Due December 2, 2004
Assignment
Write an essay, directed at a typical college freshman outside
our FTS, in which you compare and contrast the views of at least two
different authors on the DMCA's anti-circumvention provisions. You
should base your essay on readings that have been assigned for this
course. Be sure to explain what is at issue, what the backgrounds are
of the authors you are comparing, what positions they take, and how
they defend those positions.
Evaluation guidelines
Please rewrite your essay until you are convinced that the answer to
each of the following questions is "yes." I urge you to ask a
peer to give you feedback as well on whether he or she agrees that all
the answers are "yes." When I grade your
essay, I will again use these questions, both to give you feedback
and to come up with your letter grade. Specifically, I will start
with an A and take off one grade "notch" (e.g., from A to A-, or from
A- to B+) for each question where the answer is "no". Be warned that
some of the questions are so critical that if the answer is "no," then
one or more additional answers are necessarily also "no." For
example, if the answer to question 1a is "no," you are doomed for 1b
through 1e as well.
- Thesis
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Does the essay has some specific point it tries to make, discernible
to the reader after reading the full essay?
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Is that point within the parameters specified by the assignment?
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Does the essay stick to that single point?
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Is it immediately clear to the reader what point the essay is going to
make, without needing to read beyond the first few sentences?
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Is the language used to state the thesis clear, straightforward, even
powerful?
- Audience
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Is the essay consistent in the assumptions it makes about the
audience's background knowledge and vocabulary?
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Are those assumptions within the parameters specified by the
assignment?
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Is the general style, tone, or voice of the essay appropriate to a
general academic audience, or if a different audience is explicitly
stated in the assignment, to that audience?
- Organization
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Does the essay have an introduction that lets the reader know what to
expect from the essay?
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Does the essay have a conclusion that leaves the reader with a
satisfied feeling that the matter has been neatly wrapped up?
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Does the body of the essay (between the introduction and conclusion)
have a discernible organizing principle?
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Does each paragraph and each larger organizational unit start with a
clear statement of topic, except where there is a good reason to do
otherwise?
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Are there smooth, sensible transitions from each topic to the next?
- Supporting evidence
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Is each claim you make backed up by specific supporting evidence?
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Have you properly documented the sources of all your evidence, even
when that evidence is not directly quoted?
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Do you comment upon each quotation or other piece of evidence and work
it into the flow of your essay?
- Mechanics
- Is the grammar, spelling, diction (word choice), and typography all
good enough to not distract the reader?
- Is the writing clear, crisp and direct?