Marc Turetzky

Pols1, Fall 2009

Extra Credit Assignment Details

Class. I have decided to add a fairly open ended extra credit assignment worth UP TO 5% (grade depends on the quality of your work).

Here are some examples of assignments you could work on for extra credit:
-attend a protest rally, political forum, speech, etc. and provide a description and analysis of what you personally witnessed—has to be THIS semester though…

-a critical analysis of a current member of congress (biography, voting record, efficacy of career etc)

-an analysis of how well America's political system is functioning/not functioning in 2009

-a review of a current book about political affairs (i.e., Freakonomics, The Post-America World, The World is Flat, etc etc): include a summary and a critical analysis

-a review of a movie about politics (“Capitalism: A Love Story,” “Inglorious Basterds,” “W,” “The Candidate,” “Dave,” “Full Metal Jacket,” etc…has to be about politics though…): half should be summary of the basic plot; half should be analysis of its meaning, themes, tie in to political science, etc.

-A critical analysis of some public policy matter (such as health care reform, the Cash for Clunkers program, whether the economic stimulus package is working as intended, etc.)

If you have a better idea, let me know.

The long and the short of my message is this: you don't HAVE TO TAKE ME UP ON THIS. If you feel so compelled please complete one of these assignments. It can only help (and NOT hurt) your grade.

I'm looking for something in the neighborhood of three double spaced pages of well reasoned, nicely written, smartly constructed work. If you use research, please use citations and a bibliography.

I want this written in 12-point font and double spacing.

If you have any questions, fire away. You have until the last day of class to submit an extra credit assignment...

Dr T