Texas Government Paper Writing and Citing Tips Spring 2019 Assignment Professor Cindy Casey Brown Department Chair and Faculty El Centro College My Top 10 Writing Tips Write about something you enjoy – if you are not enjoying what you are writing about the reader can tell! Organize your thoughts before you write – make an OUTLINE of what you are going to write about. This helps you put your thoughts in logical order and tells you what research you need to complete. DO NOT do this last minute! Writing is a process and editing takes time. **You will do an outline for me and it is worth 25 points!** Never underestimate the power of simple words. Do NOT over-use your thesaurus. Many people will do this – be careful! Using “big” misplaced words can make your writing choppy and break up your reader’s concentration. Sometimes saying it simply is best! Which one holds your attention better? “It was a great class. I learned a lot of valuable information.” VERSUS “The program was stupendous and provided immense opportunity for engaging my colleagues in banter on numerous topics of consequence. I was pedantic in my studies and this manufactured an astonishingly engaging atmosphere for scholarship.” BUT do make your writing come alive – edit your work and see where you can do this - close your eyes and listen to this quote: “Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” ― Anton Chekhov Make sure you use words or transitional sentences to tell your reader where you are going and what you are telling them next – it helps your reader stay engaged – and helps your teachers grade your work. Example: “There are three major challenges that the President is confronting this year. First…., Second… Finally…. Vary your sentence length. It keeps your readers engaged if every so often you have some nice, short sentences. It wakes your reader up and keeps them moving. 6. PROOFREAD. Write it, put it down for 24 hours, read it out loud to yourself. Double check your spell check (i.e. there and their – too, two, and to). Read your paper out loud to yourself to make sure it flows. 8. Make sure your grammar and punctuation are PERFECT. Making silly mistakes makes your reader lose faith in your arguments. Presentation is important! Read your paper and do a “Search and Find” for the words this, that, and these. Determine if you can take those words out – a lot of times they are extra words and you can remove them and clean up your writing and make it “crisper.” 10. CITE YOUR SOURCES! When should you cite a source? When you quote two or more words verbatim or even one word if it is unique to a source. (Example: “Let’s Roll!”) When you introduce facts to your reader that are not common knowledge you need to cite to something. When you paraphrase ideas, conclusions, discussions from a source – even though it .

1. Texas Government Paper
Writing and Citing Tips
Spring 2019 Assignment
Professor Cindy Casey Brown
Department Chair and Faculty
El Centro College
My Top 10
Writing Tips
Write about something you enjoy – if you are not enjoying what
you are writing about the reader can tell!

2. Organize your thoughts before you write – make an OUTLINE
of what you are going to write about. This helps you put your
thoughts in logical order and tells you what research you need
to complete. DO NOT do this last minute! Writing is a process
and editing takes time.
**You will do an outline for me and it is worth 25 points!**
Never underestimate the power of simple words. Do NOT over-
use your thesaurus. Many people will do this – be careful!
Using “big” misplaced words can make your writing choppy and
break up your reader’s concentration. Sometimes saying it
simply is best! Which one holds your attention better?
“It was a great class. I learned a lot of valuable information.”
VERSUS
“The program was stupendous and provided immense
opportunity for engaging my colleagues in banter on numerous
topics of consequence. I was pedantic in my studies and this
manufactured an astonishingly engaging atmosphere for
scholarship.”

3. BUT do make your writing come alive – edit your work and see
where you can do this - close your eyes and listen to this quote:
“Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light
on broken glass.”
― Anton Chekhov
Make sure you use words or transitional sentences to tell your
reader where you are going and what you are telling them next –
it helps your reader stay engaged – and helps your teachers
grade your work.
Example: “There are three major challenges that the
President is confronting this year. First…., Second… Finally….
Vary your sentence length. It keeps your readers engaged if
every so often you have some nice, short sentences. It wakes
your reader up and keeps them moving.

