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Pop Culture Paper Assignment

 Watch at least 2 episodes of any television situation comedy. After watching the programs, identify any minority characters, and describe how any one of these minority characters was portrayed. Detail if the portrayal was accurate or stereotypical and whether the character’s minority status alone was used as a source of humor.

 The paper should be no more than 4 pages long with additional cover and reference pages.

 The paper must be submitted in Microsoft Word; Times New Roman font; 12 pt. font size; margins 1” on all sides; double-spaced. The assignment should be written on a graduate level and references used should be cited within the discussion and documented in a reference list using APA styling.

 Post your paper, as a single document, to the grade book.

 Send your instructor an email when you are ready for your assignment to be graded.

CACREP Standards Addressed: 2F.2.a and 2F.2.d

Scoring Guidelines

Points available: 100.

Components Unacceptable (0 points)

Revisions Required (5 points)

Target (10 points)

Introduction Establishes historical

background and defensible

thesis that supports a logical

line of reasoning (CACREP

2F.2.a, 2F.2.d)

Underdeveloped introduction; reason for

culture selection is unclear or missing;

historical background is inaccurate or missing

Coherent introduction that includes a reason for culture selection;

historical background is accurate but limited

Engaging, well developed introduction that includes a detailed

reason for culture selection; historical

background is accurate and thorough

Focus & Purpose Developed thesis and

attentive focus on topic

(CACREP 2F.2.a, 2F.2.d)

Missing thesis; confusion about or

misunderstanding of topic; no sense of

purpose

Simplistic and unfocused ideas; limited sense of

purpose

Developed thesis; represents sound

understanding of the assigned topic; focused

Ideas, Support & Development

Supports ideas and reflections using specific and relevant examples of

No or limited evidence/experiences

are provided to support ideas and reflections;

evidence is incomplete, incorrect, oversimplified,

Provides necessary evidence/experiences to

support ideas and reflections; the

importance/relevance of all pieces of

Relies on compelling and detailed

evidence/experiences to support ideas and

reflections; the importance/relevance of

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Components Unacceptable (0 points)

Revisions Required (5 points)

Target (10 points)

evidence/experiences

(CACREP 2F.2.a, 2F.2.d) or disconnected from the

context evidence/experiences is

unclear or under developed but does

support the ideas and reflections presented and is placed properly

within the context

all pieces of evidence/experiences is clearly stated; considers alternate interpretations of evidence/experiences

to enhance demonstration of cultural

intelligence

Conclusion Establishes clear conclusion

based upon

evidence/experiences

(CACREP 2F.2.a, 2F.2.d)

Missing or no connection of evidence and analysis to the reflections; fails to summarize the argument

coherently

Limited connection between evidence and analysis to reflections;

summarizes some ideas and thoughts but repeats

ideas to support reflections

Engaging, strongly connects evidence and analysis to reflections; summarizes the main

topics without repeating previous ideas

Structure & Organization

Text has unity and coherence to accomplish the

focused purpose

No paragraph structure; or single, rambling

paragraph; or series of isolated paragraphs

Organization is confusing or disjointed;

weak paragraph structure; transitions are missing or inappropriate

Clear organizational structure; easily followed;

includes transitions; structured format

Audience & Tone

Audience appropriate and consistent tone

No awareness of

appropriate audience for assignment; tone is

inappropriate

Lacks awareness of

appropriate audience for the assignment; tone is

inconsistent

Effective and accurate

awareness of audience; tone is appropriate for

audience and assignment

Sentence Structure Demonstrates varied

sentence structures to enhance meaning

Contains multiple and serious errors of

sentence structure: i.e. fragments, run-ons;

unable to write simple sentences

Formulaic sentence patterns or overuse of

simple sentences; errors in sentence structure

Effective and varied sentences; errors (if

present) due to lack of careful proofreading

Mechanics The text has few

grammatical, spelling and punctuation errors.

Frequent errors in agreement, verb tense,

spelling, and capitalization; intrusive

and/or inaccurate punctuation;

Contains several errors in agreement, verb

tense, spelling, capitalization, and

punctuation (up to 6);

Virtually free of errors in agreement, verb tense, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation (no

more than 3); errors do

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Components Unacceptable (0 points)

Revisions Required (5 points)

Target (10 points)

communication is hindered

errors interfere with meaning

not interfere with meaning

Vocabulary & Word Usage

Uses extended and appropriate vocabulary

Vocabulary is unsophisticated; or

subject specific vocabulary or

sophisticated vocabulary used incorrectly.

Proper, but simple vocabulary used; subject specific vocabulary used

infrequently

Vocabulary is varied, specific and appropriate;

uses subject specific vocabulary correctly

APA Format/Citations Correctly uses APA style and

formatting

Reference page includes frequent errors (more

than 3); no attempt was made to cited

supporting sources in- text; contains multiple errors in APA format

Reference page in accurate and virtually

free of errors (no more than 3); all supporting

sources are cited in-text, but minor errors in APA

format are present

Reference page in accurate and free of errors; all supporting sources are properly

cited in-text; APA format is correct and accurate

APA Format Guides

The instructor has provided links to resources that provide assistance on APA format issues. Be sure to review these links and do not hesitate to ask for assistance if you are not sure about something. Ask yourself the questions below before you submit a paper. This list by no means addresses every possible mistake that could be made, but it will bring common mistakes to your attention.

