extremist+biopic+profile+paper

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HLSS523 Domestic Extremists and Extremist Groups

Extremist Biopic Profile Paper

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will be for you to judge the writings of contemporary academicians and others whose works tend

to provide reasonable explanations regarding why domestic extremism emerges in the UnitedStates. You will have to analyze the radical roots of the United States and how this heritage tends

to provide polemic "fuel" for the evolution of domestic extremists and extremist groups over the

course of the 20th and 21st centuries and examine some of the most influential and significant

extremists, extremist organizations, and extremist events in the past half century to see if thereare any commonalities among them. Remember, the biopic takes facts and uses things like

flashbacks, timelines, and key events to tell the story.

So what next?

Stage One-Selection:

Select an individual extremist that will form the basis of your biopic profile. Any individual

extremist of your choice will work. Submit your choice to your instructor in a course message

for approval by the due date in the Syllabus.

Stage Two-Research:Begin gathering resources for your biopic. Find anything written by/about the individual: books,newspapers, magazines, Internet, journals, letters, videos, interviews, existing biographies, or an

autobiography. Know how to evaluate the credibility of a source. Only use material that is

available to the public, or that you can gain explicit permission to use in your research. You willhave the opportunity to forensically research documents, archival records, and artifacts through

the online library and open source of the Internet. Further down in these assignment instructions

I have included for your benefit some description of various types of sources used in research.

The key for success will be in your ensuring the validity of the sources you use.

Through your research come to know the significant places in your extremists life. This can be

helpful in putting yourself in his or her shoes. Visualize witnessing what they witnessed. Imaginehow they felt. Where was the person born and where did they die? Illustrate a sharp contrast or

powerful similarity between the two. What was the subject's "refuge?" Where did they go to

recharge their batteries, or escape the chaos of their life? Where did they find peace orinspiration? Know their locations of trauma. Were there any significantly negative events in the

person's life that deeply impacted them? Was there an injury, death, natural disaster, car accident,

or even a bad break-up?

Explore what interested, influenced, and inspired the subject. What was he or she passionate

about? Whether it was botany, poetry, classical music, or architecture, immerse yourself in it. Try

and discover why the subject enjoyed it.

Study the time and place of the subject's life. If it was a long time ago, do some homework on

what life was like back then. What were the social norms? What was going on economically andpolitically? What about in that person's career field? Did they have a career? Also account for

regional differences. What's frowned upon in one place may be celebrated 30 miles away. This

inquiry can shed light on the subject's decisions, and their consequences.


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Stage Three-Writing:

Assemble a timeline. Record every event that you can, from basic facts like birth, death and

marriage, to minor personal anecdotes, like the night your subject had an argument with their

spouse, if it is something significant.

Look for patterns. See the forest, not the trees.

Phases. Many people go through phases during their lives. Sometimes the phases arebacklashes of each other; for example, a person may go through a very dependent phase,

then a very independent phase, then something in the middle. This can happen with

relationships, too. One may end up with a string of abusive partners, then, being fed up,starts seeking very submissive mates, then begins to prefer aloof partners, etc.

Progression/regression. Look for a steady refining of the person's character or work, an

improvement over time, leading up to a defining event that shows how far the person's

come. Alternatively, perhaps someone's life begins promisingly and gradually unravels--atragedy of sorts.

Cycles. Pay attention to situations that repeat themselves in a person's life. Maybe thisperson reaches out, gets hurt, becomes reclusive, heals, and begins again. Or the subjectsets a lofty goal, burns out, draws wisdom from the experience, and starts over with a

new goal. Addiction also tends to play out in cycles. Whatever the situation, it repeats

itself throughout a significant portion of the person's life (maybe signifying a phase) andat some point, the person might "break the cycle.

Turning points. What are the moments in the subject's life when their direction changed

dramatically? The birth of a child? A near-death experience? Hitting rock bottom? It is

the point at which a pattern changes; a new phase begins, progression become regression(or vice versa), a cycle ends or a new ones starts.

Make a thesis statement. Based on your "big picture" view of this person's life, what are some

points that you can prove? This will be your twist on the biopic - what makes it like or unlike anyother individual extremists life. It answers the question posed in the introduction: what makes

this person's life differentand deviously consequentialby the actions they have perpetrated?

Some ideas:

What is the significance of this person's life? How did he or she change the world? Whatwould happen if this person never existed? What is unique about what they did or made?

