Social 30-2

Isherwood

Social Studies 30-2 Toolkit: Guide to Writing

Assignments
InSocialStudies302,youareaskedtocompletethreedifferenttypesofwritingassignments.
ThesearereferredtoasWrittenResponseAssignmentI,WrittenResponseAssignmentII,and
WrittenResponseAssignmentIIIontheDiplomaExamination.

Eachtypeofwritingassignmentrequiresyoutocompleteadifferenttask.Allthreetypesof
writingassignmentsgiveyouanopportunitytodemonstrateyourabilityandyourknowledgeand
understandingofsocialstudies.

Thistutorialwillgiveyousomegeneralguidelinesforcompletingwritingassignmentsthroughout
thiscourseandinthediplomaexamination.

GetReady

ThepeoplewhoputtogethertheDiplomaExaminationmeetregularlywithteachersfromacross
theprovince.Participantsinthesemeetingshaveagreedthatstudentsmustreadtheinstructions
carefullyandcompletealltasksinordertoobtainthehighestmarkpossible.

Regardlessofthetypeofwritingassignmentyouarecompleting,youmustdothefollowingin
ordertobesuccessful:
Readtheassignmentscarefully.
Thinkaboutwhatyouarebeingaskedtodo.
Planyourwritingsothatitwillfocusonthetopic.
Rereadyourwritingandaskyourselfifyouhavecommunicatedclearly.
Correctyourmistakes.
Ifyouhurrythroughthewritingassignment,thereisagreaterchancethatyouwillmisread
instructionsorthatyouwillleaveworkincomplete.

TakeAdvantageoftheDesignoftheWritingAssignment

Youareencouragedtouseinformationprovidedinthewritingassignmenttohelpcompleteyour
writingassignmentbutbecareful:itisbesttochooseinformationthatyoucanconfidently
incorporateintoyourwrittenresponse.

Ifyoudochoosetouseinformationprovided,rememberthatitisprovidedtohelpstimulateyour
response,nottobeyourresponse.Awrittenresponsecontainingonlytheinformationprovidedto
you,strungtogetherintoafewsentences,isnotasthesameasawrittenresponsethatcontainsthe
informationprovidedtoyouthathasbeencarefullychosentoaddsupporttowellthoughtout
ideasandexplanations.

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RereadYourWork

Youareawardedmarksfortheclarityandcorrectnessofyourwriting,aswellasforwhatyousay.
Therefore,besuretotakesometimetorereadyourwritingcarefully.Donotreadwhatyou
thoughtyoumeanttosay.Readwhatyouactuallysaid.

Asyoureread,askyourselfquestionssuchasthese:
Aremyideasconsistent,ordotheycontradictoneanother?
DidIsupportmyideaswiththoroughexplanations?
DidIuseexamplesthatarehistoricallycorrectandrelevanttothetopic?
Ismywritingorganizedandeasytofollow?
DidIusecorrectspelling,punctuation,andgrammar?
DidIusevocabularycorrectly?
WillmyreaderunderstandwhyIhavesaidwhatIsaid?
UnderstandtheScoringCriteria

Makesurethatyouarefamiliarwiththescoringcriteriathatwillbeusedtomarkyourwriting
assignmentsinthediplomaexamination.Thecriteriaareincludedininformationbulletins,
availableontheAlbertaEducationwebsite.

Beingknowledgeableaboutthescoringcriteriawillalsohelpyoutofulfilltherequirements
neededforcompletingthewritingassignment.

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Assignment I: Understanding and Evaluating Key Course

Concepts

ALXR/iStockphoto

Whichcharacteristic(s)ofpoliticalsystemsdoyouthinkis/arethemostimportanttoa
liberaldemocracy?

Writearesponseinwhichyoumust
identifythecharacteristic(s)ofpoliticalsystemsthatis/arethemostimportanttoa
liberaldemocracy
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explainwhythecharacteristics(s)is/arethemostimportant
supportyourresponseusingyourunderstandingofsocialstudies

RemindersforWriting
Organizeyourresponse.
Proofreadyourresponse.
AlbertaEducationrecommendsthatyouspendatleast20to25minutesonthistypeofwriting
assignment.

