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Hello learners! This guide is designed to help you complete the persuasive letter assignment for PSCI 110.
Need additional assistance? The Cal Poly Humboldt Library has multiple ways for you to receive help with your research, including a 24/7 chat service as well as a Research Help Desk. Click on the link for additional information. You can also reach out to College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences Librarian Garrett Purchio at gap13@humboldt.edu to schedule a research appointment.
You have a big assignment due soon and it's time to start researching.
Here is the assignment: Persuasive Analysis Letter
Now is the time to choose your bill or topic and find some academic sources to use in support of your position. Your librarians can be a great source of help for you about this.
To find your article, you'll go to a government website (either California or the U.S.) and look for a bill. You should be able to find one from this year. There may not be one on your first choice of topics -- they may not be considering anything about that yet this year; in that case, choose another topic. Choosing a shorter, more specific bill can make it easier to make a coherent argument.
When you go to the search engine for academic journal articles, enter a keyword or topic from the bill you want to write about. Most scholarly articles have a summary at the beginning and you might have to read several of those to find an article that is relevant to your subject. You might figure out a different keyword would help you find a more relevant article. You may spend 30-60 minutes just finding a couple of articles that have evidence and arguments useful to you in your paper.
When you've found a bill and some academic sources, create a bibliography/works cited reference for them and submit those references to this assignment.
Writing assigment:
This is your biggest writing assignment of the semester.
Find a bill that is being discussed in the state or national legislature (this year, either house). Here are some places you could look. You could also look in a newspaper to choose one, then find the bill at one of these sites.
https://www.senate.gov/
Think about who might want it to pass. Think about what might happen if it's passed. Decide what your opinion is about it.
Write a 2-3 page typed, double-spaced letter (at least 500 words) to a relevant public figure in favor or against it's passage, giving reasons for your stance. Submit it online when due. See the rubric for more information.
For this paper, you'll need to use two or three scholarly sources to provide evidence for your position.
