Essay: Election/Voting Reform Write a 4 page essay in which you explore and critically assess the topic of election reform in the United States and/or California. The essay must address at least one p
III. PLAGIARISM In your essay, you are required to document (cite) all of your courses. If you do not cite a source, it is considered plagiarism. Because of the issue of plagiarism, it is extremely important that you document all the works cited in your paper and all of the supplemental material you read, even if you don’t refer to the work in your paper. According to PCC Policy No. 4520, the following types of conduct are subject to discipline: “Dishonesty, such as cheating, plagiarism, fabrication, or knowingly furnishing false information to the College or its officials; intentionally or knowingly helping or attempting to help another commit an act of dishonesty.” Plagiarism occurs when a writer reproduces the words of another author without acknowledgment or when a writer paraphrases the ideas or arguments of another author in such a way as to lead the reader to believe that the ideas or arguments originated with the writer. You are plagiarizing when you:a. Copy material from a source without using quotation marks and proper citation.
b. Follow the movement of the source, substituting words and sentences but keeping its meaning, without citing it.
4 c. Lift phrases or terms from a source and embed them in your own prose without using quotation marks and proper citation.
d. Borrow ideas (that are not common knowledge) from a source without proper citation.
e. Turn in a paper wholly or partially written by someone else.
Plagiarism can be intentional or unintentional. According to Andrea A. Lunsford in The Everyday Writer (4th ed): “If your paraphrase is too close to the wording or sentence structure of a source (even if you identify the source); if you do not identify the source of a quotation (even if you include the quotation marks); or if you fail to indicate clearly the source of an idea that you obviously did not come up with on your own, you may be accused of plagiarism even if your intent was not to plagiarize” (p. 191).
IV. ESSAY DOCUMENTATION When referring to and documenting different works in your essays, you may use whatever style of documentation you prefer (MLA style, Chicago Style, Fowler Modern English Usage style, etc.) You may use parenthetical notations or footnotes, but please DO NOT USE ENDNOTES.
V. GRAMMAR & PUNCTUATION The purpose of writing the essay assignment is to engage with a political issue and to display your knowledge of the issue in political terms. I will assess your work based upon the clarity of your arguments, ideas, and explanations, as well as on the strength of your writing abilities. In this sense, your work will be evaluated on the basis of the logic and quality of your arguments as well as your grammatical skills. If you need assistance with grammar, punctuation, or general writing skills, you may want to consult with the PCC Writing Support Center, located in the C345 and D306. More info at https://pasadena.edu/writingcenter VI. DOs & DON‘Ts A. DOs 1. “I” and “My” – you may use “I” and “my” to add emphasis in distinguishing your ideas from the ideas of others.
B. DON’Ts 1. Avoid using the word “You” 2. Do not use contractions 3. No extra line spaces between paragraphs.
4. Do not submit your paper in a special folder. Just use a staple.
5. DO NOT USE ENDNOTES.
6. Avoid composing sentences in the passive voice.
7. Avoid using clichés (Oxford Dictionary: “a phrase or opinion that is overused and betrays a lack of original thought”). For example: money talks, all in the same boat, all good deeds go unpunished, money doesn’t grow on trees, survival of the fittest, etc.
