This assignment is to write a short paper (aproximately 4 pages) which applies your knowledge learned from studying chapters 5 ("And Yet") and 6 ("Skeptics May Object") of the book They Say, I Say.

The theme of the paper is "The Ethics of Big Dams". You may use as sources the reading materials for the Narmada case study, as well as any other material you can find and document in your bibliography.

If you want, you may use material about local dams here in the Northwest, as part of your paper.

Your paper should a have an introductory paragraph that clearly states your thesis within this theme. The rest of the paper should elaborate your thesis statement, it should include citations, quotes, and paragraphs that support your thesis. It must include a bibliography. It should be written in MLA style.

Using chapters 5 and 6 as a guideline.

The theme of chapter 5, is to distinguish what you say, from what the authors of your sources say. To this end I will be looking for the following in your paper.

• Clear indication of who your sources are.
• A precise description of their main ideas.
• A clear description of your own ideas on the subject.
• It should be clear to the reader when you are describing the ideas of others, and when you are describing your own thoughts. Use "voice cues" (as described in the book) to indicate when the narrative makes these changes.
• A clear description of how your ideas relate to the ideas of your sources.
  1. How are they different?
  2. How are they similar?
  3. Why do your ideas differ? What evidence caused you to have differing ideas?

The theme of chapter 6, is planting a naysayer in your text. This is recognizing that all readers will not agree with what you have to say, and that a good writer anticipates the objections of the readers, and then answers them. To this end I will be looking for the following in your paper.

• You point out some of your ideas, as ideas that some readers might likely object to.
• You clearly identify who you think might object.
• You describe why you think they might object.
• You describe why, in your opinion, these objections are not valid.
• You use some of the templates listed in chapter 6 to frame your arguments.

The paper is to be written in at least two passes. A first draft is due Wednesday, April 23. This first draft should be at least 3 pages long (The ultimate goal is a 4 page final paper). I will grade the first draft by comparing how well you address the ideas from the chapters 5 and 6 of They Say, I Say. I will use the bullet points listed above as a guideline.

I will provide feedback (via some dictated comments) by Friday or Saturday April 25 or 26. A final improved version of the paper is due in class Wednesday April 30. I will grade the final draft on how much the paper improved from the first draft. I expect significant work on the papers after the feedback is supplied.

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