Patrick Breshears
Teacher Name, Civics
14 October, 2013
Living Constitution
Prompt: Some historians claim that our Constitution is a “living constitution”, meaning that the words of
it and the Bill or Rights have been interpreted throughout the years; furthermore, that interpretation
has changed throughout the years. Using your understanding of the Constitution, the role of precedent,
and specific court cases that have tested the Constitution evaluate the degree to which the Constitution
is a “living constitution” and the degree to which your rights have been upheld, expanded, or restricted.
Learning Target:
1. Evaluate the U.S. Constitution as a “living Constitution” in terms of how the words in the
Constitution and Bill of Rights have been interpreted and applied throughout their
existence (e.g., precedents, rule of law, Stare decisis, judicial review, supremacy,
equal protections, “establishment clause”, symbolic speech, due process, right to privacy, etc.).
2. Summarize the importance of right to due process of law for individual accused of a crime.
3. Evaluate the rights of individuals in terms of how well they have been upheld by democratic
government.
Requirements
1. 3 pages typed
3. Three sources; two of which have to be a primary source
4. A work cited page and in text citations using MLA style-we talk about this in class.
5. At minimum four resources; one must be the Constitution and one other primary sources; two
secondary sources.
Timeline
Friday, October 18th sources due
Tuesday, October 22nd thesis and evidence due
Friday, October 25 topic sentences for each body paragraph (these are your proofs)
Monday, October 28th paper due
For each missing component or late component it is ten points off the final grade; no late assignments
taken.
Formatting
1. Double Spaced
Patrick Breshears
Teacher Name, Civics
14 October, 2013
2. Times New Roman, 12 point font
3. 1 inch margin
4. Header: Full Name, Instructor and Class Name, Date using MLA format (see writing guide); put in the
header and do not double space-see example.
5. Title: Center Title; do not underline or put in quotations; put at top, do not skip a line after header
6. Skip one line and start paper.
Grading
1. Content-60%
a. Thesis-15%
b. Supporting evidence (proofs)-10%
c. Body 30%
i. Evidence one-connects back to thesis, uses facts to support evidence with qualifying
sentences that demonstrates comprehension, and includes limited referenced sources.
ii. Evidence two: same
iii. Evidence three: same
d. Close 5%
2. Format-25%
3. Grammar-15%
a. Avoid redundancy; saying the same thing or repeating idea
b. Capitalization
c. Dividing into paragraphs
d. Punctuation
e. Use of comma
*There is a writing guide on my class website under Writing Materials and Guides; please reference it for
tips and citation methods. I will also be working through this in the instructional writing workshops
during lunch and learn.