4. 6. PROOFREAD. Write it, put it down for 24 hours, read it out
loud to yourself. Double check your spell check (i.e. there and
their – too, two, and to).
Read your paper out loud to yourself to make sure it flows.
8. Make sure your grammar and punctuation are PERFECT.
Making silly mistakes makes your reader lose faith in your
arguments. Presentation is important!

5. Read your paper and do a “Search and Find” for the words this,
that, and these. Determine if you can take those words out – a
lot of times they are extra words and you can remove them and
clean up your writing and make it “crisper.”
10. CITE YOUR SOURCES!
When should you cite a source?
When you quote two or more words verbatim or even one word
if it is unique to a source. (Example: “Let’s Roll!”)
When you introduce facts to your reader that are not common
knowledge you need to cite to something.
When you paraphrase ideas, conclusions, discussions from a
source – even though it is not a direct quote – cite the source
after your sentence. If there are “quotation marks” your reader
knows it is a direct quote. If there are no quotation marks your
reader knows you got this idea / conclusion from the source you
cite.

6. When you borrow or form an argument based on another’s
argument.
If there is a question in your mind whether you should cite a
source then CITE it.
6. Plagiarism = representing someone else’s language,
thoughts, ideas, or expressions as your own. This is true even if
it is not intentional.
7. If there is not a cite your reader assumes it is your original
idea – as yourself if it is. If not then cite it!
8. Citing lends credibility to your paper – it shows your
reader you have done your work to thoroughly research and
understand the topic.
You cannot over-cite. It is common in graduate school thesis
papers to have almost every sentence cited.
A citation tells your reader where to go to get further
information about what you are saying. If it is your idea they
should be able to come to you – if it is not your idea tell them
where to go.
THINK: Should you cite or not?
The sky is blue.
The current president of the United States is Donald Trump.
President Trump has recently stated his key agenda item is
increasing jobs in the United States.

7. The NRA received a lot of negative media coverage in the past
year. Time wrote story noting their decrease in membership,
The New York Times ran a full page on all of the politicians
that do not support them, and……
I think the NRA has received positive media coverage in the
past year.
Example of Citing in APA Style
To determine how to cite what you have (book, newspaper,
internet article, etc.) you need to consult one of the many APA
sources online or in a book. There are tons of sources to help
you online – check the El Centro website library page for an
easy link.
The Purdue University Online Writing Lab – “The Purdue
OWL” - https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/
How you cite depends on what you are citing – i.e. book,
article, internet site.
There are “short forms” that you use within your paper and then
“longer forms” that you put in your Works Cited page. The
purpose of short forms is to not take up too much space within
the paper but tell your reader where to look at the Works Cited
page for the longer form citation.

8. Example of APA citing, continued…
In your paper it would say:
“……………..Research shows bananas fight cancer, improve eye
sight, and help you lose weight” (Brown, 2013).
This is not an accepted fact (if I said “the sky is blue” that is an
accepted fact) – this is not an accepted fact so CITE IT.
On your works cited page:
Author Last Name, Author First Name (Year of Publication).
Title of Work. Location: Publisher.
Brown, Cindy (2013). Bananas and Their Benefits. Dallas,
Texas: Brown Publishers.
How do you know how to cite on the works cited page?
What your citation will look like depends on what kind of work
you are citing.
Citations will look different depending on whether you are
citing a newspaper, magazine article, book, journal, or website.
Go to the El Centro Library Page under the Giving Credit /
Citing tab for examples and follow those examples.
How do you know how to cite in the text / how do you do short
cites?
You don’t put the long citation inside of your paper – you only
put the long citation on the works cited page.
Use a short form of your citation after sentences in your paper –
these tell your reader what to look for on the works cited page

