TO: Political Science Majors
RE: Advanced Writing Proficiency Requirement
All Saint Mary's students must satisfy an Advanced Writing
Proficiency Requirement. This proficiency is demonstrated in a
student's major, or in one of her majors if she has several. If
you plan to major in Political Science you may satisfy this requirement
by following the procedure outlined below. If Political Science
is your only major, you must follow this procedure. Please
keep this information for reference as you continue your studies.
During your sophomore and junior years you need to constitute a portfolio of
writing in political science. The papers in this portfolio will be papers you
have written for Political Science courses. You must include in your
portfolio two papers from two different 200-level courses, and one paper from
an upper level course. Try to have a variety of topics and types of papers (e.g.,
a case study, a research proposal, presentation of data, etc., as well as a
traditional research paper). If you wish, in addition to the three required
papers you may include work done outside of major courses if it relates to your
field of study (papers from other courses, for example, or writing done during
an internship, summer job, or political campaign).
All papers included in your portfolio must be typed, and they must be clean
copies (no grades or instructor's comments). The easiest way to get a clean
copy is of course to copy the paper before you submit it in the first place.
This assumes (happy thought!) that no revision is needed. If you want to revise,
and some students do, learn to use a word processor early in your college career.
You must submit your portfolio to the department by a deadline set in the fall
semester of your senior year. The department, however, appreciates early submissions
by the end of your junior year. Each portfolio will be read by a faculty member.
At the beginning of your senior year you will be told whether your portfolio
satisfies the requirement, and if not, what you need to do to improve it. You
will be expected to complete any necessary revisions by the end of the fall
semester of your senior year.
In evaluating portfolios, faculty will want to see if you can
write clearly and analytically in your chosen field. Can you correctly
apply the concepts and theories of the discipline to the facts
and data with which you are working? Can you relate these concepts
to each other in a logical way? When appropriate, do you use technical
terms correctly? Can you present your ideas so that they are intelligible
to a general audience, not just to the teacher of a particular
course? Do you respect conventional rules of grammar, spelling,
and punctuation? Do you indicate clearly and correctly any use
of ideas or words that are not your own?
We hope that most of your papers meet these standards already. If you know you have trouble writing, however, you need to start working now. Be sure to earn your basic "W" as soon as you can. Work on all assignments as if they were possible Advanced "W" papers: start on them early so you will have time to polish the writing as you correct your ideas. Ask for help from your instructors and from the Writing Center. Remember that skill in writing comes with practice.