Work Samples

study time Below are samples of assignments submitted for this course with names removed so as not to violate anyone's privacy.

I only post assignments whose due dates are already past.
These aren't templates for you to use while working on assignments nor do they follow any required or preferred format.
Rather, they are examples of the quality of work I expect.

Too, the assignments you see here are NOT the best work for that assignment
but examples chosen at random from among all of the assignments I considered well done.

TOPIC

Topic

Hypothesis: The biggest problem facing most poor countries today is not underdevelopment … it is the lack of democracy. Contrast Iraq, South Africa and Mexico as evidence for either supporting or opposing the hypothesis. The research you use in your paper must support your position.

For my paper I chose the above topic due to its relevance and international concern. While all of the topics presented are vital to understanding the word around us, I feel that in present day we are inundated with horrific images and stories of great loss, suffering and grief. So much so, that people begin to lose focus of the underlying problems associated with newly liberalized and underdeveloped nations. A numbness and desensitization has occurred in many people throughout the globe. Although I have yet to begin my research, I feel that my paper will include the various difficulties and struggles the people are faced with while not in the presence of a true democracy. The people of Iraq, South Africa, Mexico, and even South America have lived under tyranny and oppression for so long that it takes time for wounds to heal. Without proper and fair leadership, these underdeveloped countries are likely to remain in the same holding pattern of political unrest, violence, and war. Without the establishment and maintenance of democracy…the people of underdeveloped nations are vulnerable to hostile take-over and exploitation. As I research and delve more deeply in to this subject matter, I hope to formulate a strong hypothesis supporting the statement that “The biggest problem facing most poor countries is not underdevelopment…it is the lack of democracy.”

Topic

Birthrates are declining in many parts of the world, particularly in industrialized nations. Yet populations are still rapidly growing in developing countries, where demand for food and water is higher than supply. Discuss the various challenges facing the populations of India, Kenya and Japan. What are the issues facing each country? What does the population pyramid for each country look like and why? How might each country's issues be addressed?

Although birthrates throughout the world are declining, populations are rapidly growing in developing countries where the demand for food and water is higher than the supply. This creates an array of social and economic problems for these countries. Japan is an excellent example of a well-industrialized nation whose birthrate has continuously seen a decline, resulting in a sharp fall in the proportion of the population age 15 to 65. This is economically detrimental to the country since this group is responsible for the production of goods and services. India, on the other hand, has experienced a boom in population growth, currently calling home to more than 1,100,000,000 Indians. This has resulted in increasingly impoverished and poor conditions for the population of India. Neither of these situations is as grim as the one currently occurring Kenya, where although the birthrate remains very high, the impact of AIDS in the country has devastated the middle and older age group. Each of these countries faces a unique and urgent situation of its own, but in this day of supreme reason and intellect, I am positive that a reasonable and effective measure exists to paint a brighter picture for the future of these nations and its citizens.

OUTLINE

Outline

Topic: Global Warming plays a large role in the intensity and future of hurricanes.

I. Hurricanes and Facts

   A. Causes of a Hurricane
   B. Characteristics of a Hurricane
   C. History of powerful hurricanes

II. Hurricane Trends

A. Past Hurricanes
B. Hurricanes of the Future

III. Factors Contributing to Intensity of Hurricanes

   A. Global Warming
       1. Facts and Causes of Global Warming
       2. Global Warming poses serious threat
       3. Various opinions of Professionals
   B. El Nino

IV. Measures Taken to Combat Global Warming

A. Alternative Energy
B. Society Roles and Duties

V. Conclusion

Outline

Thesis: The GDP is the most effective and precise measurement of the economy as of now and, in most cases, has a direct relationship with the well being of a nation.

I. Introduction

A. What is GDP?
B. GDP vs. Well-being
C. Thesis statement

II. Correlation Between a Nation’s GDP and its Well-being

A. Determinants of a nation’s standard of living
1. poverty and unemployment
2. poor have lack of access to resources 3. generation of sufficient income to meet needs
B. Determinants of a nation’s GDP
1. measures monetary value of all final goods and services produced over a year
C. Correlation

III. Accuracy of GDP

A. How is it calculated?
1. expenditure approach - combines personal expenditures, gross private domestic investment, government expenditures and gross investment, and net export
B. Measures of Economic Well-being Left Out
1. non-market transactions
2. distribution of products
3. neglect of leisure time
4. economic bads
5. underground economy
C. Most of the areas excluded are subjective, have no recorded quantity, and have no monetary value; it would be time consuming and detrimental to GDP to add these to the calculation

IV. Improvement of GDP

A. calculating savings and pension plans
B. new tables to present and analyze data
C. improved estimations due to new indexes and preliminary information

V. Conclusion

REFERENCES

References

*indicates academic/scholarly journal articles or books

*Borofsky, Robert. 2005. Yanomami: The Fierce Controversy and What We Can Learn from It. Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA and London, England: University of California Press.

The usefulness of this book was decided upon from the fact that it explains deeper into the controversy of the Yanomami tribe. It also has a little bit of history rolled into it, talking about what changes can be made for this culture survive and how we can learn from its past.

Bower, Bruce. 2001. “Rumble in the Jungle.” Science News 159 (January): 58-60.

This article in Science News was very interesting to me because it told about other scientist’s journeys into the Amazon, and their encounters with the Yanomami tribes.

*Fischer, Michael M.J. 2001.”In the Science Zone the Yanomami and the Fight for Representation.” Anthropology Today 17 (October):16-19

This article in Anthropology Today was helpful to me because it explained some of the advances in the Yanomami culture, such as furthering their communications to the outside society.

Tierney, Patrick. 2000. Darkness in El Dorado: How Scientists and Journalists Devastated the Amazon. W. W. Norton & Company.

The truth of how disease reached the Yanomami tribes was revealed in this book by Patrick Tierney. I thought it would be most helpful in explaining this method of disease and how it affected the tribe.

“Yanomami Indians of Venezuela and Brazil.” http://www.crystalinks.com/yanomami.html (June 22, 2009).

This website was where I learned a majority of the stuff about their culture. It taught me about their living situations and their beliefs and behaviors. That is why this is one of my top sources used in researching the Yanomami Tribe and their culture.

2009. “Survival International: The Yanomami.” http://www.survival-international.org/tribes/yanomami (June 22, 2009).

This website lays out in plain English, what threats the Yanomami tribe has been encountering, and how the government is handling the situations. On this site it showed a video clip of the Yanomami spokesman, Davi Kopenawa, explaining the dangers of the latest threats to their culture.