|
goto page | next >>
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Author | Message | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Post subject: What grade would you give this paper?Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 5:23 am 
Joseph Oliver American Politics in Film The Rights of the People "They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security" -Benjamin Franklin During times of national insecurity, governments often find it necessary to suspend the rights of the people in order to deal with the threats that they face. Whether it is right or wrong governments find it fitting to do so in pursuit of the 'greater good'. However, the Constitution of the United States of America supposedly protects the citizens' rights no matter if it is during a time of peace or war. The film Rendition explores the expense of the sacrifice of civil liberties during a time of war. The first violation of the Constitution came not long after the Bill of Rights. In 1798, the United States fought a naval war against France. In order to maintain the strength of the nation John Adams passed the Alien and Sedition Acts, which included the Sedition act which read: "SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That if any person shall write, print, utter or publish, or shall cause or procure to be written, printed, uttered or publishing, or shall knowingly and willingly assist or aid in writing, printing, uttering or publishing any false, scandalous and malicious writing or writings against the government of the United States, or either house of the Congress of the United States, or the President of the United States, with intent to defame the said government, or either house of the said Congress, or the said President, or to bring them, or either of them, into contempt or disrepute; or to excite against them, or either or any of them, the hatred of the good people of the United States, or to excite any unlawful combinations therein, for opposing or resisting any law of the United States, or any act of the President of the United States, done in pursuance of any such law, or of the powers in him vested by the constitution of the United States, or to resist, oppose, or defeat any such law or act, or to aid, encourage or abet any hostile designs of any foreign nation against the United States, their people or government, then such person, being thereof convicted before any court of the United States having jurisdiction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars, and by imprisonment not exceeding two years." This document clearly defies the first amendment to the Constitution which reads: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." It is clear that when the amendments were drafted during a time of peace, these rights of the people seemed to be in line with the nuances of the Enlightenment era. However, during war the government felt it was necessary to take these rights away so it could carry out its campaign against its enemies. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, many Americans feared that the Japanese, German, and Italian citizens could not be trusted in all part on the country. Therefore, the government used the Sedition Act of 1918 to support their case which read: "Section 3Whoever, when the United States is at war, shall willfully make or convey false reports or false statements with intent to interfere with the operation or success of the military or naval forces of the United States, or to promote the success of its enemies, or shall willfully make or convey false reports or false statements, or say or do anything except by way of bona fide and not disloyal advice to an investor or investors, with intent to obstruct the sale by the United States of bonds or other securities of the United States or the making of loans by or to the United States, and whoever when the United States is at war, shall willfully cause or attempt to cause, or incite or attempt to incite, insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny, or refusal of duty, in the military or naval forces of the United States, or shall willfully obstruct or attempt to obstruct the recruiting or enlistment services of the United States, and whoever, when the United States is at war, shall willfully utter, print, write or publish any disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language about the form of government of the United States or the Constitution of the United States, or the military or naval forces of the United States, or the flag of the United States, or the uniform of the Army or Navy of the United States into contempt, scorn, contumely, or disrepute, or shall willfully utter, print, write, or publish any language intended to incite, provoke, or encourage resistance to the United States, or to promote the cause of its enemies, or shall willfully display the flag of any foreign enemy, or shall willfully by utterance, writing, printing, publication, or language spoken, urge, incite, or advocate any curtailment of production in this country of any thing or things, product or products, necessary or essential to the prosecution of the war in which the United States may be engaged, with intent by such curtailment to cripple or hinder the United States in the prosecution of war, and whoever shall willfully advocate, teach, defend, or suggest the doing of any of the acts or things in this section enumerated, and whoever shall by word or act support or favor the cause of any country with which the United States is at war or by word or act oppose the cause of the United States therein, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $10,000 or the imprisonment for not more than twenty years, or both: Provided, That any employee or official of the United States Government who commits any disloyal act or utters any unpatriotic or disloyal language, or who, in an abusive and violent manner criticizes the Army or Navy or the flag of the United States shall be at once dismissed from the service." The used this law even though it clearly is in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution, which reads: "Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." Again, the country felt 'threatened', so the government thought that they do away with the rights of citizens they deemed