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Essay Instructions: U.S. Environmental Ethics Paper Guidance

Throughout the course, we will examine multiple perspectives within the field of environmental ethics. While we tend to examine these perspectives through our own individual lenses, it is equally important to understand the collective environmental ethics that guides our society and country.

For this paper, you will complete a broad survey of the U.S. government to see if you can argue whether there is a clear environmental ethic from review of statutes, agency missions, policy statements, etc. For example, you have a friend who is from Portugal who is also in the environmental field visiting you. You are discussing your jobs in your respective countries and you try to explain the general environmental philosophy and ethic embodied by the U.S. government. Is the National Park Service the only environmental/conservation agency? Are there others with similar missions? Is there a broad array of conservation agencies addressing multiple issues, or a narrowly focused group of agencies geared towards exploitation of our natural resources?

Through your survey of the U.S. government agencies, I would like you to make an argument explaining what you believe is the environmental ethic of our government. Maybe you think there is none, and you would explain your basis for that. Present your thesis in the beginning of the paper and then discuss your supporting arguments for that position.

You need to use Federal agency mission statements and statutes as a primary source of information for your paper. Otherwise, you have the freedom to pursue numerous other sources to help frame and develop your thesis. You are welcome to supplement research on the government ethic with the other organization's missions, such as non-government-organizations and conservation groups.

Since I need to read all of these papers in a short period of time, clarity and readability will certainly affect your grade. Because of the nature of the topic, you will not be able to write a detailed dissertation, but must write in a succinct, well organized manner. Your paper should not exceed 10-12 pages of double-spaced text with 12 point Times New Roman font.

Please use plain language and avoid rhetoric and jargon to the extent possible; however, I do expect you to use terminology that we covered in class to compare and contrast to your premise. In other words, this cannot be a technical paper in the area of your professional expertise, it must focus primarily on the topic of environmental ethics relating to the U.S. It also should not be a historical look at how environmental management has developed in this country. This may seem obvious, but I continue to receive papers that have little to nothing to do with the topic of environmental ethics, which would receive a failing grade for failing to complete the specific course assignment.

Please note that the papers are due to me by 11:59 PM EST Wednesday night, in Week 8! This will allow me the time to thoughtfully comment upon each paper and will free you up to end the course by participating fully in the Forum for Week 8.

I assume that most of you are probably already familiar with Turnitin from your other classes. For our class, the only time you need to use Turnitin, is for your final Environmental Ethics paper. To ensure that you have access to our class, please log in to Turnitin. The code and password for this class will be given in the Weekly Announcements. An originality report of greater than 15-20% unoriginal material should be revised to ensure that you have summarized and paraphrased as much text as possible. This paper must be written in your own words and Turnitin will help you locate where you have summarized and where you have copied/pasted without putting that information in your own words. Be sure you follow APA citation style throughout your paper.

Remember, APUS policy requires that your paper must be written for this class only and can NOT have been written for a previous class. Turnitin will check against all previous student submission. The areas you will be graded on are your research, thesis development, writing (organization, clarity, tone, editing) and argument effectiveness.

Essay Instructions: PLEASE READ INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY AND COMPLETE ALL ASPECTS OF PAPER. In this paper you will
reflect on your worldview as it pertains to environmental ethics.you will critically evaluate one contemporary environmental issue. This section of your paper may include the personal reactions you have to advertising you have seen or political speeches you have heard. It may include your reflections on court cases that have been covered by the media or the ways that you have tried to understand (and meld) things you have read in empirical journals or scientific reports. But it must include an analysis of the issue, with real empirical data to back up the claims of your critique (whether they be in support of, or against, the position statement you choose). In addition, this section should include your vision for how improvements can be made??"preferably with a self-focus (that is, what can you do to make a change, starting now?).

1. Your paper must include: a) title page; b) appropriate in-text citations, such as class readings, outside literature, other media; and c) a reference page.

2. Your paper should be neatly typed and double-spaced; you may use the format that is specific to your discipline (APA) but you must select a style and use it consistently.

3. Staple a copy of the cover sheet (provided) to the front of your paper.

4. The text portion of your paper should be 6-12 pages long. If it is shorter than this, or longer, then you need to keep working on your paper. No paper should be more than 12 pages long (text portion), under any circumstances. The paper will be graded primarily on content and clarity.

5. Watch spelling and grammar.

6. Organize your thoughts before writing. Make sure your essay is coherent and that your points are clear and well-supported.

Essay Instructions: This is a two parter. First I need one page, single spaced, 12 font, of you providing a detailed explanation of the exact procedures you use to gain access to your sources for the paper. Environmental Ethics is the topic...maybe start with a textbook, then the library and the internet. After you have delimited your major ideas and areas to be covered, you will need to explore the major bibliographic tools available. It's absolutely necessary that some of these sources be consulted.

Next is the term paper. I need a well developed analysis of the topic and its information and ideas with appropriate literature citations for all subject matters and details. You may develop this as you like, but remember, every literature citation in this chapter must be accompanied by an entry in the Literature Cited (and vice versa). For example, I recommend that you make a reference to your entries for every piece of information or group of data at the end of a sentence, group of sentences, or a paragraph, whose factual information is derived from the same source or group of sources, as follows:
The patterns of waste dumping into the lake showed that the lakes at the end of the chain of great lakes would be the most affected by the end of the next century (Lee and Beaulieu, 1971; Moransky, 1986; Smith-Jones, et al., 1984; Anonymous, 2009a; Lake Assessment Board, 2000). Please avoid the use of quotes.
The paper is to be written in size 12 font, single spaced throughout (except for spaces between chapters.)

That's it...thank you and good luck.

Essay Instructions: U.S. Environmental Ethics Paper Guidance

A broad survey of the U.S. government to see if you can argue whether there is a clear environmental ethic from review of statutes, agency missions, policy statements, etc. For example, you have a friend who is from Portugal who is also in the environmental field visiting you. You are discussing your jobs in your respective countries and you try to explain the general environmental philosophy and ethic embodied by the U.S. government. Is the NPS the only environmental/conservation agency? Are there others with similar missions? Is there a broad array of conservation agencies addressing multiple issues, or a narrowly focused group of agencies geared towards exploitation of our natural resources? Are there both? How do they mesh?

Through your survey of the government, I would like you to make an argument explaining what you believe is an explanation of the environmental ethic of our country. Maybe you think there is none, and you would explain your basis for that. Present your thesis in the beginning of the paper and then discuss your supporting arguments for that position. You need to use Federal agency mission statements and statutes as a primary source of information for your paper. Secondly scholarly journals. Otherwise, you have the freedom to pursue numerous other sources to help frame and develop your thesis. You are welcome to supplement research on the government ethic with the other organization’s missions, such as non-government-organizations and conservation groups.

Clarity and readability will be of upmost importance. Because of the nature of the topic, you will not be able to write a detailed dissertation, but must write in a succinct, well organized manner. Your paper should not exceed 10-15 pages of double-spaced text no larger than 12 pt font. Please use plain language and avoid rhetoric and jargon to the extent possible. However, I do expect you to use terminology that we covered in class to compare and contrast to your premise.
The paper must focus primarily on the topic of environmental ethics relating to the United States.

Title Page and separate reference page in addition to the 9 page minimum

This paper will be submitted through Turnitin. An originality report of greater than 20% unoriginal material should be revised to ensure that you have summarized and paraphrased as much text as possible. This paper must be written in your own words and Turnitin will help you locate where you have summarized and where you have copied/pasted without putting that information in your own words.