Max Hailperin's FTS essay 4 (Fall 2006)

Due November 28, 2006

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.

1. Thesis
   1. Does the essay has some specific point it tries to make, discernible to the reader after reading the full essay?
   2. Is that point within the parameters specified by the assignment?
   3. Does the essay stick to that single point?
   4. Is it immediately clear to the reader what point the essay is going to make, without needing to read beyond the first few sentences?
   5. Is the language used to state the thesis clear and straightforward?
2. Audience
   1. Is the essay consistent in the assumptions it makes about the audience's background knowledge and vocabulary?
   2. Are those assumptions within the parameters specified by the assignment?
3. Organization
   1. Does the essay have an introduction that lets the reader know what to expect from the essay?
   2. Does the essay have a conclusion that leaves the reader with a satisfied feeling that the matter has been neatly wrapped up?
   3. Does the body of the essay (between the introduction and conclusion) have a discernible organizing principle?
   4. 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?
   5. Are there smooth, sensible transitions from each topic to the next?
4. Supporting evidence
   1. Is each claim you make backed up by specific supporting evidence?
   2. Have you properly documented the sources of all your evidence, even when that evidence is not directly quoted?
   3. Do you comment upon each quotation or other piece of evidence and work it into the flow of your essay?
5. Mechanics
   1. Is the grammar, spelling, diction (word choice), and typography all good enough to not distract the reader?
   2. Is the writing clear, crisp and direct?