Writing Assignment Topic and Rubric
This assignment will assess writing a convincing, well developed, and organized essay that analyzes, documents, and responds to various sources on a given topic.
Develop an ability to write about problems from historical, philosophical, rhetorical and/or cross-cultural and interdisciplinary perspective. Use the time allotted to develop a deeper understanding of the topic.
Develop the body of the paper fully, using not less than 3 full pages and no more than 5 pages. Provide transitional sentences from one topic to the next. The paper will have a minimum of at least 3 references from credible sources. Create bibliography and cite sources using APA guidelines. Use Times New Roman 12 point font and the current APA Writing Style Guide.
When a nation contemplates the use of force, that force must be done with legal authority and within the strictures of the laws of armed conflict. If there is both legal authority and that force follows the principles laid down by The Hague Rules of 1907 and the Geneva Conventions of 1949 then there can be a justified result. After September 11, 2001, Congress authorized the Commander-in-Chief at the time to use force against those individuals who had perpetrated the attack on the United States that fateful day. Under our constitutional scheme, the President could direct the National Command Authority to use armed force against Al Qaeda, including Bin Laden and others. Additional international authorizations via the United Nations and NATO followed. Overlaid in this authorization to use force was the basic international principle of the inherent right of a nation to self-defense, found in Art. 51 of the UN Charter.
Topic
On January 03, 2020, President Trump launched missiles into Iraq and killed Qasem Soleimani, a major general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The U.S. was authorized in Iraq to combat the threat of ISIS, but was not at war with the Iranian or Iraqi Government.
Take a stance on the following issue:
- President Trump had the legal authority to kill Qasem Soleimani
Our Standard: Defines good writing as “understandable in a single, rapid reading and generally free of errors in grammar, mechanics, and usage.”
| GRADE: | DID NOT MEET STANDARD | MET STANDARD | EXCEEDED STANDARD | FAR EXCEEDED STANDARD |
| RANGE: | 0 – 69 | 70 – 84 | 85 – 94 | 95 – 100 |
| COGNITIVE LEVEL ATTAINED | Higher levels include characteristics of lower levels. | ||
| CREATING: | Putting elements together to form a coherent or functional whole; reorganizing elements into a new pattern or structure through generating, planning, or producing. | ||
| EVALUATING: | Making judgements based on criteria and standards through checking and critiquing. | ||
| ANALYZING: | Breaking material into constituent parts, determining how the parts relate to one another and to an overall structure or purpose through differentiating, organizing, and attributing. | ||
| APPLYING | Carrying out or using a procedure through executing, or implementing. | ||
| UNDERSTANDING: | Construction meaning from oral, written, and graphic messages through interpreting, exemplifying, classifying, summarizing, inferring, comparing, and explaining. | ||
| REMEMBERING: | Retrieving, recognizing, and recalling relevant knowledge from long-term memory. | ||
| WRITING ASSIGNMENT |
| Effective communication is inherent to a member of our university. The writing assignment is conducted by each student. The assignment will assess writing a convincing, well developed, and organized essay that analyzes, documents, and responds to various sources on a given topic. Students will develop an ability to write about problems from historical, philosophical, rhetorical and/or cross-cultural and interdisciplinary perspective. Use the time allotted to develop a deeper understanding of the topic. Develop the body of the paper fully, using not less than 3 full pages and no more than 5 pages. Provide transitional sentences from one topic to the next. The paper will have a minimum of at least 3 references from credible sources. Create bibliography and cite sources using APA guidelines. Use Times New Roman 12 point font and the current APA Writing Style Guide. |
| PERFORMANCE LEVEL | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | ||||||||||
| Faculty Assessment | ||||||||||||||||||||
| INTRODUCTION – Total 20 Points | ||||||||||||||||||||
| No stated purpose or clear thesis. | Purpose for writing is vague or thesis is not focus or relevant to the purpose. | Purpose for writing is clear and specific thesis is clearly stated and focused. | ||||||||||||||||||
| No introduction of major points. | Vague introduction of major points. | Clear introduction of major points that are relevant to the thesis | ||||||||||||||||||
| Subtotal | ||||||||||||||||||||
| DEVELOPMENT – Total 50 Points | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Major points do not support thesis. | Major points partially support thesis. | Major points fully support thesis. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Fails to consider multiple viewpoints. | Presents other points of view but does not reason through them. | Clearly and fairly discusses multiple points of view. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Sequencing of major/minor points does not support writer’s purpose. | Sequencing of major/minor points partially supports writer’s purpose. | Sequencing of major/minor points effectively supports writer’s purpose. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Fails to show how evidence supports main points/thesis. | Weak analysis of evidence to show how it supports main points/ thesis. | Clear reasoning that shows how evidence supports main points/thesis. | ||||||||||||||||||
| No transitions. | Transitions are not always clear. | Transitions effectively connect major/minor points. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Subtotal | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| PERFORMANCE LEVEL | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |||||||||||||||
| CONCLUSION – Total 10 Points | ||||||||||||||||||||
| No conclusion or one that does not support the thesis. | Conclusion partially supports thesis. | Conclusion is clear and reinforces thesis and major parts. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Conclusion is disconnected from the evidence and reasoning, or it introduces new ideas. | Conclusion is not strongly linked to the evidence and reasoning, or it is not concise. | Conclusion is fully justified by the evidence and the reasoning, and it is concise. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Subtotal | ||||||||||||||||||||
| STYLE AND GRAMMAR – Total 20 Points | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Numerous wordy, vague or irrelevant sentences. | Some sentences or paragraphs are not always clear. | Clear, concise sentences and paragraphs. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Primarily passive voice. | Some passive voice – not excessive. | Primarily active voice. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Numerous errors in grammar, punctuation, or spelling. | Three to five errors in grammar, punctuation or spelling. | No more than two errors in grammar, punctuation, or spelling. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Numerous errors in APA format. | No more than two errors in APA format. | Error free APA format. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Subtotal | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Percent of Quoted Material | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Any Plagiarism or more than 25% quoted material subtract 31 points | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 16-25% quoted material subtract 11 points | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Less than 16% quoted material subtract 0 points | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Final Grade | ||||||||||||||||||||
