Essay Length: In-class draft 750+ words (3+ handwritten pages)
Background
The authors of The Next Los Angeles reproduce in an appendix an “agenda for action” developed in 2001 by the Progressive Los Angeles Network Task Force. According to the authors, “the agenda represents a work in progress, a guide to action as well as a blueprint for policy choices in years to come” (197). Some of the issues that the agenda focuses on include housing, the urban environment, transportation and land use, and food and nutrition. The agenda breaks down each issue into specific problems and offers for those problems specific solutions.
Topic
Write an essay in which you examine one of the four issues listed above and offer your opinion as to whether the proposed solutions are feasible and whether they will be effective.
Hints
Your examination should specifically explain what problems the agenda identifies and what solutions are proposed for them. Also, you will need to explain carefully why you think their proposals are feasible or unfeasible, as well as why you think they could be effective or why it might be ineffective.
General Hints
1. Read the topic a couple of times and note what it requires you to do. Complete all the tasks of the assignment.
2. Take time to plan and organize your essay before you begin to write. (Scratch outlines are often quite helpful.)
3. Be sure to start with a strong focused thesis. Set out to argue or prove something and then gather and use evidence from your own experience as well as the text to support your claim.
4. Make sure that you support or illustrate general points with specific examples and vivid details.
5. Allow yourself enough time after writing to go back over your essay, check for errors or omissions, and make any necessary corrections.