You will write (draft, revise, and submit) a research paper that addresses one of the following options:
Accept Alexanders invitation (15-16) to produce additional scholarship focused on mass incarceration and other communities vulnerable to mass incarceration (women, Latinos, immigrants, etc.). If you select this option, make sure that your essay does not simply report on this issue. You must make an argument. Use Alexanders text as an example of how to both provide information regarding the issue and make an argument.
Write an essay that proposes an alternative to (mass) incarceration. There are many alternatives to (mass) incarceration. They include but are not limited to restorative justice, community-based justice, sentencing circles, counseling, mediation, interventions, rehabilitation, restitution, resolution, community service, drug courts, mental health courts, prison abolition, etc. Your essay should argue for an alternative to mass incarceration. Note: This option does NOT require you to argue against the practice of imprisonment unless that is what you wish to argue.
Focus on a particular aspect of Alexanders text that you wish to research, explore, and discuss more fully. Please note that the subject of a paper focused in this way should be a particular topic touched on by Alexander. The subject is not Alexanders argument about this particular topic. For example, if you want to make an argument for or against stop and frisk laws, you would not simply restate Alexanders argument in place of making your own argument. Additionally, if you disagree with Alexander on stop and frisk, you would not frame this paper as a response to Alexanders argument. That being said, you could use Alexanders research and writing to support your own original argument, or you could use Alexanders research and writing as counterargument. You are not required to use Alexanders writing in your final paper. As stated above, do not forget that you must make an argument. You should not simply report on the subject matter.
Essay details:
5-7 pages/1250-2100 words in length, not counting your works cited page
5 appropriate and credible sources, two of which should be scholarly academic sources
MLA (8th edition) style formatting and documentation
Works cited page with MLA (8th edition) style citations for each source
You will be required to perform research in order to write this paper. You will need various types of sources. Your will need factual/statistical data to help you explain the current state of your issue and/or support your own argument. You will also need sources that represent the various perspectives regarding your topic in order to present your audience with an overview of the debate/discussion surrounding your issue. These sources should present arguments that both support and counter your own perspective. We will discuss in class how to make use of counterarguments. You are required to reference at least five sources in your paper. Two of these sources should be scholarly. Your scholarly sources will likely be articles originally published in academic journals. However, you may also look to academic perspectives published in edited collections and individually authored books. Your non-scholarly sources should be credible and may consist of writing by advocacy organizations, government entities, individual/group activists, new media, etc.
Your paper should be formatted according to MLA guidelines and should include a Works Cited page. The Works Cited page does not count toward your final page count.
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