BUS 1050 Group Paper Prompt PDF

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BUS 1050, PROFESSOR HOFF (FALL 2017) GROUP PAPER PROMPT (PAPER NO. 1) DUE: FRIDAY OCTOBER 6 BY 11:59 PM (BUT REMEMBER, THIS FRIDAY BEGINS FALL BREAK, AND MEMBERS OF YOUR GROUP WILL WANT TO LEAVE TOWN …) You will work in small groups of (mostly) 4 members. As a group, you will choose a broad issue/problem of political economy (an issue at the intersection of politics, business, and economics) that relates to some of the central themes of the course, especially the themes we have emphasized so far. Spending time to choose your topic well will make the assignment easier. First, read some recent articles in the respectable business and popular press about a broad, persistent problem in the political economy. For example (among countless other possibilities), you might examine: the gender wage gap; disputes over property rights on public lands; inequality; the meaning of work in the twenty-first century; the current debate over tariffs; an issue at the intersection of religion and business; or debates about what role businesses should play in addressing societal ills such as racism or pollution. Your topic or problem should be one with different sides, and one that serious people (in the U.S. or around the world) currently debate. It should not be one pertaining only to a specific firm; we are not looking for a case study here. You are not required to get your topic approved. But if you are unsure about the appropriateness of your topic, you are welcome to discuss it with/run it by me. (It’s probably not a bad idea to do so.) And of course you are always encouraged to discuss with the TAs. Once you have chosen a topic, conduct additional research on it. Review enough newspaper, magazine, and academic journal articles to understand the key components of that issue (who, what, where, when, why). Be careful to evaluate the credibility and perspective of your sources. Choose sources that are reliable and would be respected in a serious academic or professional discussion. You will be asked to attach the two most important articles as you upload your paper. Next, think about which authors from the course might have something to say about your topic (if they were still alive!). Choose three authors from different weeks in the course (that is, don’t choose authors assigned on the same day). How would each of the three authors approach the issue? What would they have to say about it? How does the perspective of each author help you comprehend and analyze the problem at hand? Ideally, you should choose authors who disagree with one another, or who highlight different aspects of your topic. At this point, you are ready to write a 1,000- to 1,200-word essay analyzing the issue that incorporates discussion and analysis of three authors. As you write, think of yourself as a journalist writing a long, thoughtful magazine piece (not a short and hastily written newspaper article). Your job is to inform your reader, summarize the debate, and then critically examine the multiple viewpoints surrounding it while incorporating the class material. Do not think of yourself primarily an editorial writer; your main task is not to write an opinion piece, sermonize, or try to stir up your reader. However, you may to some degree “pick a winner” in the debate 1

once you have engaged it. For example, if you were writing an article on the minimum wage debate, you would want to review and critically comment on the camp that is in favor of the minimum wage, and then the camp in favor of eliminating wage controls — and then you would bring in the authors from the course. Only at this juncture might you subtly indicate your own position by demonstrating which arguments are superior and why. But again, your primary goal is to analyze, not editorialize. Your mission is to demonstrate that you can think critically about a contemporary issue and to exhibit mastery of the chosen authors and relevant themes and ideas from the course. A brief comment on group work: it’s hard, and many students either love it or hate it. But collaborating with others is a big part of working in the business world. Choose the topic, analyze the sources, and write the paper as a group. Use one another to analyze and debate the problem, and use one another to understand the class authors. And use one another to improve the writing and to proofread! Each group member is expected to contribute his or her share to make the strongest final product.

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Write 1,000 to 1,200 words (not including footnotes) in 12-point font, double-spaced, with 1-inch margins. No crazy fonts please. Make this your own original work. All sources should be properly cited, including material from the course. A Chicago Manual of Style reference to a magazine article you read online would look like this: Sophie Gilbert, “Learning to be Human,” The Atlantic, June 30, 2016, https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/06/learning-to-behuman/489659/. (But you would put it in a footnote.1) For citations formats, see: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide/citation-guide-1.html. Note that if an article originally appeared in print — as many academic-journal articles still do — you do not need to provide the online citation. Upload your assignment to Canvas by the deadline. Also, attach a pdf of the two most important articles you read. For the penalties for late work, please consult the syllabus. Include the name of all group members. Write well. Your paper should be clearly organized and clearly written. It should be relatively free from grammatical errors and typos. I will be sending you a handout on academic writing to help you along. ALWAYS proofread your work twice as many times as you think it needs it. Have fun.

1 Sophie Gilbert, “Learning to be Human,” The Atlantic, June 30, 2016,

https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/06/learning-to-behuman/489659/. 2...