 Is your paper double spaced?  Are necessary abbreviations explained?

 Are references cited in-text present on your reference list? Remember that the website itself is a source.

 Did you include in-text citations for all the resources you used? Only references used to support your writing should be on your reference list.

 Numbers ten and below should be spelled out.

 Are quotes referenced correctly in-text? Quotes should be used sparingly. There should be no more than one quote in a three-page paper.

 Are your sources presented properly on your reference list? Pay close attention to indention rules and capitalization rules.

 Is your title page presented according to APA format?

 Is there a page break inserted for the reference page?

 Did you include an appropriate running heading for your paper?

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 Did you proof your paper and have another person proof your paper before submitting the paper?

Writing assignments are taken quite seriously. Graduate students are expected to write clearly and concisely, and the order of your thoughts should

be logical. Know that each paper is read with these things in mind. If your writing is wordy or if you use awkward phrasing it will impact the format, style

and grammar portion of your grade.

What is plagiarism?

Plagiarism occurs where one person presents the words or ideas of another as his own, or where others are allowed or encouraged to form this impression. Plagiarism typically but not necessarily takes a written form. Plagiarism is a form of deception or cheating. At its worst, it amounts to intellectual property theft. One who plagiarizes is living, immorally, off the intellectual earnings of others. There are, however, significantly different 'grades' of plagiarism, as identified below. Even so, while clear enough in respect of the intentions of the plagiarizer, the different grades of plagiarism are not necessarily easy to distinguish objectively, from the reader's or examiner's point of view. Faced with a case of plagiarism, an institution may not find it easy or consider itself obliged, to differentiate between one grade of plagiarism and another when penalizing students. Three grades of plagiarism Grade A plagiarism occurs where an individual makes a premeditated and systematic attempt to pass off the work of one or more others as his own, the plagiarizer taking care to disguise the fact by suppressing all revealing references, by changing words here and there in order to deflect suspicion, and so on. Paradoxically, this worst form of plagiarism can prove the most difficult to detect. Grade B plagiarism occurs where an individual in the course of writing an essay or dissertation knowingly refrains from making clear, through the erratic or inconsistent use of recognized conventions, the normal distinctions between such elements as paraphrase, quotation, reference, and commentary. This kind of plagiarism tends to be naive, clumsy and transparent, with the plagiarized elements often coming from the same sources which are in the same essay properly referenced or quoted from, all of which makes it relatively easy for the plagiarism to be identified. Whereas the Grade A plagiarizer is trying deviously to get ahead, the Grade B plagiarizer is usually just hoping naively to get by. Grade C plagiarism is plagiarism that is unintended or accidental. It occurs where through laziness, disorganization or indifference an individual neglects to acknowledge the source of an idea or quotation; or sticks too closely to the original wording when paraphrasing a source; or innocently reproduces, as his own material, ideas or quotations which have been noted down or copied out without their sources being recorded. One variation on this form of plagiarism occurs where an individual makes excessive or exclusive use of ideas or words from one particular source, even while fully acknowledging this source in the notes and bibliography. Technically, journalism frequently involves elements of grade B or grade C plagiarism, in so far as reporters and feature writers regularly copy or summarize ideas and documents without bothering to make due acknowledgment. Plagiarism and unpublished work Plagiarism does not cease to be plagiarism if the words or ideas plagiarized are not actually in published or permanent form; nor does the gravity of plagiarism vary with the quality of the

work plagiarized. Thus copying someone else's essay is still plagiarism, and it is still plagiarism even if the essay is a bad essay. Getting someone else to write an essay which one then presents as one's own is also plagiarism. Plagiarism and permission Nor is plagiarism mitigated by the fact that a person may for some reason give you permission to reproduce or quote from his work (e.g. an essay) without acknowledgment, since the intention remains that of passing off someone else's work as your own. It is even possible to plagiarize oneself, for example by presenting as a fresh piece of work (whether or not under a new title) the whole or part of a piece of work already submitted to and marked by another teacher. Penalties for plagiarism Theoretically one might propose that different grades of plagiarism deserve different grades of penalty. Thus Grade A plagiarism should presumably be deemed serious enough (at least in the case of pieces of written work constituting examinations) to warrant instant dismissal or disqualification. Grade B plagiarism would require the disqualification or heavy penalizing of the particular piece or pieces of work in question, perhaps with the threat of a tougher penalty for any further plagiarism. Grade C plagiarism should probably remain a 'domestic' matter, with individual teachers or tutors counseling students about their studying and writing techniques. It must be remembered, however, that an educational institution is perfectly within its rights to treat plagiarism as an either/or phenomenon. The onus, therefore, must be on students making sure that they avoid all grades of plagiarism, by keeping a proper record of their sources for notes and quotations, and by acknowledging either within the text or in footnotes the authorship of the ideas, quotations, and paraphrasing used in the essay or dissertation itself. The key factor here is acknowledgment. Acknowledge your sources and you have nothing to fear.

This document copyrighted by Peter Moore 2000 This document may be freely quoted from, reproduced and distributed, in either printed or electronic

format, provided due attribution of authorship is clearly visible on all copies.