The idea of this assignment is to have you practice your critical thinking and analysis skills by writing a thought paper. A thought paper is a concise, accessible summary based on research and your interpretation through an analysis.
You have much flexibility in choosing the topic and in how you develop your argument – but it important to accomplish a few key outcomes in this assignment. You must:
Use the textbook and cite your references
Search for at least one external resource – an academic journal, a TED Talk, an NPR story, etc. … NOTE: not Wikipedia
Present your own ideas in the paper, and these must be supported with logic
First, read/review the What is a Thought Paper to help you as a guideline you will follow. Each of the documents leads you through a logical sequence for the paper.
This paper is based on a chapter topic of your choosing, from Chapters 10-19. There is no ‘prompt’ from me for this paper – you choose the topic and develop it per the thought paper or problem solution essay guidelines.
My recommendations for currently relevant chapters – topics that you will easily find news stories or other resource information about, as well as local Imperial County issues – are:
*Chapters 11 (community development), 12 (transportation), 13 (economic development), 14 (growth management, etc.), 15 (environmental and energy)
Perhaps the MOST IMPORTANT thing is that the problem you are writing about MUST be a problem in Imperial County. You MUST include a real-life example of the problem.
For example, maybe you choose to write about transportation. Is transportation a problem in Imperial County? If so, how is it a problem? What negative impact does it have on residents? What is being done about it? What solution would you offer to solve the problem?
Ask yourself these questions when selecting a topic.
In contrast, if you were to write about an eight-lane highway construction project … is that relevant to Imperial County? Maybe not. So, transportation issues such as this would not be a very good choice for your paper.
Always – if you have questions or concerns or need clarification – reach out to me. I am happy to text, talk, or meet face-to-face so that we can ensure you submit a paper you feel confident about.
