Twenty-five percent of your grade in this class will be based on your major writing assignment, which you
are required to submit online. This guide is designed to direct you as you complete this assignment, and to
help you make the best of this task –both in terms of grades and in terms of experience. Please read this
document carefully before you begin working on your writing assignment. In essence, everything I am
asking from you is outlined in this guide. This means that if you stick to the rules and expectations, as
outlined here, you should receive top marks for your papers, and be able to replicate this positive result in
future undergraduate or graduate assignments.
On the last page of this guide, you will find a broad selection of topics from which you can choose the title
of your paper. Please copy verbatim your selected topic at the beginning of your paper. The choice of
topic is up to you. All topics pose a number of challenges and require careful deliberation. You may come
up with your own topic for your paper, if you so wish. If this is something you want to do, then you
must consult with me before you begin completing the assignment, so that I can approve your selection.
Your grade will be negatively affected if you fail to do so.
The end-term writing assignment will be due in my email inbox by the predetermined deadline. Barring a
serious personal or national emergency, a thermonuclear holocaust, world revolution, or the Second
Coming, absolutely no exceptions will be made to this rule. Failure to submit the assignment by the
deadline will automatically result in a zero mark. All assignments are to be submitted electronically in
Microsoft Word format. If you use non-Microsoft word-processing software, please consult with me
prior to submission to ensure that I can access and read your work.
The limit for the writing assignment is 2,000 words. Your grade will be partly assessed according to how
well you manage to cover the topic in question within the assigned word limit. If you find it humanly
impossible to stay within the assigned word limit, please include a separate paragraph at the end of
your paper explaining why.
Presentation matters. I will give points for papers that are well laid out and easy to read. When someone
else reads your writing, it is as if they are paying you a visit at your home. The better you treat them as
guests, the better their overall impressions are going to be. In other words, make sure you guide me
through your paper. Devote a short paragraph at the beginning, letting me know how you will address the
subject in question, and why. Then stick to what you said you would do. Separate your essay in sections and
give them headings —to act as signposts— so that I know what’s coming. Feel free to use images and
photographs to illustrate your points. Avoid unnecessarily lengthy sentences and overly complicated
statements. Finally, be consistent in your technical presentation. If you usually include periods or
commas within quotes “like this,” as opposed to “like this”, then stick to this throughout your paper. If you
like to leave two blank spaces following periods, as opposed to one, do so throughout the paper. In other
words, do not contradict yourself in your technical presentation.
Assignment T
Good writing style is the best way to ensure good ideas are adequately communicated and comprehended
by the reader. I’ve seen too many good ideas hampered by bad writing in students’ papers. This means it is
important for you to ensure that your writing is lucid and fluent, your sentences meaningful and well
constructed, your prose succinct and your language economical and precise. Go back and read your paper
carefully after you have written it. You will be surprised how many words or even sentences you can chuck
and still retain the core meaning of what you are trying to communicate. Finally, ensure your grammar and
spelling are correct and that your punctuation is consistent and effective. In my experience, writing your
paper at the last minute is the most reliable way of producing a clumsy and erratic writing style. So
please do not wait until the last minute to complete your assignments.
One of the most heartbreaking jobs I have ever had to do was marking down an absolutely fantastic student
paper that was off topic. To avoid this happening to your paper, read the title topic carefully before you
attempt to answer it. Spend some time thinking about it and deconstructing the sentences in it, isolating
the key words that describe what you should do. Then use the first couple of paragraphs to explain how
you intend to address the topic, while briefly outlining the structure of your paper. Don’t get overly
ambitious in tackling the subject in question. You’re not trying to solve the world’s problems, just answer
the title topic. This means you need to concentrate on a particular subject and remain focused. Don’t let
your analysis or your explanation get too broad or generalized. Most importantly, ensure your paper
successfully meets its aims. Simply put, explain what you are going to do upfront, and stick to your promise.
