Essay Two

10% (100 Points)
DUE: March 3, 2025 (11:59pm, EST)

GENERAL ESSAY DIRECTIONS:

  • You must write and submit your paper as a KSU Google Document via KSU Google Drive; however, be sure to save a copy of it on your home computer.
  • You must label the document with your last name and the assignment, for example: Smith’s Essay One.
  • You must send me email notification when the paper is ready for me to evaluate:
    • click on the SHARE button and share the document with me (clrobins@kent.edu)
    • make sure that I have permission to EDIT
    • make sure that the NOTIFY PEOPLE box is checked, or if that’s not available, send me an email with a link to the document.
  • This essay is to be typed in 12 point font, double-spaced, with one-inch margins, and with citations, references, and other formatting all done in a standard style—such as APA Style.
  • This essay is to be roughly 3-4 pages long (roughly 1000 words) long.* This means that it must be at least three complete pages of written text, not counting the References Page!

Ravenna, Ohio

ESSAY TWO DIRECTIONS:

In addition to the above requirements, this essay must make use (quote or paraphrase) of the following:

National Guard Today (Ravenna, Ohio)

Derf Backderf’s graphic novel, Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio is about the National Guard shooting at Kent State University students, killing four of them. How the story of the Kent State Shootings is told varies, depending upon who is interpreting the events as they occurred. How would you describe Backderf’s presentation of the facts surrounding this event? Is there a bias, and if so, how strong is it? Has the event been placed with context, and if so, how much? (If it is taken out of context, describe what’s missing.) You might consider doing a comparison/contrast of two points of view.  Choose only one or two of the many possible perspectives of this event.

Suggestions:

  • From Derf Backderf’s point of view, as a kid vs. from his point of view as an adult, looking back on the events
  • From Derf Backder’s point of view (as either kid or adult)
    • vs. from the point of view of Backderf’s parents

      A Part of the Kent State Memorial

    • vs. from the point of view of the KSU students
    • vs. from the point of view of the KSU faculty
    • vs. from the point of view of the KSU administration
    • vs. from the point of view of the townsfolk of Kent
    • vs. from the point of view of the military
    • vs. from the point of view of the police
    • vs. from the point of view of Governor Rhodes
    • vs. from the point of view of President Nixon
    • vs. from the point of view of scholars on the subject
    • vs. from the point of view of the news media
    • vs. from the point of view of Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young
    • vs. from the point of view of other celebrities

Another Part of the Kent State Memorial

NOTE: You may use additional quality sources, but if they are not available on either the Case Studies or Supplemental Materials, you must email me for approval (at least 72 hours prior to the due date for this assignment).

Image Work for the National Guard

EXTRA CREDIT OPPORTUNITY: Watch the documentary film, Fire In the Heartland: Kent State, May 4, and Student Protest in America and incorporate this viewing into your essay (such as a comparison/contrast between the book and the movie for a particular point being made in the essay). 5 points extra credit

*A page of 12 point font text, double-spaced, with 1 inch margins is roughly 325 words.

Grading Rubric

A paper may fall between the below described levels of quality—it may, for example, have a clearly stated central claim (thesis) but lack sufficient support, or it may be tightly organized and well supported, but full of grammatical and/or mechanical errors. In such instances, the paper will be evaluated in terms of its strongest qualities as set against its weakest qualities.

A Level Work
The essay demonstrates a full understanding and respect for the directions and stays on the chosen topic. If the assignment has an “open-topic” element, the essay follows the requirements for its content. The essay is properly formatted and was obviously composed using KSU Google Docs.  The essay’s thesis (main point) is clearly stated. The essay is tightly organized, well developed, and coherent. The essay is well supported by reasoning and by at least the minimum required number of documented sources—including cited quotes, facts, and/or paraphrases (see requirements above). The essay has a professional tone, avoiding second person (“you” or “we”) completely and using first person singular (“I”) sparingly. The essay is virtually free of grammatical and mechanical errors.

B Level Work
The essay demonstrates a full understanding and respect for the directions and stays on the chosen topic. If the assignment has an “open-topic” element, the essay follows the requirements for its content. The essay is mostly properly formatted and was obviously composed using KSU Google Docs.  The essay’s thesis (main point) is clearly stated. The essay is mostly organized, well developed, and mostly coherent. The essay is supported by reasoning and by at least the minimum required number of documented sources—including cited quotes, facts, and/or paraphrases (see requirements above). The essay has a professional tone, avoiding second person (“you” or “we”) completely and using first person singular (“I”) sparingly. The essay is mostly free of grammatical and mechanical errors.

C Level Work
The essay demonstrates an understanding and respect for the directions and stays on the chosen topic. If the assignment has an “open-topic” element, the essay follows the requirements for its content. The essay is mostly properly formatted and was obviously composed using KSU Google Docs.  The essay’s thesis (main point) is stated, but is a little vague. The essay has some sense of organization, development, and coherence. The essay is supported by reasoning and by at least the minimum required number of documented sources—including cited quotes, facts, and/or paraphrases—but perhaps not supported enough (see requirements above). The essay has a mostly professional tone, avoiding second person (“you” or “we”) completely and using first person singular (“I”) sparingly. The essay is mostly free of grammatical and mechanical errors.

D Level Work
The essay does not demonstrate a full understanding and respect for the directions and stays on the chosen topic. If the assignment has an “open-topic” element, the essay does not fully follow the requirements for its content. The essay is not really properly formatted  and/or was obviously not composed using KSU Google Docs.  The essay’s thesis (main point) is stated, but is a little vague. The essay has some sense of organization, development, and coherence. The essay is supported by reasoning and by at least the minimum required number of documented sources—including cited quotes, facts, and/or paraphrases—but not supported enough (see requirements above). The essay has a mostly professional tone, avoiding second person (“you” or “we”) completely and using first person singular (“I”) sparingly. The essay has a lot of grammatical and mechanical errors.

F Level Work
The essay does not demonstrate a full understanding or respect for the directions, and/or the paper fails to stay on the chosen topic and/or to closely follow the requirements of an “open topic” assignment. The essay does not demonstrate an attempt to be properly formatted (APA Style) and was obviously not composed using KSU Google Docs. The essay’s thesis (main point) may or may not be stated, but if it is stated, it has not been done so very clearly. The essay is unorganized, under- developed, and/or incoherent. The essay is weakly supported by reasoning and documented sources (cited quotes, facts, and/or paraphrases), if supported at all. The essay has an unprofessional tone, significantly failing to avoid second person (“you” or “we”) completely and using first person singular (“I”) too much. The essay is cluttered by grammatical and mechanical errors.

Sample Point Deductions:
Submitted late: 3% grade point subtraction
Vague or missing thesis statement: 5% grade point subtraction
Unprofessional tone: 5% grade point subtraction
Improperly formatted: 5% grade point subtraction
Unprofessional use and citation of references: 5% grade point subtraction
Sentence coherence: 5-10% grade point subtraction
Weak essay organization and/or essay unity: 10% grade point subtraction
Not composed using KSU Google Docs: 10% grade point subtraction

1% of a 50 point essay = 0.5 point
1% of a 100 point essay = 1 point
1% of a 200 point essay = 2 points