What led to the subject's demise? A particular relationship? A single incident of good or

bad luck? A decision by the subject? A particular circumstance?

Decide how to recount the person's life. Write an outline and fill in the details. Try to use the

organization of the outline to support the thesis (points you are trying to make). Chronological. Go by the timeline, recounting each event in the order in which it

happened. This is the simplest way to go, but it is difficult to support your thesis in this

context and the most mundane approach. You can have chronological reference; however,

the point of the biopic is to make it much more interesting.

Flashbacks. Describe a recent or current situation, then "flashback" to an earlier point in

that person's life. This is good for illustrating cause and effect, or how this led to that. Youcan even go in complete reverse order; begin at the end, and work your way backwards.


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Work. If the person's life is closely tied to his or her career, you can break it up by job

positions or works created. This can be tied to phases or cycles in the subject's life.

Accomplishments/events. One idea is to start and end with events that mirror each otherin some way. Maybe you can start with a toy fortress the subject made when they were 5,

and end off with them blowing up a fortress.

Sit down and write. Using your outline, assemble the biopic. You can start at the beginning, butyou do not have to. You may find yourself rearranging the content as you go along. You shouldgo through many drafts, and have other people read the biopic before you call it a day. See if

they can guess the thesis, and find out if you have made your points about this person's life.

Final Stage:

Prepare your final draft for submission to include at a minimum the following components,

although you may use as many headings as necessary to properly section your biopic andorganize the narrative:

Title Page of the Paper. The title of your paper should be brief but should adequately

inform the reader of your general topic and the specific focus of your research. Keywordsrelating to parameters, population, and other specifics are useful. ALWAYS use a Title Page forgraduate work! Your title page will include the title, name, course name and number, and

Professors Name.

I. Introduction and Thesis (1-2 pages): This section shall provide an overview of the

topic that you are writing about, a concise synopsis of the issues, and why the topic presents apuzzle that prompts your analysis and investigation (thesis). This section can be preceded by

an epigraph that creates interest in the topic. We encourage the use of epigraphs, but please

follow the proper format for epigraphs!!

II. Body of the Narrative and Review of the Literature (6-8 pages): This section willinclude the bulk of the narrative where you interweave your literary sources to tell your biopic.

Remember to take advantage of the some of the literary tricks mentioned in the assignmentinstructions.

III. Conclusions (1 -2 pages): This section will contain the concluding analytical argumentsbased on what research has revealed to answer your thesis. Like any conclusion, it should

provide a synopsis of the project, the strategy, and the results and what they add to the body of

knowledge. This section should also offer suggestions for avenues of future research for other

scholars, as all knowledge is evolutionary.

VI. References: This section will contain all references, cited in Turabian format, properlyindented, and alphabetically arranged. Your paper must contain a minimum of 6 reference

sources with at least 2 of them being peer-reviewed journals. Entitle this section as

References following the parenthetical and reference citation format style within Turabian.

You should be compiling sources and adding to them as you gone along throughout the

semester. They should be error free!!!

STYLE AND CONVENTION:


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All written submissions should be in a font and page set-up that is described below. Additionally,

a rubric will be used to grade your paper that is posted in the Resources link within theclassroom. It shows you how I subdivide the criteria for grading the various components of your

paper. The rubric is a requirement of the university.

Typewritten in double-spaced format and submitted inside the electronic classroomwithin the correct Assignments Forum folder (unless classroom access is not possible

and other arrangements have been approved by the instructor).

Times New Roman style in 12-point font.

Page margins Top, Bottom, Left Side and Right Side = 1 inch, with reasonable

accommodation being made for special situations and online submission variances.

Include a completed title page in line with Turabian format as the first page of your paper.

Complete an appropriate page header with page number for each page.

Papers are required to be written in theparenthetical citation and reference list

styleestablished by Kate L. Turabian, in which case students should follow the

guidelines set forth inA Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and

Dissertations ( 7th ed). Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press format.Specifically refer to sections 18 and 19 in the manual from p. 216 through p. 280 .

Points will be deducted for the use of Wikipedia or encyclopedic type sources. It is highly

advised to utilize: books, peer reviewed journals, articles, archived documents, etc. (may

be electronic of course and theA Manual for Writers of Research Papers lists all the typesof possible resources and reference formats, hinthint), and valid open source web sites

(use caution with these due to validity concerns).

