Summer School Homework 8/5/09

Homework 8/5/09

Assigned: 8/5/09
Due Date: 8/7/09

In general, in 9th and 10th grades, students write coherent and focused essays that convey a well-defined perspective and tightly reasoned argument. The writing demonstrates students' awareness of the audience and purpose. Student’s progress through the stages of the writing process as needed.

In constructing your essay, you must:

Establish a controlling impression or coherent thesis that conveys a clear and distinctive perspective on the subject and maintains a consistent tone and focus throughout the piece of writing. (Organization 1.1)

Use precise language, action verbs, sensory details, appropriate modifiers, and the active rather than the passive voice. (Organization 1.2)

Develop the main ideas within the body of the composition through supporting evidence (e.g., scenarios, commonly held beliefs, hypotheses, and definitions). (Research and Technology 1.4)

Integrate quotations and citations into a written text while maintaining the flow of ideas. (Research and Technology 1.6)

Use appropriate conventions for documentation in the text, notes, and bibliographies by adhering to those in style manuals (e.g., Modern Language Association Handbook, The Chicago Manual of Style). (Research and Technology 1.7)

Design and publish documents by using advanced publishing software and graphic programs. (Research and Technology 1.8)

Revise writing to improve the logic and coherence of the organization and controlling perspective, the precision of word choice, and the tone by taking into consideration the audience, purpose, and formality of the context. (Evaluation and Revision 1.9)

Produce legible work that shows accurate spelling and correct use of the conventions of punctuation and capitalization. (Manuscript Form 1.4)

(As appropriate) use clear research questions and suitable research methods (e.g., library, electronic media, personal interview) to elicit and present evidence from primary and secondary sources. (Research and Technology 1.3)

Synthesize information from multiple sources and identify complexities and discrepancies in the information and the different perspectives found in each medium (e.g., almanacs, microfiche, news sources, in-depth field studies, speeches, journals, technical documents). (Research and Technology 1.5)

I hope you will enjoy looking at current events and current issues that we see and hear about in the news but do not know exactly what to make of it.

You are asked to write a two – three page reader response to one of the following topics.

You must research the topic, print, and bring in the information on the topic that you choose.

Please pick only one topic

Your choices are:

1) The Patriot Act. What does this historical document mean? Here is the link for the US Patriot Act http://epic.org/privacy/terrorism/hr3162.html

2) The History of the 1976 Swine Flu. In what year did the swine flu first occur? Here is the link to the CDC website http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol12no01/05-1007.htm

3) Who owns the Federal Reserve? What is the role of the Federal Reserve with regards to the bailout money that was approved by Congress?

4) What is the Bilderberg Group about?

5) What is the Council of Foreign Relation?

6) What is the Trilateral Group?

7) What are the details contained in the Cap and Trade Carbon tax bill?


This is for clarification for what was discussed in class. Thank you for your dedicated understanding.

Public Health Emergency Response Act of 2009. Here is the link to this bill http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s111-957

Please be thorough in your 2-3 page response.
Make sure that your writing is free of grammar and spelling errors.

Students are asked to focus in on their research skills, reader response skills, and last but not least students are asked to explain their thought and ideas in an essay format.