potentially dangerous. After the September 11th attacks, the government felt it had to do all that was necessary to maintain the security of the nation and Congress passed the USA PATRIOT Act. One of the many controversial parts of the USA PATRIOT ACT is section 215 which reads "Access to records and other items under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act." This is in violation of the Fourth Amendment, which reads:” The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." The film Rendition examines the loss of certain individuals' civil liberties in a post 9-11 world. It shows how far the government will go to ensure the security at the expense of another's and try to avoid looking like they did anything wrong in the first place. The powerful scenes of torture and the unreliability of his confession show what is at stake if Americans do not come together to and denounce these actions take by the government. Civil liberties have always been a contentious issue when people are afraid. People should realize that when you fail to protect other people's freedom they provide no incentive for others to protect theirs. The only way a country can remain truly free is for its citizens to stand against any act of government that limits the freedom of another. _________________ Power is only pain It’s probably better to have him inside the tent pissing out, than outside the tent pissing in. "Can we get control of an individual to the point where he will do our bidding against his will and even against fundamental laws of nature, such as self preservation?" -memo from 1952 Project ARTICHOKE 
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Joined: 19 Aug 2004 | Posts: 10565 | Location: Somewhere in the middle of nowhere
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
   |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Post subject: Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 6:56 am
Honestly, a B. The portions of it that you wrote were quite good, but the rest of it is what we of the writing center persuasion would call a quilt job, meaning it was disproportionately heavy on quotes. I understand that's pretty much a given when your material comes from the Constitution, but still. Also, if I were your teacher I would expect standard MLA citation. Maybe your actual prof doesn't, but I would and that's another factor that brings it down to a B. What grade did you actually get? _________________ INTELLECT AND ROMANCE OVER BRUTE FORCE AND CYNICISM Smokemonster |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Joined: 24 Sep 2003 | Posts: 14510 | Location: Alone on an airplane, fallin' asleep against the windowpane...
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
  |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Post subject: Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 8:27 am
Writing entire section of the Sedation Act was a little wordy. Perhaps if you'd highlighted the salient points, it would have been more readable. I would like to see that movie you mentioned!  B _________________ Mike=] |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Joined: 05 Nov 2007 | Posts: 1453 | Location: Orlando, Florida
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Post subject: Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 9:09 am
Saellys wrote: Honestly, a B. The portions of it that you wrote were quite good, but the rest of it is what we of the writing center persuasion would call a quilt job, meaning it was disproportionately heavy on quotes. I understand that's pretty much a given when your material comes from the Constitution, but still.
Also, if I were your teacher I would expect standard MLA citation. Maybe your actual prof doesn't, but I would and that's another factor that brings it down to a B. What grade did you actually get? I got an A.  And I wrote it using heavy quotes (like you said) half sleep at 9:00am and turned it in at 11:00am. (It was due at noon) Procrastination is an art form my friend; I'm just glad I'm good at it. _________________ Power is only pain It’s probably better to have him inside the tent pissing out, than outside the tent pissing in. "Can we get control of an individual to the point where he will do our bidding against his will and even against fundamental laws of nature, such as self preservation?" -memo from 1952 Project ARTICHOKE
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Joined: 19 Aug 2004 | Posts: 10565 | Location: Somewhere in the middle of nowhere
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Post subject: Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 9:52 am
Solid C |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Joined: 17 Dec 2005 | Posts: 7525 | Location: Wisconsin
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Post subject: Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 11:17 am
B. Your mark reminds me of my sneaking suspicion that profs mark papers according to the student's previous reputation instead of carefully analyzing the paper. _________________ Kulvir. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Joined: 10 Mar 2005 | Posts: 1844 | Location: Vancouver, BC
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
  |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Post subject: Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 11:44 am
I didn't even try to read it all. I'm sure it's amazing, but ... it reminds me of why I'm glad I'm a math teacher. I mean, I do sometimes have to go through a student's entire process to figure out if they deserve partial credit, and that sometimes takes awhile. But ... yeah I'm still glad I don't have to grade papers. _________________ Facebook & Twitter & Blog(ish)-type thing |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Joined: 18 Jan 2004 | Posts: 5565 | Location: Austin, TX
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Post subject: Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 12:21 pm
Pantheon4 wrote: Saellys wrote: Honestly, a B. The portions of it that you wrote were quite good, but the rest of it is what we of the writing center persuasion would call a quilt job, meaning it was disproportionately heavy on quotes. I understand that's pretty much a given when your material comes from the Constitution, but still.