9. to find the source – i.e. (Brown, 2014).
See the El Centro Library Page under the Giving Credit / Citing
tab for the “in text citations table” that is very helpful.
Spring 2019 – Paper Assignment
Option #1
http://libguides.elcentrocollege.edu/government
Go to think link then click on your class (2306) under the
Assignment Tab.
You are going to pick a position / person in the Texas
Government – past, present, or future (current candidates) –
and write an overview of the person and the position.
Spring 2019 – Paper Assignment
Option #2
“Pro Opinion, Con Opinion, My Opinion” Paper
Options:
Should we build a border wall at the southern border of Texas?
Should we have the death penalty in Texas?
Should we legalize marijuana in Texas?
Should we……….
What will your paper look like?
Your paper will be 12 point font, 1 inch margins, double
spaced.
Use the APA template on our Government Library Page under
GOVT – here is the link to cut and past into your browser:

10. http://libguides.elcentrocollege.edu/c.php?g=198387&p=238479
3
Page 1 = cover page
Page 2 = abstract
Pages 3, 4, and 5 = content (A FULL THREE PAGES OF
WRITING)
Page 6 = works cited page
You will cite within your paper in a short form that that the
reader can then go to the separate works cited paper and look up
the long cite.
At least four sources.
Use the Purdue OWL for questions on how to do the citations.
Note that many of your computer programs will also do your
citations for you – i.e. you plug in the information and it creates
the citation.
Outline
Your Outline is Worth 25 points!
Outlining the paper gets you organized early, tells you what you
need to do for research, and is a great planning tool!
It is REQUIRED!
You MUST use the APA format – go here for the APA format –
on the right side of the page -
http://libguides.elcentrocollege.edu/government/2306
The Learning Center can help you with outlines, I can help you,
and there is a link on our ECC Library Page to help you.
Bring it to class on the date on your Syllabus to exchange with
another student and make notes on it.
MUST turn in on BlackBoard by date in Syllabus for credit.

11. Government Department
El Centro College
Research and Writing Assignment
Assessment (it measures the Student Learning Outcomes
outlined
below) AND meets the requirements of the Quality
Enhancement Plan (it is lined up with the AACU Critical
Thinking Value
Rubric).
Objective Assessment and QEP Data Collection – the data will
be
pulled randomly from BlackBoard).
2306 – Texas Government
This assignment may address the following SLOs (Student
Learning Outcomes) for 2306: Upon Completion of this Course,
students will be able to:

12. – Explain the origin and development of the Texas
Constitution.
– Demonstrate an understanding of state and political
systems and their relationship to the federal government.
– Describe separation of powers and checks and
balances in both theory and practice in Texas.
– Demonstrate knowledge of the legislative, executive,
and judicial branches of the Texas Government.
– Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups,
and political parties in Texas.
– Analyze the state and local election process.
– Describe the rights and responsibilities of citizens.
– Analyze issues, policies, and political culture of
Texas.
The Assignment:
that position (i.e. Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Texas Land
Commissioner, Attorney General, specific judge, or any other
position).

13. o Describe the role, explain what does this person does and the
sources of this person’s power (i.e. Texas Constitution or
another law or bill), who does this person share power with,
who does this person report to / who provides a “check and
balance” on this position?
o Explain how the role is filled (i.e. appointed or elected and
the process).
o Who is the current person in this position and provide
background information about this person and major goals /
initiatives this individual has in this position.
o Is this person affiliated with a political party? What role does
that play in this position (i.e. with election or
appointment, with how this person carries out their duties, with
decisions the person makes, with accountability)?
o What are the major issues confronting the person in this
position currently?
o What is your opinion of this person and why?
o Based on your research, what are the major impacts in history
of this position and explain.
Length and Style:
(3) written pages at least (introduction, body, and conclusion),
and a works cited page.
Sources:

14. and are credible sources from either library books or library
databases.
and Google are NOT sources.
visual medium that you interpret / explain / comment on in your
paper.
- they are eager to help you with
your research. Include citations for ALL sources you use. A
separate
works cited page MUST be included, along with short form
citations within the paper. As a general rule you should have at
least one citation for every paragraph except the introduction
and conclusion.
BlackBoard:
maintained for college assessment purposes.
Rubric
sure you understand how you will be graded on this assignment.

15. review the attached Rubric on your own and refer to it
when writing your paper to make sure you follow directions and
receive the maximum points possible.