Historical Debate Assignment:
Historical Debate Assignment:
Information literacy is a crucial skill needed to navigate society, particularly in the ever-
expanding world of social media. Informed people need to be able to evaluate sources,
weigh evidence, draw conclusions, and write effectively. This assignment will attempt to
measure all aspects.
Short instructions:
Consider the topic you have chosen or been assigned as a debate or a discussion. You
must consider the arguments of both of the assigned sources. Your final project will be
an 600-800 word paper.
Detailed instructions:
I. Report: Write a 600-800 word paper using your selected sources. The report
should do the following:
a. Describe/Discuss the issue that is being debated. (what happened, why
was it important, why does it matter now)
b. Identify the argument of each perspective. It is probably best to write
about one perspective first before moving on to the opposing view.
c. Reflect on the evidence provided in each source and consider how well it
supported the author’s thesis or the point of view you have identified in the
source.
d. Conclude by talking about the following:
i. Discuss which perspective you found more convincing and why.
ii. How did these readings change the way in which you understood
the subject?
iii. How are the issues presented in the readings still relevant to you
today? Please explain how your personal background and life
experience might influence your perspective on this topic.
iv. Imagine that you have been asked to tackle a CURRENT national
or global issue. How would you use the readings to help you do
so?
II. Documentation: You must cite all quotes and paraphrases with intext
citations. Failure to do this will result in zero credit for this assignment.
A few notes on achieving a good grade on this project:
1. This is formal writing. That means proper grammar and
spelling. It also means proper format. You need an
introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion.
