Directions: (Please read all of the directions)

Each student will be responsible for one virtual field trip. Students may expand on the “My Favorite Group” assignment (provided the assignment was done correctly and an interest group was selected) to fulfill the requirements of the Virtual Field Trip assignment or select an entirely different interest group. For help- Chapter 7 page 162 Table 7.1, Significant Organized Interest Groups By Type, can further assist in selecting an interest group.

After briefly visiting numerous interest group websites you will select one of the websites for a more in-depth investigation. After exploring enough links within that chosen site, to ascertain what is found at that website, you should write a review in MLA essay format (approximately one page, single-space, Normal Times New Roman 12 inch font, one-inch maximum margins) of the website’s content. Be sure to describe the significance and/or the context of the site. In completing this review, you might want to consider answering the following questions:

· What is found at this website? An organization? A project? A media organization?

· What are some of its main values, goals, objectives, methods, purposes?

· How is it organized?

· Who are its leaders?

· How might this site be useful in helping people who are interested in politics to gain a greater understanding of our political system and how to become more involved in the political process?

· Was there anything particularly interesting or unusual that you found at this site?

· Would you consider joining or supporting this group? Why or why not?

· Your assignment must include a works cited, citing the website you selected in MLA format.

Firm Due Date: Friday, May 6th by 11:59 pm

Virtual Field Trip Grade

A “Fail” grade could be earned for failure to turn in an assignment, for failing to adhere to: assignment topic, guidelines, and format. For not referencing in your paper’s topic, for plagiarism which means copying or paraphrasing the website, article or the book without using quotations marks and referencing source, and/or for multiple spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors which distract or confuse the reader.

Helpful Tips

· Be certain to profile the official website of the interest group.

· Do not tell me what you are going to write about, just start writing.

· An example of what not to do:

· “In this paper I am going to write about…”

· “The interest group I have chosen to write on is….”

· “After researching various interest groups I finally selected…”

· Refrain from using “you”, instead replace with “one”.

· An example of what to do :

· “One may have an interest in joining the (insert interest group name here) because…”

· “Individuals may find that the (insert interest group name here) is very helpful in learning more about politics because…”

· Do not select a group that is difficult for yourself to relate to politics.

· Select a group that is easily relatable to politics.

· Do a thorough job in editing your assignment prior to submission.

· Check for spelling, grammar, subject/verb agreement, past vs. present tense, and content errors.

· Make sure your assignment is one full page in length, nothing less or this will affect your grade. (Yes, you can go over a page)

· Do not list the leaders of the organization, this demonstrates apathetic writing. Select a few leaders and briefly profile said leaders in one or two sentences at the most.

· Do not use “I”- academic writing does not utilize “I”.

· The only time this is acceptable is when you are providing an opinion of whether you would or would not joint the group in your concluding paragraph.

· Lastly, please make sure to format your submission correctly with MLA style format (with the exception of single-spacing) including a MLA works cited.