TERM PAPER ASSIGNMENT: To evaluate the relevance of this memoir to the study of the politics of development, you must draw on and cite concepts and approaches covered in the required texts and in the lectures of the course. In this paper, you will provide a brief introduction that imparts your views on the book’s principal
contributions to the study of international development and underdevelopment.
In the main body, you will proceed to present your perspectives on the following topics:
(i) the strengths of the analyses presented in the book relative to other interpretations of development
covered in POLS*2080 (i.e. which concepts from our course are well-reflected and why?);
(ii) the weaknesses of the analyses relative to other perspectives on development covered in the
course (i.e. what relevant topics in the study of development are neglected in the memoir?);
(iii) the opportunities around the world that presently exist to improve development outcomes (i.e.
concrete initiatives/organizations with beneficial potential, considering what you have learned from
the course and the memoir); and
(iv) the threats around the globe that could impede efforts to pursue the changes desired by the
author (i.e. concrete issues/initiatives/organizations that threaten development around the world).
In a brief conclusion, you’ll clearly present answers to the two following questions:
(a) do the strengths of the book outweigh its weaknesses or vice versa; and
(b) do the opportunities to improve development outcomes presently outweigh the threats or
vice versa?
In the concluding section you should draw upon the evidence presented in the paper to support your
answers to these questions. Finally, include a thesis statement – one sentence maximum – at the end of
the introduction that imparts the answers given to the two questions in the conclusion.
The term paper will be at least 1,900 words and no longer than 2,100 words, excluding the reference
list. Papers should be typed, double-spaced and carefully edited for spelling and grammar. Use subheadings
to organize your paper, and include references to the course material, including: (i) lectures,
(ii) assigned chapters and (iii) material from the textbook not covered in class. Applicable concepts
drawn from the course material must be clearly defined and appropriately cited. At least three
additional sources must be cited to support arguments in the ‘opportunities’ and ‘threats’ sections of
the paper.
Include a title page that lists the title of your paper, your name and ID number, the course number, and
the names of the course instructor and your TA. Document your sources with in-text citations using the
APA citation style consistently throughout the paper. All papers require a complete reference list, which
lists all sources that were consulted. The submission must be consistent with the Writing Guide for POLS
Courses (see Courselink) and must be uploaded to the Dropbox as a .doc, .docx or .rtf file.
A guide to researching and preparing the term paper will be presented during Lecture 15 on Tuesday,
October 30. Criteria for grading the term paper will include: the organization of the paper; the extent to
which the discussion engages with the course material; the clarity, editing and style of the presentation;
and the extent to which students answer the questions posed and make substantive efforts to
rationalize and support their answers. A copy of the assessed work submission form that will be used by
the course instructor and the teaching assistants in the grading of this assignment is attached.
POLS*2080: Development and Underdevelopment – Fall 2018
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ASSESSED WORK SUBMISSION FORM
NAME: DATE:
Strength of Analysis:
Poor Fair Average Good Excellent
Follows the directions of the assignment and answers the question
posed sufficiently.
Has a clear agenda/organizational framework.
Coherence of writing; clear statements and succinct explanations.
Key terms and concepts used are defined and explained.
Assertions and arguments supported with specific citations from
the textbook and lectures.
Assertions and arguments supported with specific quotations from
the textbook and lectures where appropriate.
Individual paragraphs and sections of the paper are well structured
and interconnected.
Appropriate depth of coverage of the literature.
Analyses literature beyond summarizing.
Technical Presentation: Here, “X” denotes that some attention should be paid to this problem,
while “XX” denotes that extra attention is warranted.
Late paper
Poor paper format
Poor referencing
Text is too long/short
Redundant text (i.e. wordy and can be trimmed without loss of meaning)
Some statements are unsupported (i.e. undeveloped and/or vague statements)
Lack of supporting data in places
Insufficient coverage of the literature or the lectures
Insufficient depth of coverage of the literature or the lectures
Typographic errors, misspelled words and punctuation errors
Incomplete sentences and/or awkward sentence structure
Some paragraphs are too long/short
Overall Percentage: %
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