Core 7 - Common Writing Assignment - Role Play

General Information

All Core 7 students during the Fall 2010 semester will complete a role play research paper of at least eight pages, standard formatting. Individual instructors may provide additional direction on role play topics, set their own deadlines, or ask for drafts or other parts of a writing process. The key assignment guidelines, and grading criteria for the resulting paper itself, are the same for all sections, however. This is the result of a collegial agreement among Core 7 faculty, the aim of which is to help create a more common Core 7 experience for students and to improve our ability to assess learning and writing skills.

What This Assignment is About

For this writing assignment, you will take on the role of a character that looks at the world with a Chinese point of view. This character sees people, events, actions, and behaviors - sees life itself - through the lens of Chinese culture, history and society. The goal of this role play is for you to work at empathizing with someone from another culture - Chinese culture, of course - in order to better understand their lives, communities and experiences. And better understanding the Chinese through role play, we expect, moves you closer to "discovering the unity and diversity of humankind," an important goal of the course noted in the "Introduction to Core 7."

Without firsthand knowledge of, or experience with, China and the Chinese, you will need to use research as a substitute. Good research and your own accompanying critical thinking should inform your decisions about the role play. What might your character think, say or do? Use the results of research to help you decide.

The character that is the focus of the role play may be fictional or real, though the individual instructor will have the final say on what is allowable in terms of characters. You may wish to choose a specific situation that shows your character in action or challenged. You may conduct the role play using the structure of a journal, series of letters, dialog or short story. Whatever character is involved, the particular situation or context should be fully developed, with an appropriate beginning and ending. Your instructor may have more direction to provide about choosing a particular character or situation.

The important details:

Length: The body of the paper must be at least eight pages. This is in addition to a title page, list of references or bibliography pages, or any other supplementary material your instructor requires. The body of the paper also should be double-spaced, standard college paper formatting, except where use of source material might require different treatment, according to The Everyday Writer.

Sources: Use at least six major and credible sources, in addition to any Core 7 articles or texts you find useful. Additional help with or limitations on sources may come from your Core 7 instructor.

What we mean by "major and credible" sources are those widely recognized as presenting verifiable information and thoughtful points of view. Besides books and peer-reviewed journal articles, these may include serious news sources, such as The New York Times, Washington Post, Associated Press, CNN, BBC World Service, or International Herald Tribune. These may also include magazines of the quality associated with Foreign Affairs, The Economist, or The New Republic. Working papers, journal articles and special studies conducted by various think tanks are also potentially useful quality sources. Examples of these think tanks include the Brookings Institution, the Hoover Institution, and the Cato Institute. You may also want to consider news and other material from NPR and PBS, as well as various government agencies and non-governmental organizations in the U.S. and China. The web-based databases provided by the Library are very valuable in helping you access many kinds of quality sources of information. (Go to www.saintjoe.edu/library and click on Databases.)

Citations: Correctly and consistently cite your research throughout your paper. These citations will point readers to a list of references, works cited or bibliography page. Your instructor may ask for use of a specific citation style, such as MLA or APA. The Everyday Writer is the reference book for understanding citation and reference formats.

Writing Guides: Our writing guide for the course is Andrea Lunsford's The Everyday Writer. Your instructor may specify a particular edition to use. Paper copies are available at the SJC Bookstore. Besides having useful information about writing content and mechanics, this text describes how to properly cite sources in a variety of formats, such as MLA and APA.

The Everyday Writer has a useful website relating to both the 3rd and 4th editions at: http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/everydaywriter4e/

You may also find these online writing resources helpful:
Plagiarism: Please be familiar with what constitutes plagiarism. When you take another author's words verbatim, you must put quotation marks around the direct quote, followed by a citation to the source. However, even when you just take the ideas of other authors and paraphrase them in your own words, you must still cite the source(s) from which those ideas came.

In order to avoid plagiarism, you should work hard at learning to paraphrase ideas in your own words. This is surely one of the most important skills that a student can develop. Please check The Everyday Writer for information on paraphrasing and avoiding plagiarism. The writing resources at Purdue and IU (see URLs above) also have helpful information on these topics.