The paper must be between 8-10 pages. Points will be deducted if the minimum pagerequirement is not met accordingly. Your paper must contain a minimum of 6

reference sources with at least 2 of them being peer-reviewed journals.

Remember you are a prestigious Graduate Student and expectations are high for quality

work! All papers are submitted to Turn It In for validation. I have a saying and it goes like this: I do not give students grades they earn them;

however, I will give students the grades they earn. I think you know what I mean.

Above allplease have fun and learn, learn, learn with this endeavor.

RUBRIC:

This research paper will be evaluated based on the following rubric, which is also posted in the

Resources section of the classroom with a complete explanation of each rating dimension.

Criteria Exemplary

16-20

Accomplished

11-15

Developing

6-10

Beginning

0-5

Total

Synthesis of

Knowledge

Foundation of

Knowledge

Application of

Knowledge

Organization of


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Ideas/Format

Writing and

Research Skill

Total

Simply look at the rubric and under each category across the table you will see the different

levels of evaluation such as Exemplary, Accomplished, Developing, and Beginning. With each of

these categories there is a point range value assigned. I will assign a level to your work for eachcategory as noted above then tally a percentage based on a simple mathematical calculation

combined with qualitative evaluation. That percentage then assists in determining how many of

the 30 maximum possible points you received for the overall assignment score.

29/30=97

28/30=93

27/30=90

26/30=8725/30=83

24/30=80

The APUS Library offers many resources for you. Additionally, there are helpful documents in

the Resources section of the online classroom. I encourage you to continue to develop yourselfas a graduate student and a writer.

IMPORTANT FOR RESEARCH PAPERS:

Research papers written for graduate courses at APUS should rely primarily on scholarly, peer-reviewed source materials. Information from non-reviewed sources may be useful for

background information and may lead to finding other scholarly materials related to the topic.However, non-reviewed sources (1) may contain serious errors or (2) may only provide summaryinformation on a topic. Information from these sources must be carefully evaluated, and there

should be a substantive reason for including such information in a paper. Examples of non-

reviewed materials include Wikipedia, textbooks (unless edited or original research work), self-help books, popular press articles, and websites that appear to be biased regarding a particular

controversial issue. Instructors may stipulate that certain sources such as Wikipedia are not

acceptable in research papers submitted in their courses.

At APUS, most assignments require the writer to make an argumentative claim about a topic or

to propose a solution to a problem or question. To achieve this purpose, the writer must conduct

research to develop knowledge about a topic. In short, conducting research allows the writer tomake an informed decision about the topic. By locating, evaluating, and using various sources to

support her or his thesis/purpose, the writer establishes authority, credibility, and reliability as a

researcher, all of which are important for persuading or convincing an audience to accept oradopt the writers claims and conclusions.

Many reliable sources of information are available from various locations: books, scholarly

journals, databases, catalogs, and websites on the Internet. To obtain the best knowledge about a


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subject, the writer should never limit research to a single type of source, but there are a few

important differences in sources the writer should consider:

Print Sources

Print sources such as scholarly books, journals, magazines, and newspapers. These sources are

usually most reliable since the facts and data are routinely reviewed and validated beforepublication. Many of these sources are also available as Electronic Sources, so the writers

citation will need to properly identify if the source used is an electronic version of a print source.

Internet Sources

Internet sources are websites or articles found on websites. These sources can be less reliablesince the facts and data may not have been reviewed and validated before publication.

Sometimes personal articles are posted by individuals who are merely stating biased or

unsupported opinions. (Note: A "~" in a URL usually indicates that a web page is personal one

and, therefore, has no official affiliation to the host site.) Moreover, sources on the Internet canbe changed, updated, or removed without notice. Therefore, the writer should be careful to

determine the actual date of an Internet source to verify the sources relevancy to contemporarydevelopments in research and its permanence as a source to be located in the future.

Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Sources

To assure that accurate information is being retrieved about a topic, the writer should also beaware of the difference between a primary source, a secondary source, and a tertiary source:

Primary sources are the original sources of information, reports, studies, experiments or

interviews. For example, a primary source would be a period text (e.g., a Victorian medicaljournal) or a classic text (e.g., M.H. Abrams work of literary-criticism, The Mirror and the

Lamp) in a field of study.

