Wednesday, December 14, 2005

December 14

I gave you the in-class essay topic today in class. You will be writing the in-class essay tomorrow. The topic is: "To what extent should the Canadian Senate be changed?" There are three possible positions on this issue: retention (keep the Senate as it is right now), abolition (get rid of the Senate completely), or reformation (reform/change the Senate). I gave you some ideas of political terms that you might be able to work into your essay, and some ideas for arguments as well. The following are some hyperlinks that may be of use to you as well:



We continued looking at industrialization/economic development in Chapter 4 in the textbook. I assigned some key terms and questions for homework.

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

for the essay..say that i chose to reform it....do i have to provide like ways that we could change it? or y we should just reform it?

Kevin Gilchrist said...

Actually, you would discuss both.

Anonymous said...

hmm then wut would be some ways that they can change it? thats where im stuck...oh and are we allowed to bring like thesuarses and dictionaries?

Anonymous said...

ummm are we allowed to make an outline that we had to make last time and use it tomorrow??

Anonymous said...

how much is this essay worth? ?

and that other test we had if we didnt do so well, are we alowwed to redo it?? cause the test was kinda messed up >.<

Anonymous said...

if we say abolish it does that mean just reform it? or get rid of it completely?

Anonymous said...

if a new government comes to power do the senate members change??

Kevin Gilchrist said...

You're allowed to bring in a dictionary and thesaurus. The only notes that you are allowed to bring in are what you can fit on the half page. Make an outline, include key terms, notes, facts and figures, key arguments and evidence that will enhance your position, all of these things can appear on that notes page. Once again, you CAN'T write the essay out completely and then bring it in to recopy. That sheet of paper that I gave you today will be stapled to the front of your essay.
This essay will be worth a lot. I don't offer test rewrites.
Like I wrote earlier there are three possible positions with this essay: abolish the Senate (get rid of it), reform it (make changes to the way in which the Senate operates), or maintain it (keep it the way it is).

Kevin Gilchrist said...

Senators remain the same regardless of the make-up of the House of Commons. The political party in power in the House does have an impact on the composition of the Senate though. Senators remain in office until they retire or die. Then, their place in the Senate ( a vacancy) is filled by appointment by the Governor-General on advice from the PM.

Anonymous said...

How long does the essay have to be ???

Kevin Gilchrist said...

Once again, I'll be looking at the quality of your writing, the quality of your arguments and supporting evidence. Please have a look at the copy of the rubric/marking guide that you all have to see where the marks come from.It's hard to say how long the essay will end up.

Anonymous said...

Also, what will this essay marked out of?

Kevin Gilchrist said...

It's out of 30. Just like the other one.

Anonymous said...

this is worth less than the last one, right?

Kevin Gilchrist said...

This is getting silly. Go find your last essay. You'll see that you received a mark out of 30.

Anonymous said...

No, I meant like the mark we recieve on the essay tomorrow...will it be weighted less than the other essay we wrote?

Anonymous said...

this topic is hard!! :(

Kevin Gilchrist said...

Ah! Now I understand. It will be weighted the same as your last essay.

Anonymous said...

What if we think the Senate should be retained but after reading the material from th sites you gave us and found out that in a recent survey only 5% of the population thought the senate should stay as it is.

should I change my mind. or go with my first judgement?

Kevin Gilchrist said...

Go with what YOU think you can make the best case with. Who cares what other people think. It's your opinion, just build your case around it. On the up side, if your write your essay in favor of retention, your essay will probably be pretty unique, since I'm willing to bet most people will argue for abolition or reform of the Senate. In other words, you'll be unique!

Anonymous said...

okay. still a pretty tough decision. but thanks for replying. =)

Anonymous said...

r we allowed to like rite the thesis and and topic sentinces and examples?

Anonymous said...

both essay combines will be 20 % of our over all mark right?? i hope not........

Anonymous said...

Is Triple E supposed to be bad or good ??????

Anonymous said...

so is the introduction supposed to explain the history of the senate?

Anonymous said...

it doesnt have to...does it?? cause that would take a long time

Anonymous said...

...on my practice essay, it seems that it went to a page, just the intro, is that a bad thing?