Asshownintheimage,inWrittenResponseAssignment1,youwillbeaskedtorespondtoa
specificquestionaboutthecharacteristicsofanideology,andyouwillbegivenanumberof
terms.Herearesomehintsyoucanusewhenplanningyourresponse.
Whatisthenatureofthequestion?Isthequestionaboutpolitics,economics,oranother
topic?
Examinetheterminologyprovided.Assumeyouareaskedtoexploreliberalpolitical
systems,asisthecaseintheexampleprovidedhere.Someofthetermsprovidedwill
reflectpracticesthatembraceliberalismandsomeofthetermswillreflectpracticesthat
rejectliberalism.Youmaywanttomaketwocolumns.Inonecolumn,writethetermsthat
applytopoliticalsystemsthatembraceliberalism.Inthesecondcolumn,writetheterms
thatapplytosystemsthatrejectliberalism.
TermsThatEmbrace
Liberalism

TermsThatReject
Liberalism

Whenpreparingtorespondtothequestion,choosetheterminologyyouaremostfamiliar
with.Ifyouarenotcertainaboutaterm,donotusetheterm.
Youmaychoosetoonlyelaborateononeofthetermsfromthelistforyourresponse.That
isfine.Remember,yourresponsemustbecompleteandfitthecriteriaprovided.Youmust
providedetailandsupport.UsetheScoringCriteriaandthesuggestedtimetoguideyour
work.
Youmustalsoremembertoprovidesupportinyourresponse.Explainingtheanswerdoes
notsufficeasaresponse.Themarkerwantstoknowthatyouactuallytookthecourseand
learnedsomething.Sharewhatyouhavelearnedbyprovidingexplanationsanddetailin
yourresponse.
Thequestionintheexampleprovidedisasfollows:

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Whichcharacteristic(s)ofpoliticalsystemsdoyouthinkis/arethemostimportanttoa
liberaldemocracy?

Thiswritingassignmentasksyoutoreflectonliberaldemocracies.Determinewhichoftheterms
providedapplytoliberaldemocraciesandwhichtermsdonot.

Makeyourtwocolumnchartandplaceeachtermintheappropriatecolumn.Ifyouareunsureof
whereonethewordsbelongs,lookatthewordandtrytoimaginehowitappliestothequestion.
Thinkofthecontextinwhichyouleanedtheterm.Trytodetermineifthecontextsupportedor
rejectedliberalism.

TermsThatEmbraceLiberalism

TermsThatRejectLiberalism

representationbypopulation
ruleoflaw
freedomofspeech
separationofchurchandstate
universalsuffrage

eliterule
controlledparticipation
repressionofdissidents
indoctrination
directionofpopulardiscontent

Determineifthequestionisaboutpoliticsoreconomics,orwhetherthatisimportanttothe
question.Inthiscase,thequestionclearlystatesitisaboutpolitics.

Chooseatleastonetermfromtheappropriatecolumn.Makesurethatthetermyouchoseapplies
tothequestion.Explainwhytheterm(s)youchoseismostappropriate.Youmaychoosetodefine
theterm.Then,supportyourchoiceoftermwithexplanations.

Inthisexample,youwouldexplainhowthetermsyouchosearethemostimportanttoaliberal
democracy.Inthistypeofwritingassignment,youwillprovideexplanationsandsupportthatare
relevanttothequestionandthatdemonstrateyourunderstandingofsocialstudies.

Remembertousethescoringcriteriatoguideandcheckyourwork.

Toolkit Courtesy of: http://resource.rockyview.ab.ca/t4t/ss301/tk/ss30_1_tk_02.html

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Assignment II: Interpretation of Sources and Defending

a Position

ZoranKarapancev/shutterstock

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2008JeffParker,FloridaToday,andPoliticalCartoons.com
AlbertaEducationrecommendsthatyouspendatleast40to45minutesonthiswriting
assignment.

Inthiswritingassignment,youmustaccomplishtwotasks.Inthefirsttask,youareaskedto
examinethethreesourcesprovidedtoyou.Sourcesmaybecharts,photos,politicalcartoons,
maps,text,quotes,ormanyotherformsofinformation.

Onceyouhaveexaminedallthreesources,youmustrespondtotwoquestions.Herearesome
hintsyoucanusewhenplanningyourresponse.
Rememberthatyoumustrespondtothetwoquestions.
Inrespondingtothefirstquestion,youmustinterpretthesources.Provideadescription
aboutthenatureofeachsource.Whatdothesesourcescommunicatetoyouabouttherole
ofindividualsorgovernmentinsociety?(Thequestionwillalwaysrelatetotheroleof
eitherindividualsorgovernmentinsociety.)
Identifywhateachsourcetellsyouabouttheroleofeitherindividualsorgovernmentin
society.
Youcanpresentyourresponseinoneormoreparagraph(s).
Inrespondingtothesecondquestion,youmustexplainanddefendyourpositionby
referringtothesourcesandtoyourunderstandingofsocialstudies.Besuretoincludewhat
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theroleofeitherindividualsofthegovernmentshouldbeinsociety.Providespecific
examplestosupportyourposition.
Selectappropriatesupportwhenpresentingyourposition.
Itisessentialthatyouremembertoprovidesupportinyourresponse.Explainingthe
answerisnotacompleteresponse.Themarkerwantstoknowthatyouactuallytookthe
courseandlearnedsomething.Sharewhatyouhavelearnedbyprovidingexplanationsin
yourresponse.
Considerthefollowingtwosamplequestions.

