English 102/ Zappa / 4th Essay
THE LAST LAP
Your final paper is an ar gumentative essay based on our text, Censored 2011 and at least one
(and no more than two) outside sources which must come ONLY from Chabot Library
databases. Your main source of support will be Censored 2011. As was your third paper, this
will be a thesis-based, persuasive (or argumentative) essay. The overall question, which your
thesis will answer, is:
•What problem (below) must change/ be addressed in the news media, and
HOW should it be addressed?
Choose ONE of the following problems from our text:
•junk food news
•news abuse
•sensationalism
•public relations and conflicts of interest
•censorship as defined in some other way in Chapter One
You will again present a thesis which takes a position on something that must
(or should) happen or must (or should) stop happening. You must include one
of the stories from Censored, 2011, as an example of the problem you have
identified. Be sure that you do not merely summarize that story, but you
respond to it (including, of course, a “so what?”—see below).
Again, as an argument, this means a reasoned, supported, formal argument (not
a personal opinion). Remember that in an argument you must be sure that you
(1) focus on a specific problem; (2) make clear that this affects a significant part
of the population, such as Americans, students, workers, children, women, men
(i.e., that they do not merely annoy you); (3) present, in your thesis, your
position regarding the problem; and (4) support and defend that position in the
body paragraphs, thr oughout the essay, using the wealth of information
available in our text and in the databases; and (5) express yourself in formal,
academically correct writing. Possibilities for thesis statements will be explored
in class.
Your focus must be on the news media, not sports, not entertainment, not
popular culture, but news.
Your paper must include a Works Cited page, as assigned for paper three. Keep in mind that,
as the final essay for English 102, this assignment asks you to pull all your skills together and
show that you are ready to advance to English 1A. You need to attend (both literally and in
the focus and seriousness which you bring to this assignment) to process, content,
organization, and detail. Review former papers with my comments and see to whatever it is
you, individually, have been working to improve.
Timeline:
Wed. Nov. 30
Working thesis and one-page outline (TYPED) due. See sample. Bring one of your outside
sources to class; informal “talk-through” of your outline/ paper to class.
NO LATE OUTLINES ACCEPTED.
25 points
Mon. Dec. 5
Two-page pre-draft of paper (TYPED, beginning of class), including typed working
(meaning, a list of any sources you have looked at so far) Works Cited page. No late drafts
accepted; if you are late, you will lose one point per minute.
25 points
Wed. Dec. 7
Complete draft due (TYPED, beginning of class), four pages minimum, updated Works
Cited attached. No late drafts accepted; if you are more than five minutes late for peer
review, you will not r eceive cr edit for your draft.
25 points
Mon. Dec. 12
Final paper due FOUR-PAGE MINIMUM (100 points). Any paper short of four fully
developed pages (in correct font, correct spacing) will receive zero credit, and the writer will
not pass the course. NO LATE PAPERS ACCEPTED.
Reminder: if ANY portion of your paper is not properly quoted and cited (resulting in
plagiarism), you will receive a zero, which means a “No credit” for the course. If you are a
repeat offender, whether on draft or final paper, you will be referred to the Dean of Students
for formal disciplinary action.
NO LATE WORK
EXCEPTIONS
NO REVISIONS
*Final exam: Group presentations; see calendar for date/ time.
NO
English 102 / Zappa
Statement of Intent/ Outline for final paper: SAMPLE
*Statement (note that for this assignment, your language may be less formal than it will
become as you craft and finalize your thesis):
*My paper will focus on the problem of news abuse, using story #26, how
students are adversely affected by a for-profit student loan business, from
Censored. Because of mainstream, corporate news coverage, when the story is
covered at all, students are most often blamed for their predicament. People
must think critically, obtain information from a variety of sources, and keep
following current events to be informed so they can act.
I. News abuse amounts to bias and propaganda, which leaves the “real story”
either untold or told from an angle that leaves out or slants the truth.
A. Examples from Fox News and CNN show very brief mention of student loans.
B. The housing foreclosures story is also under-reported from the perspective of
people who have lost their homes, and the situation is similar for students.
C. The story needs much more serious coverage, and it is related to the economic
recession and high unemployment, even for college graduates.
Sources: Fox, CNN, and some statistics (databases) of students, loans, and unemployment.
II. This story is virtually untold in the mainstream press, and when it is, the
blame gets placed on the students.
A. Detailed account of the story from Censored, as well as updates.
B. One of the points raised by the Occupy Movement is that students have been given
loans they will not be able to pay back; after the “economic downturn” caused in part by
faulty loans, now too many are unable to find work.
Source: Lexis Nexis database: “The Untold Story of the Boomerang Generation,” by
Genevieve Clark.
III. People, and especially students, must “arm” themselves with information
and consult a variety of sources so they can take back some control.
A. Many students are blamed for defaulting on loans, however, loans are given too
freely without enough information about realities students will face at the time of their
graduation.
B. Counter-sources, this story from other perspectives, e.g. clip on Democracy Now,
goes into this story in detail, without the bias against the “deadbeat” student.
C. The media has too much influence, especially in the mainstream; such sources as
Fox, CNN, MSNBC, the “easy” places go to for information, cannot be trusted to tell the truth
because of their corporate spin. If we have a true democracy, we must participate in it, and to
do that, we need unbiased information.
NOTE: Continue as above; your outline should include at least 3 (and 4 would be better)
main points and must include at least one specific outside sour ce. It should be
approximately one page long, single-spaced. Even if you change it as you work, it’s all part
of the process, so write out your plan, specifically, even if you are not positive of your thesis.