Current Event Project

The Current Event Project:

The main goal of the Current Event Project is to demonstrate comprehension of a key concept
that we studied about democracy in class by applying it toward understanding and explaining an
issue that played a role in a recent event. The purpose of studying democracy as an idea
expressed in art and writing is not just to learn about the past or memorize facts, but to use the
ideas to better understand topics and issues in our present day democracy. With this
knowledge, we can become more informed participants who can better articulate and advocate
for our beliefs.

For this project, you will choose one major concept that we have studied from a list near the end
of this prompt and then research a current event that shows how this concept plays a role in a
current day democracy. For example, we have studied civil disobedience, so you could find a
news item about a demonstration in which participants used civil disobedience to make their
voices heard. Your project will explain the concept in depth, cite how the author we read uses
the concept in their text, summarize the current event, and then apply the concept to the current
event and explain how the concept allowed you to better understand what happened and why it
mattered. Use the model below. Note that a section isnt the same thing as a paragraph.

Section One: The Introduction
All good introductions in a college paper perform three functions:
1. Provide background information
2. Explain why the subject matters
3. End with your main argument in a thesis statement

Since this papers goal is to apply a key concept from the class toward better understanding a
current event, your introduction should briefly contextualize and explain the significance of your
chosen concept and how it helps explain your current event. Your main argument should be
something along those lines. Heres a completely made up example:

The student groups sit in at the mayors office showed the effectiveness of civil disobedience in
bringing attention to their cause.

Section Two: How The Concept Is Applied in the Text:

What specifically does the author of the text we read have to say about this concept? How did
they explain and express it? How might they have applied it personally, either in their own
participations in democracy or the opinions and research they expressed on the concept in their
writing? Use at least one quote or description of a specific scene to aid your writing. You can
use multiple texts if you want. For example, if you write about natural rights, you could use
Jeffersons definition and then explain how Lewis shows what happens when people are denied
their natural rights.

Section Three: The Current Event:

Explain your current event. What happened and what does it have to do with democracy? What
important things did you learn about this event? In short, explain its significance. Why does it
matter? Use at least one quote from your chosen article in summarizing this event.

Section Four: The Application

In this final section, explain how your chosen concept applies to the current event you chose.
What role does this concept play in the current event? Did the people involved directly use this
idea? Did their actions illustrate this idea in action? How did knowing this concept allow you to
better understand how and why this event happened as it did? Make a specific connection
between how the idea is expressed in your chosen text and how it shows up in your current
event. What might the author of your text say about the role that their idea played in the current
event? What do you personally think? This section should be the longest because it is the
culmination of the ideas you expressed in the previous three sections.

The projects that go into the most depth and detail in explaining their chosen concept and how it
applies to and helps illuminate the significance of what happened in their current event will earn
the highest scores. Feel free to be creative. Add your own voice and your own perspective. Feel
free to do additional research and look deeper into the concept. For example, if you enjoyed
Alexis de Tocquevilles ideas, find his original book and learn more about them.

You will want to make sure that the different sections flow well and connect to make one whole
argument about the concept and its application to a current event. Dont treat this as four
separate assignments, or as if they were four reader responses in one paper. Instead, make
sure that all the sections logically connect to one another to support an overall argument about
how the concept you picked is important in understanding an aspect of democracy today.

Above all, pick a topic that matters to you. Find a current event on an issue that concerns you
and apply a concept we learned about in class that interests you and helps you better
understand present day democracy. If the paper contains all of the aforementioned elements
and goes into deep details and analysis, it will score well.

Citation Requirements:
You must quote the following in your project:
1. The text your chosen concept came from
2. The text of the current event that you chose.