Whatdoeachofthethreesourcespresentedcommunicateabouttheroleofindividualsin
society?

Thissamplequestionaddressestheroleofindividuals.Examinethedetailsinthechart,graphic,
photo,politicalcartoon,orothersourcesprovided.Whatdetailscanyougetfromtheinformation
providedineachsource?Whatdetailsreflecttheroleindividualsplayinsociety?Finddetailsin
thephotograph.Provideabriefdescriptionofthesedetailsandhowtheyaffecttheroleof
individuals.

Consideringthesourcespresented,whatdoyouthinkshouldbetheroleofindividualsin
society?

Again,thissamplequestionaddressestheroleofindividuals.Whenansweringthispartofthe
question,makesureyourefertothesourcesprovided.Thisisalsoyouropportunitytoexpress
yourpositiononwhattheroleoftheindividualshouldbeinsociety.

Supportyourinterpretationsandpositionbyreferringtothedetailsinthesourcesandyour
understandingofsocialstudies.Donotbeafraidtoexploreandelaborateonyourresponse.The
moreimportantandrelatedinformationyouprovide,thebetteryourresponsewillbe.

Remembertousethescoringcriteriatoguideandcheckyourwork.

Toolkit Courtesy of: http://resource.rockyview.ab.ca/t4t/ss301/tk/ss30_1_tk_02.html

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Assignment III: Exploring an Issue and Defending a

Position

Shouldgovernmentspasslawsmandatingthehiringofpeoplebasedontheir
race,ethnicity,orgender?
CitizenI

Governmentsmusttakestrongactiontocorrecthistorical
wrongs.Inthepast,women,visibleminorities,andeven
menwhowerenotofBritishoriginwerediscriminated
againstanddeniedjobs.Wemustmandatethatthe
percentageofjobsinallbusinessesgiventoanygroup
equalsthepercentagethateachgroupmakesupofthetotal
population.

iStockphoto/Thinkstock
CitizenII

Affirmativeactionprograms,orothersimilarprograms
thatgivepreferentialtreatmentforpeoplebasedon
physicalorculturalcharacteristics,aretotally
unacceptable.Peopleshouldgetajobbecausetheyarethe
bestqualified.Allofsocietybenefitswhenfaircompetition
breedsexcellence.

Hemera/Thinkstock
CitizenIII

Everyoneshouldhaveanequalchancetogetajob.Some
groupsofpeopledidnotalwaysandmaystillnothavean
equalchance.Ifsomeoneclearlyisthemostablecandidate

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forajob,thentheyshouldgetit.However,iftwoormore
equallyqualifiedpeoplearecompeting,thegovernment
shouldmandatethatthejobgotothepersonfromagroup
thathasbeendiscriminatedagainstinthepast.

Hemera/Thinkstock

AlbertaEducationrecommendsthatyouspendatleast40to45minutesonthiswriting
assignment.

Inthiswritingassignment,youmustwritealettertotheeditor.Therewillbepositionspresented
bythreeindividualswhowillexpresstheirpointsofviewonanissue.Onceyouhaveexaminedall
threepointsofview,youmustrespondtothequestionprovided.
Herearesomehintsyoumayusewhenyouareplanningyourresponse.
Rememberthatyoumustreadthethreepointsofviewpresented.Eachpointofviewwill
bedifferentfromtheothers.
Youmustanalyze,explore,andexplainthepointofviewofeachofthethreecitizens.
Youmustexploretheissueprovided.Provideageneraldiscussionabouttheissue.
Youmusttakeapositionontheissue.Thispositionmustbesupportedwithargumentsthat
defendyourposition.
Supportyourpointofviewwithexamplesusingyourunderstandingofsocialstudies.
Remembertousethescoringcriteriatoguideandcheckyourwork.

SocialStudies301LearnEveryWare2010AlbertaEducation

Toolkit Courtesy of: http://resource.rockyview.ab.ca/t4t/ss301/tk/ss30_1_tk_02.html