guided investigation activity

Formatting, Length and Citation Requirements:

When completing your essay, you must provide in-text citations for any work that is directly quoted or paraphrased. If you have questions about citations, ask! If unsure, always cite! Failure to cite information that is not considered to be “common knowledge”, which you either reference through direct quotes or paraphrase IS CONSIDERED PLAGIARISM. Students will receive an automatic zero, and the issue will be taken up with the department chair.   When writing your essay, respond to the prompt thoroughly, and completely. Essays must be a minimum of 1 1/2- 2 pages in length, double spaced, 1 inch margins, 12 point font, and written in Times New Roman.

Your response should be your own thoughts and analysis. Citations may be formatted in APA, MLA or Chicago style, as long as they are consistent throughout. Research and resources should be incorporated with scholarly application. I.e. used as examples or evidence to support your analysis. Make sure to use complete sentences, and proper grammar. Your response to the prompt should focus on analyzing the information you gather, apply it by using it as examples to support your assessment. Incorporate the information you gathered by using it to provide examples and support for your response.

Instructions:

This is a guided investigation activity.

Use the links below to find out who your representatives are, in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate.

House of Representatives:

http://www.house.gov/representatives/

In the top right hand corner, locate the Find your representative search box. Enter your zip code to find out who your House member is.

Senate:

http://www.senate.gov/index.htm

 (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

In the top right hand corner, use the drop down menu to find the two senators that represent the state of Texas, in the U.S. Senate.

 (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.Essay Response Instructions:

When writing your essay, you will need to identify and include the following information, for each of these three representatives.  Do not simply copy and paste what is on the website. Gather the information and compile it to write a thorough essay. Submissions that simply list answers, using numeric or bullet points will automatically receive a 0.

The most efficient way to organize this information into complete sentences, would be to do the research first. Gather the information required for each of the 3 elected representatives you are being asked about. To get started, I would suggest perhaps making a chart to list the different characteristics you are required to find out about each of your 3 representatives. Then, when writing your essay, dedicate a separate paragraph (should be 3-5 sentences) to each of the individuals. It will help you keep your information organized and structured; as well as meet the length requirements of this paper, faster.

IMPORTANT- make sure to cite and source everything that you use to retrieve information about these 3 individuals. Even the Who Represents Me website link, I have directed you to, should be included. Cite this both parenthetically, where necessary, and bibliographically.

1. What is your House district number?
2. Identify the three individuals, currently serving to represent you in the U.S. House and Senate.
3. Make sure to include information for each of the following items, below, for each of the 3 representatives that you identified, in step 2. Do not list your responses, with bullets or numbers. You must construct complete sentences, using the information your found, to address each of the following items. A suggestion: use the information you have gathered to write sentences that draw and discuss comparisons between each of the three individuals.  For this part, you may have to do some Sherlock Holmes investigative research (aka level up your Google Fu).

• Age
• Race
• Tenure (length of years served in their current position. Do not provide the date in years that they have served.  I want an actual number.  Do the math)
• Educational attainment level (highest grade level or post secondary degree obtained)
• Gender
• Career/profession/employment (what to do they do to earn income)
• Partisanship (political party affiliation)
• Marital status
• Religion
• Committee membership
• Political service and achievements ( if applicable)

4.In your own words, based on your personal opinion and assessment, discuss what you feel each of these individuals has, or has not, contributed, to your district and state?

5. Assess and critique the nature of these individual’s representation, as it personally applies to you. Do this by grading them on a scale of 1-10. Explain why you scored them in this manner. Be thorough and detailed in your explanation. Again, comparisons between these individuals, based on the information you researched, for number 3, is a good way to accomplish this.

6. What did you learn or take away from this activity.