Checklist and Grading: To both help us grade your papers consistently, and help you be better informed about expectations, we have included two items that deserve some explanation:
- A Role Play Checklist lists key thresholds all role play papers must pass before they will be graded. These are pretty basic, and reference many of the details noted above. If each of these items can be checked off, then your instructor will grade the paper. If something is missing, then your instructor will return the paper to you, and you have the option of resubmitting it within a week and with a late penalty that takes the paper down to a B, in addition to any other points that might be lost.
- The second item that follows is the Grading Rubric. Though we don't expect to eliminate all subjectivity from the process of evaluating student papers, this rubric will help illustrate to you the kinds of things your instructor will be looking for while evaluating your work. In addition, the rubric raises the probability that all role play papers are graded similarly across the Core 7 sections.

Checklist for Role Play Research Paper in Core 7: China

All of these items must be met before your paper will be graded by your instructor. Please go over this checklist carefully before submitting your paper to your instructor. If something is missing, your instructor will return the paper to you, accompanied by this sheet. You may have the option of resubmitting the revised paper once. It must be resubmitted within a week and must take a late penalty that brings the paper down to a B, on top of any other points lost.

______ Includes a minimum of eight text pages.

______ Actively cites a minimum of six quality sources, in addition to any Core 7 texts or articles.

______ Contains a list of references, works cited, or bibliography page for all sources used.

______ Includes in-text citations or footnotes.

______ Follows all additional guidelines set by individual instructor.

Student: ______________________________________________

Date Paper Submitted: _________________________________

Instructor: ___________________________________________

Date Paper Returned: __________________________________

Grading Rubric for Role Play Research Paper in Core 7: China

Content (40% of Total)

Excellent - 36-40 points

Excellent examples of seeing things from character's perspective.
Excellent use of role play context to demonstrate knowledge of Chinese culture, history, society.

Good - 30-35 points

Good examples of seeing things from character's perspective.
Good use of role play context to demonstrate knowledge of Chinese culture, history, society.

Poor - 24-29 points

Some problems seeing things from character's perspective.
Some problems demonstrating adequate knowledge of Chinese culture, history, society.

Unacceptable - <24 points

Much of what is written is from a non-Chinese perspective.
Little demonstration of relevant knowledge of Chinese culture, history, society.

Research (30% of Total)

Excellent - 27-30 points

Excellent selection of major and credible sources.
Balanced use of sources.
Excellent use of sources for relevant information that enhanced the role play.
Smooth integration of source material into your own writing and narrative.

Good - 24-26 points

Good selection of major and credible sources.
Balanced use of sources.
Good use of sources for relevant information that enhanced the role play.
Mostly smooth integration of source material into your own writing and narrative.

Poor - 21-23 points

Some good sources, but also use of minor sources lacking credibility.
Over-reliance on just a few of sources listed.
Problems extracting from sources meaningful information to enhance role play.
Problems integrating sources into your own writing.

Unacceptable - <21 points

Mostly minor sources lacking credibility.
Heavy reliance on just one or two minor sources.
Little meaningful information from sources that could enhance role play.
Use of sources not well integrated, or appear abruptly and out-of-place.

Organization (10% of Total)

Excellent - 10 points

Excellent internal sense of organization.
Clear beginning, middle and end.

Good - 8-9 points

Good internal sense of organization.
Clear beginning, middle and end.

Poor - 6-7 points

Some problems with internal organization.
Could have more developed beginning, middle and end.

Unacceptable - <6 points

Major problems with internal organization.
Little development of a narrative.

Writing Style (10% of Total)

Excellent - 10 points

Excellent communication of important points and ideas using clear language, sentences, paragraphs.
Created consistently smooth, fluid narrative with good connections and transitions.

Good - 8-9 points

Good communication of important points and ideas using clear language, sentences, paragraphs.
Created mostly smooth, fluid narrative with good connections and transitions.

Poor - 6-7 points

A few problems clarifying ideas and main points.
Sentences and paragraphs sometimes awkward, unclear, or poorly organized.
Some problems with transitions and connections.

Unacceptable - 0 points

Many points and ideas are unclear or undeveloped.
Many poor sentences and paragraphs.
Little evidence of developing clear, helpful connections and transitions.

Writing Correctness (10% of Total)

Excellent - 10 points

Error-free with respect to grammar, spelling and other writing mechanics.

Good - 8-9 points

A few minor errors with respect to grammar, spelling and other writing mechanics.

Poor - 6-7 points

Several minor errors or a few major errors with respect to grammar, spelling and other writing mechanics.

Unacceptable - 0 points

Too many errors with respect to grammar, spelling or other writing mechanics for college-level work.
Suggests little effort to proofread or edit.