t hesitate to write me at and I’ll do all I can to help.
• USE THE SOURCES I HAVE PROVIDED IN WRITING YOUR PAPER. You need not use any other sources other than these to write your paper.

THIS DOCUMENT HAS A WORD COUNT OF 2,176 WORDS

DON’T FORGET TO PUT A WORD COUNT AT THE END OF YOUR PAPER—FIVE (5) POINT PENALTY FOR FAILURE TO TYPE THE WORD COUNT AT THE END OF YOUR PAPER!