Also, if I were your teacher I would expect standard MLA citation. Maybe your actual prof doesn't, but I would and that's another factor that brings it down to a B. What grade did you actually get? I got an A. And I wrote it using heavy quotes (like you said) half sleep at 9:00am and turned it in at 11:00am. (It was due at noon) Procrastination is an art form my friend; I'm just glad I'm good at it.That's how I spent my entire college career.  Straight As in everything that wasn't a math or science class, and I completely BSed everything except maybe two or three papers. _________________ INTELLECT AND ROMANCE OVER BRUTE FORCE AND CYNICISM Smokemonster |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Joined: 24 Sep 2003 | Posts: 14510 | Location: Alone on an airplane, fallin' asleep against the windowpane...
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Post subject: Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 1:07 pm
kulvir wrote: Your mark reminds me of my sneaking suspicion that profs mark papers according to the student's previous reputation instead of carefully analyzing the paper. I'm pretty sure that's how I got straight-A's in English last year. _________________ 
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Joined: 21 May 2005 | Posts: 5051 | Location: TX/NYC
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Post subject: Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 3:59 am
kulvir wrote: B. Your mark reminds me of my sneaking suspicion that profs mark papers according to the student's previous reputation instead of carefully analyzing the paper. Is there no confidentiality clause at American universities? I don't think it's the case nation wide, but at York the professors don't know which papers belong to which student, in order to avoid that kind of bias... least, that was the case, I think it might be changing now. Also, I'd have given it a B _________________ "A little less love, a little more common decency." - Kurt Vonnegut |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Joined: 21 Aug 2003 | Posts: 5266 | Location: Ipswich, Suffolk, England
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Post subject: Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 6:01 am
It would be helpful to know what level this is for. What a high school freshman might get an A for, a college senior would get an F for. On to criticisms: I know everyone else mentioned it, but the quotes are just ridiculous. There's no way anybody is going to read them. By quoting something that long, you ensure that they're useless. Just tell us very briefly what they mean. Anybody who really wants the full text can find it in seconds with Google. The handful of words you actually wrote were okay, but not really good. There are some generalizations and sloppy writing. There are numerous grammatical and punctuation issues, and the whole thing just sort of wanders about aimlessly. This entire paper could be rewritten to convey the same information, more effectively, and be only maybe 1/3 the length, or even less. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Joined: 05 Jul 2003 | Posts: 374 | Location: Seattle, Washington
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Post subject: Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 11:49 am
Kirk wrote: It would be helpful to know what level this is for. What a high school freshman might get an A for, a college senior would get an F for.
On to criticisms: I know everyone else mentioned it, but the quotes are just ridiculous. There's no way anybody is going to read them. By quoting something that long, you ensure that they're useless. Just tell us very briefly what they mean. Anybody who really wants the full text can find it in seconds with Google. The handful of words you actually wrote were okay, but not really good. There are some generalizations and sloppy writing. There are numerous grammatical and punctuation issues, and the whole thing just sort of wanders about aimlessly. This entire paper could be rewritten to convey the same information, more effectively, and be only maybe 1/3 the length, or even less. It was a 400 level college class.
