POLI 310 L02 2019-2020
Instructor: Tiago Lier
THOUGHT PAPER TOPIC:
Week 1 (September 5, 2019)
Give your best thoughts in response to the following statement:
“Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall”
Instructions:
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This assignment is an open-ended exercise in thinking for yourself. It is not a research
paper. Think carefully about the words in the quoted statement and what the statement as
a whole means. Think about possible alternatives to your interpretation. How you
respond to the quoted statement is up to you.
Your paper must be 1-2 pages in length. Papers shorter than 1 page or longer than 2
pages will be penalized.
Write in essay format, which includes a thesis statement.
Do not use secondary sources. You may refer to the course readings if you wish, but do
not rely on them to make your arguments. This assignment is about your thoughts, not
theirs.
Adhere to the formatting guidelines below.
Deadline: before 5:00 p.m., Thursday, October 17, 2019. Late papers will be penalized 5% per
day.
Submission: upload a Word file to D2L, under Assessments: Dropbox: Thought Paper 1
Formatting: papers that do not adhere to these formatting requirements will be penalized.
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Include the week number (1), a title, your name, and your UCID either on a title page
(which does not count toward page limits) or at the top of the first page.
Number each page, beginning after the title page (if a title page is used).
Page margins must be set at 1”.
All text should be double-spaced, with no extra space between paragraphs.
The font must be Times or Times New Roman and the font size 12 points.
Grading and Comments: the assignment rubric is on the next page. Comments will be provided
on assignments submitted before the deadline. Comments will be provided using the comment
function in Word and uploaded as Feedback in D2L.
THOUGHT PAPER RUBRIC
These criteria are guidelines; grades are not assigned per criterion. Rather, the essay is graded as a whole.
Category
Content
Criterion
Originality
Insightfulness
Argumentation
Form
Logical organization
Style
Clarity and accuracy
Sample Indicators
 Have you provided a thoughtful and nuanced interpretation
that avoids generalities, clichés, and unexamined
assumptions?
 Are the issue(s), problem(s), or question(s) that you identify
clearly and persuasively stated?
 Have you pursued lines of thought that provide a deeper
understanding of the issue(s), problem(s), or question(s)?
 Have you organized your arguments clearly, explicitly stating
their premises and conclusions?
 Do your arguments persuasively support your thesis?
 Have you included the arguments that are necessary to
support your thesis?
 Do you have a clear thesis statement?
 Have you organized the essay clearly and in a way that
logically supports your thesis statement?
 Are your paragraphs formed around clear and distinct ideas?
 Are your sentences clearly structured and straightforward in
their meaning?
 Have you chosen words that accurately and precisely convey
your meaning?
 Is your writing grammatically correct, and have you spelled
all the words correctly?