Students are required to write a research paper on a current member of the U.S. Senate outside the state of Texas. A list of current senators can be found at www.senate.gov and students are free to choose their senator. The paper must meet the following requirements:
Paper Guidelines
The paper must be uploaded using one of these file types: Microsoft Word or PDF
The paper must be 4 to 5 pages in length not including the cover sheet and Works Cited page.
All characters must be typed in Times New Roman using 12-point font.
All lines must be double-spaced and include one-inch margins (top to
bottom and left to right).
The paper must be written in the following order:
1. Cover sheet
a. Your name
b. U.S. Senator Paper c. Government 2305 d. Date
2. Introductory paragraph
3. Body
a. Provide a biography of the senator
b. Describe the demographics, geography, and economy of the
senators home state.
c. Provide a summary of three bills the senator either sponsored or
co-sponsored during the current 116th or 115th congressional
session (January 2017 thru present).
d. Describe committees the senator is currently a member of, such
as the subject matter of legislation the committee oversees.
e. Name three groups, industries, or individuals that have donated
money to the senator, and the amounts.
f. What is your overall opinion of the senator? Do you support his
or her political beliefs and agenda? Why or why not?
4. Conclusion paragraph
5. Sources/Works Cited Page: The paper must include a minimum of six sources and use in-text citations within the paper using MLA. Also, the sources must be fully documented on a separate Works Cited Page using MLA.
6. The following sources are prohibited for use in the paper: Wikipedia, the class textbook, and using the same source more than once. For the same source more than once restriction, this means that if you use an article from the Houston Chronicle then you cant use another
article from the Houston Chronicle. This rule is intended to require
students to use a diversity of sources.
7. The paper must be submitted in the Blackboard course page in two
locations; through Turnitin, a program that detects plagiarism/grammatical errors, and in the Signature Assignment tab. To submit the paper, click the Signature Assignment tab in the Blackboard course page. On the next screen click view and complete in the U.S. Senator (Turnitin) tab. On the next page type in your name and submission title (U.S. Senator Paper). Then click the browse tab to select and download the attached document. Finally, click the upload tab to submit your paper. To submit the paper in the Signature Assignment tab click U.S. Senator Paper (Signature Assignment) in the same area and then click the Browse My Computer tab to attach the file. Finally, click Submit at the bottom right corner of the screen.
8. The paper will be graded using the rubric listed below and can be accessed when clicking into the graded paper within Blackboard. It will be graded no later than three weeks after the due date.
Paper Rubric
Grammar (spelling, punctuation, sentence structure, wording)
100
Content (covered the main areas in the instructions)
60
CSonurtecenst (Works Cited page, quality/quantity of sources, MLA)
po2in0ts
lForrmatti(ncgo)ver sheet, organization, margins, font, appearance)
po1in0ts
po1in0ts
summary of the topic and sources)
mechanics) points