Secondary sources are descriptions or interpretations of primary sources. For example, asecondary source would be a book or article that is based on primary sources or data.

Tertiary sources are books or articles based on secondary sources. For example, a tertiary source

would be a magazine article that explains current research in a field.

Most research projects will credibly employ primary, secondary, and tertiary sources. However,

to assure that a main idea or argument is credible and relevant, the writer should be careful toseek scholarly sources from authorities in the field. If examining a recent problem or question,

then the writer should seek recent contemporary sources to validate historical sources.

When conducting research for APUS writing assignments, the writer will need to make important

decisions about which sources to use. The writer relies on sources for several purposes:1. To help define the topic and any complicated concepts associated with the topic;

2. To provide the background and information necessary for the writers argument to beunderstood;

3. To support all claims with relevant and credible evidence (textual and visual);

4. To provide depth and perspective, including opposing viewpoints and evidence;5. To establish credibility and reliability to convince an audience;


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To achieve all of these purposes, the writer needs to establish the value of all sources. The

following guidelines will help the writer determine the value and credibility of each source to beconsidered for a paper:

Accuracy and Citation of Sources: Is the source accurate and complete? Are the authors

sources reliable? Are the authors sources cited? Is there an accompanying reference list tosubstantiate the authors sources? Is the source published on a reputable website?Publisher reputation and authority: Is the publisher a respected source of academicscholarship? (Note: academic databases generally have a high standard of accountability and

accuracy.) Does the publisher have any professional or religious affiliations that could affect

objectivity?Author reputation and authority: Is the author an expert or reputable scholar on the topic? Does

the author have any professional or religious views that could affect objectivity? Is the author

affiliated with a special-interest group? Does the author only present one side of the debate? If

alternate views are presented and addressed, does the author portray them fairly? Does theauthors language show signs of bias?

Purpose and Relevance: What will this source add to the paper? How will that source emphasizeor support the main idea? Is the source relevant to the topic and the writers thesis statement(main idea)? How will the evidence support the writers credibility?

Date of Publication: Is the source new or old? If the source is older, are there any newer sources

that validate or invalidate this source? If the source is from the Internet, can the date ofpublication be accurately certified?

Primary and Secondary Sources: Is this the original (primary) source, or is this a secondary

interpretation or description of the primary source? Would the primary source add more validity

to the paper?Audience: Who is the sources audience? Proponents or opponents? Other scholars? The general

public?

Cross-Reference: Is the source cited in other primary or secondary sources? How is this sourceused by other authors? Is the source respected and valued in the field?

Active and Passive Voice

Definition: Good writers prefer active voice because it is more direct than passive. Active voice

means the subject of the sentence is performing the action; while in the passive voice, the subjectis being acted upon.

Active voice: The candidate [subject] crisscrossed the state, shaking hands and kissing babies.

Passive voice: The state was crisscrossed by the candidate, shaking hands and kissing babies[The true subject of this sentence, the candidate, is receiving the action about crisscrossing

the state].

Still, passive voice is important. Academic journals are models for students reports and research

papers so edit your writing accordingly. Writers in formal, nonacademic publications (e.g.,Harvard Business Review) use passive voice even less often. Since formal, nonacademic


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publications are models for students essays and personal perspective papers, your papers should

contain as little passive voice as possible.

When to use passive voice?

Passive voice is useful when the doer of the action is considerably less important than the actionor for a change of pace. Just be careful not to use passive in more than several clauses

consecutively. The example below is an example of a good passive voice sentence because theaction of the verb is emphasized about the research.

The subsequent research was improved by randomizing.

The following paragraph, on the other hand, contains too much passive voice and leads to

awkward and less concise language (the passive verbs are underlined).

The subsequent research was improved by randomizing. The new subjects were assigned to acontrol or treatment group, and the process was monitored by a researcher who had been hired

by a neutral committee and who had been awarded a masters degree in 2002.

The table below is an example summary of active and passive voice of the verb to see:

Tense Active Voice Passive Voice

Past Perfect Had seen (I had seen it) Had been seen (it had been seen)

Past Saw (I saw it) Was seen (it was seen)

Present perfect Have seen (I have seen it) Has been seen (it has been seen)

Present See (I see it) Is seen (it is seen)

Future perfect Will have seen (I will have seenit)

Will have been seen (it will have beenseen)

Future Will see (I will see it) Will be seen (it will be seen)

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