Sixth Writing Assignment (for modules 9 and 10) – option A
Due Date: the assignment is due to the appropriate folder on the D2L site by Sunday, 11/24, at 11:59pm.
Length: approximately 500-600 words
Assignment:
In his chapter “Planners versus Searchers” and in his talk at Google, William Easterly explained why he thinks that poverty relief efforts have failed so disastrously around the world. Write an essay in which you critically assess Easterly’s position regarding the best approach to foreign aid and its implications for the arguments developed by Thomas Pogge and Peter Singer in the previous module.
Internal Citation Requirement for the essay: Your essay must include at least THREE internal citations where you refer to course materials for this module, one to the Singer article (Singer, p. X), one to the Pogge article (Pogge, p.X) and one to the Easterly video (Easterly, mm::ss) or lecture videos on Easterly (Oberdick, mm:ss). These are just schematic examples, you will need to provide the exact page numbers and timestamp in your internal citations.
Internal Citation Requirement Penalty: Failure to include the citations will result in a 30 point penalty on the assignment, 10 points for each missing citation.
Your essay should have 4 paragraphs, with appropriate transitions between paragraphs:
(1) An introduction – here be sure to briefly introduce your topic and what you will argue.
(2) An account of Easterly argument– here be sure to discuss the difference between “planners” and searchers,” Easterly’s criticism of planners, and how he thinks searchers can help solve global poverty.
(3) A discussion of the implications of Easterly’s position for the arguments developed by Thomas Pogge and Peter Singer – here be sure to say which premise (if any) of Singer’s argument Easterly would reject, and why; and also say whether you think Easterly would accept any of Pogge’s arguments for injustice or proposals for rectifying injustice, and why.
(4) Critical Evaluation – here critically evaluate some aspect of Easterly’s position or its implications. There are lots of options here. Is some aspect of Easterly’s view compelling? Mistaken? Or are you unsure about how to evaluate an aspect of his view? If so, why?
Each paragraph of the assignment will count as follows in the overall grade:
Intro: 10%
Easterly’s Position: 30%
Implications: 30%
Critical Evaluation: 30%
The assignment will be graded for:
Completeness: Be sure to answer each aspect of the questions asked.
Accuracy: Be sure to accurately explain the relevant views.
Organization: Your assignment follows the 2 question structure outlined above.
Clarity: Your ideas should be clearly expressed and the reader should be able to easily follow your train of thought. Avoid convoluted sentences. Write concisely.
Grammar: Your essay should contain no grammar or spelling mistakes.
Length: The assignment should be at least 250 words long. There will be no penalty for assignments that go longer than the suggested approximate word count.
References: This is not a research paper. Unless you use sources outside those posted on our D2L site, it is not necessary to include a separate reference or works cited page. But, DO internally cite any direct quotes or closely paraphrased content from our course materials. For Easterly’s book chapter, use (Easterly p. x). For Singer’s article use (Singer, p. x). For Pogge’s article use (Pogge, p. x). For Easterly’s Google talk, use (Easterly, mm:ss). For lecture videos use, for example, (Oberdick, 10.3, 3:20).