Monday, June 16, 2014

Some advise on the second writing assignment

Keep in mind that the subject of this assignment is not the person who represents the district, but the nature of the district itself. I don't need any more information - at this time - about Pete Olson, or Ed Thompson, or whoever else holds the position.

Instead I want you to figure out what issues and interests are likely to be dominant among the people who live in the 14th Congressional district or the 29th State House district. If you go to the websites of the incumbents you'll find demographic information about the districts - which is a good way to start - but by analyzing the maps you should be able to do searches that give you an idea of what types of things people are most concerned about - or not - in the local area.

To give you an obvious hint - there's lot's of oil drilling in the local area. A a result, fracking is a big deal, as is the Johnson Space Center. There's also the fact that we live near the Gulf Coast and we know what types of storms we get from time to time. Think broadly about the concerns that dominate people around here - and what the national or state government can and cannot do about it. Think about how this influences what areas representatives and state senators do in office.

The purpose of this assignment is to get you further prepared to do s good job on the 1000 word essay.

Let me know if you have further questions.