It's stuff like this that makes me want to half-ass college. _________________ Power is only pain It’s probably better to have him inside the tent pissing out, than outside the tent pissing in. "Can we get control of an individual to the point where he will do our bidding against his will and even against fundamental laws of nature, such as self preservation?" -memo from 1952 Project ARTICHOKE
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Joined: 19 Aug 2004 | Posts: 10565 | Location: Somewhere in the middle of nowhere
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Post subject: Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 1:30 pm
Pantheon4 wrote: Kirk wrote: It would be helpful to know what level this is for. What a high school freshman might get an A for, a college senior would get an F for.
On to criticisms: I know everyone else mentioned it, but the quotes are just ridiculous. There's no way anybody is going to read them. By quoting something that long, you ensure that they're useless. Just tell us very briefly what they mean. Anybody who really wants the full text can find it in seconds with Google. The handful of words you actually wrote were okay, but not really good. There are some generalizations and sloppy writing. There are numerous grammatical and punctuation issues, and the whole thing just sort of wanders about aimlessly. This entire paper could be rewritten to convey the same information, more effectively, and be only maybe 1/3 the length, or even less. It was a 400 level college class.
It's stuff like this that makes me want to half-ass college. In that case, I would have given this a big F. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Joined: 05 Jul 2003 | Posts: 374 | Location: Seattle, Washington
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Post subject: Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 2:05 pm
Kirk wrote: Pantheon4 wrote: Kirk wrote: It would be helpful to know what level this is for. What a high school freshman might get an A for, a college senior would get an F for.
On to criticisms: I know everyone else mentioned it, but the quotes are just ridiculous. There's no way anybody is going to read them. By quoting something that long, you ensure that they're useless. Just tell us very briefly what they mean. Anybody who really wants the full text can find it in seconds with Google. The handful of words you actually wrote were okay, but not really good. There are some generalizations and sloppy writing. There are numerous grammatical and punctuation issues, and the whole thing just sort of wanders about aimlessly. This entire paper could be rewritten to convey the same information, more effectively, and be only maybe 1/3 the length, or even less. It was a 400 level college class.
It's stuff like this that makes me want to half-ass college. In that case, I would have given this a big F. So would I. _________________ Power is only pain It’s probably better to have him inside the tent pissing out, than outside the tent pissing in. "Can we get control of an individual to the point where he will do our bidding against his will and even against fundamental laws of nature, such as self preservation?" -memo from 1952 Project ARTICHOKE
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Joined: 19 Aug 2004 | Posts: 10565 | Location: Somewhere in the middle of nowhere
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Post subject: Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2009 8:07 am
Pantheon4 wrote: Kirk wrote: Pantheon4 wrote: Kirk wrote: It would be helpful to know what level this is for. What a high school freshman might get an A for, a college senior would get an F for.
On to criticisms: I know everyone else mentioned it, but the quotes are just ridiculous. There's no way anybody is going to read them. By quoting something that long, you ensure that they're useless. Just tell us very briefly what they mean. Anybody who really wants the full text can find it in seconds with Google. The handful of words you actually wrote were okay, but not really good. There are some generalizations and sloppy writing. There are numerous grammatical and punctuation issues, and the whole thing just sort of wanders about aimlessly. This entire paper could be rewritten to convey the same information, more effectively, and be only maybe 1/3 the length, or even less. It was a 400 level college class.
It's stuff like this that makes me want to half-ass college. In that case, I would have given this a big F. So would I. so... thanks for sharing. considering I've been acing my english class all year and just got back one of the few things all year I actually liked (a satire) and got a C. My teacher wrote (I quoth): "It was amusing though!" as his only comment on the paper. wow, thanks d-bag. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Joined: 06 Apr 2007 | Posts: 803 | Location: wherever
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Laughing City Forum Index -> General -> What grade would you give this paper?
Page 1 of 2 goto page | next >>
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
All times are GMT - 12 Hours
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