A good paper structure usually starts with an interesting, effective introduction. I know you know I have to
read your paper, but this doesn’t mean you should turn it into a chore for me. Try to make me want to keep
reading your work after the first paragraph. So be creative and come up with a good opener. Following
that, ensure that your paper has a clear direction, and that it develops smoothly and orderly. Strive for
continuity and try not to ramble. The conclusion is important too, because it provides the reader with the
precious final impression of your paper and of your argument. Nothing can destroy your paper faster
than an inadequate and half-baked conclusion. Moreover a clumsy ending is usually an accurate
indicator of the time pressure you were under while producing your assignment.
The quality of your paper’s content will determine the majority of your overall grade. More specifically,
your paper’s content will be judged according to the following criteria:
• In-depth engagement with the subject in question. Try not to give superficial treatment to the issues under
consideration. Do not ignore obvious issues or questions that may run counter to your argument.
Furthermore, do not ignore the complexities of issues under consideration in your paper.
• Good use of evidence. Employing evidence in support of your analysis is an effective way of demonstrating
your knowledge of a given subject. You will be rewarded for substantiating your argument with current
and adequate evidence from reputable sources.
• Clear understanding of concepts. Before using any of the concepts or ideas discussed in the course,
ensure that you understand them. If you don’t, or if you are unsure about how well you have
comprehended them, seek my assistance before submitting your assignment. I will gladly help you.
Writing Style
Subject
Structure
Content
• Logical argumentation. Employing logic is the only effective way of arguing in an academic setting.
Therefore the overall quality and consistency of your argumentation is essential in helping you achieve a
good grade. Make sure your argument has a logical structure. Think methodically and, most of all,
justify your viewpoints with the use of empirical or theoretical evidence. Do not engage in overgeneralizations
(“everyone knows that…”) and do not express broad, sweeping statements (“Muslims hate
America”) that you cannot back with evidence.
• Originality of thought and input. Creativity is something I highly value, as is personal input. Try as much
as possible to pour something of yourself into your writing. Make your personality come through. In
grading your paper, I will value your personal input more highly than borrowed ideas, even if the latter
end up being more solid than your own original input. In short, originality and creativity are the best way to
win me over to your side.
I expect you to employ a reasonable number of sources. These should include, but do not have to be limited
to books and scholarly articles. In fact the more varied your sources are, the more impressed I will be.
Use newspaper and magazine articles, journal articles, videos, films, websites —anything meaningful as a
source. However, make sure the presentation of your references is accurate and consistent. Please use the
referencing system suggested below. Keep in mind that I will check your references, so ensure that they
are accurate and truthful. Most of all, do not even think of plagiarizing. If you do, I will discover it, and
you will be severely penalized. I am very online-savvy, so if you can find something online, so can I. And
if you copy it without referring to it, I will find out and your assignment will earn you a big fat zero.
Please use the following referencing system for your bibliography:
Books:
Fitsanakis, J.G. (2002) Pandora’s Box: The United States’ Relationship With Al-Qaeda Prior to ‘9/11’,
Bibliologue Publishers, New York, NY.
Chapters in books:
Fitsanakis, J.G. (2007) “National Security Agency: The Historiography of Concealment”, in K. de Leewu
and J. Bergstra (eds.) The History of Information Security: A Comprehensive Handbook, Elsevier,
Amsterdam, pp143-198.
Academic Journals:
Fitsanakis, J.G. (2002) “State-Sponsored Communications Interception: Facilitating Illegality”,
Communication and Society, 6(3), pp403-428.
Newspaper or magazine articles:
Fitsanakis, J.G. (2010) “An Embrace Without Trust: The Downward Spiral in US-Pakistan Intelligence
Relations”, Pragati, February, pp28-30.
Television or Radio interviews:
Fitsanakis, J.G. (2010) Interview on Australian National Radio, Sydney, Australia, first broadcast on 31
December.
Fitsanakis, J.G. (2011) Interview on RT Television, Moscow, Russia, first broadcast on 11 December.
Websites:
Fitsanakis, J.G. (2010) “An Economic Role for European Spy Agencies?”, Research Institute for
European and Intelligence Studies, 10 May <http://www.rieas.gr/index.php?option=com_content&view=
article&id=1217>, accessed on 2/14/2011.
Lectures:
Fitsanakis, J.G. (2012) “Terrorist Economics”, lecture delivered for the International Terrorism course,
King College, Bristol, TN, 12 March.