Required Essay 4 (RE4)

Choose between one of the following prompts on which to write a 2.5-3 page report:

Option A:

You are an intelligence analyst for the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC). Your group brings together analysts and specialists from the CIA, the FBI, the DoD, and other federal agencies. With the personnel changes arising from the transition between two presidential administrations, you are in charge of writing and disseminating a brief report explaining the Center’s accepted definition of terrorism, the differences in types of terrorism, and the possible avenues for terrorists to acquire nuclear-explosive materials or nuclear weapons. This report will serve as an introductory document to facilitate a more productive discussion of concerns about nuclear terrorism.

Option B:

You are a writer for Scientific American, and your editor has assigned you to provide a brief report on some of the key aspects of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), more commonly known as the Iran Nuclear Deal. This report should serve as a high quality summary of the major points of the agreement, both in terms of Iran’s commitments in regards to proliferation as well as the promised responses of the other actors involved.

Your choice should be made during the March 12 writing lab. Unlike the previous required essays, no further guidance will be given on how to structure RE4 at this time. The goal of RE4v0 and the March 26 writing lab will be to create these guidelines.

RE4v0: Prewriting Task List

In real technical writing, we are often not given more direction than something akin to the prompts above. RE4v0 is meant to help you identify the tasks that you will need to complete before you begin drafting as well as the important writing elements (like style choices). For RE4v0, write 2-3 bullet points that describe important aspects of each of the following categories:

• Coverage of issues and information
• Precise and accurate use of concepts
• Explanation & argument
• Professional style (including sources to be used)
• Conformity to conventions

Notice that these categories are the same categories that were in the grading rubrics for RE1, RE2, and RE3. The purpose of RE4v0 is not only to develop the skills needed for prewriting but also to enable the creation of the RE4 grading rubric.

To facilitate this prewriting task list, identify the following…

For option A:

• Course texts from which to pull information for your report. (hint: look at required textbooks)
• An appropriate report structure.
• Key NCTC writing style and conventions to follow. See the following document for an explanation of this style and an example document: http://academics.utep.edu/Portals/4302/student-guides/BLUF%20Writing%20Format.pdf
• Content necessary to meet the aims of this document.

For option B:

• Sources that will be the basis for your report. (hint: look for a CRS report)
• Major questions that would need to be answered to adequately summarize key aspects of the JCPOA.
• Guidelines for appropriate style and conventions. Think back to our work earlier this semester with the genre of Scientific American articles.

In the writing lab on March 26, you will work with your classmates to co-create the grading rubric for your chosen prompt. After discussion in the writing labs, the TAs will compile key aspects discussed into a formal rubric. This rubric will be sent out to you on the evening of March 26 and will be put on the RE4v1 prompt page. You will use the rubric to guide your first draft (RE4v1) and your peer response.

RE4 Sequence Schedule