CMS150 - Winter 2001

Trials of Conscience: Litigation

and the Rhetoric of Identity

• St. Perpetua
• Galileo
• Thomas More
• The Amistad trial
• Oscar Wilde
• Angela Davis
• Dennis Banks and Lenord Pelltier
  

This list is merely suggestive and not at all inclusive. Please feel free to choose to write on another trial (e.g., O.J. Simpson, Clinton's impeachment, the Scopes "Monkey Trial," the trial of Jesus or Apuleius, etc.). If you do plan to write on another trial, please meet with me before March 8, 2001, so that I can be sure that the trial you have chosen lends itself well to the project.

The following deadlines apply to assignments connected with your paper. If you fail to hand in any of the assignments on a timely basis without benefit of a dean's excuse, that assignment will be docked 10% for each calendar day that it is late. If you choose this option, you must submit a final paper in order to receive a passing grade in this course. Note, these are deadlines. If you choose to hand these assignments in early, I will accept them. Depending on your course load, you may find another schedule with earlier dates for some assignments more helpful.

• Week 9, Class 2 [3/08/01]: Pick your topic and preliminary bibliography:
  • Hand in a one paragraph description of the trial you have chosen and why you want to write on it. Hand in a bibliography describing the primary sources documenting the trial and books and articles you believe you will use for the paper.

   

• Week 10 Class 2 [3/15/01]: Case Analysis (for paper) due today
  • If the trial you choose to write on has multiple contemporary sources, you must read these as well. Your Case Analysis should describe and consider contradictions between the sources. For some contemporary trials, the amount of contemporary sources may be overwhelming (the trial transcript in the O.J. Simpson trial, for example). In this case, you may choose selectively among the available contemporary sources, but your Case Analysis should explain why the sources you have chosen to work with are sufficient for the project you envision.
    
  • For modern trials, newspaper and media accounts will be very helpful. For some trials, government documents will be helpful as well. Please ask the staff at Ladd for help in finding and obtaining copies of these accounts.
    
    
  • Your Case Analysis should be in the form of a brief (no more than 2 pages, 600 words) paper which answers the questions the case analysis poses.
    
    
• Week 11 Class 2 [3/22/01]: Source Analysis and Annotations due today
  • In order to complete this assignment, you will have to prepare a bibliography of all primary and secondary material you have considered or will consider in preparing your web site. For material you have read, write an annotation, describing the source. You must have read and annotated at least eight (8) items (in addition to the contemporary accounts) by the time you hand in your bibliography. You will continue to read and prepare annotations during the course of the semester.
    
    
  • In addition to contemporary accounts, I expect to see books, academic articles, and for more modern trials, articles from law journals on your bibliography. Please ask the staff at Ladd for help in finding and obtaining copies of these articles.
    
    
  • Your Source Analysis should be in the form of a brief (2-4 pages; 600-1200 words) paper which answers the questions the source analysis poses.
    
    
• Week 12 Class 2 [3/29/01]: Argument Analysis due today
  • Your Argument Analysis should be in the form of a brief (2 pages; 600 words) paper which answers the questions the argument analysis poses.
    
    
• Week 13 Class 2 [4/05/01]: Updated Bibliography and Model Analysis due today
  • In order to complete this assignment, you must choose a theoretical model on which you will rely to analyze the trial you have chosen. You may choose some of the theoretical works we are reading in class, or you may choose another model (e.g., you may wish to do an Althusserian reading of your trial, or you may be influence in your analysis by the works of Foucault or Pierre Bourdieu).
    
    
  • Your Model Analysis should be in the form of a brief (2 pages; 600 words) paper which answers the questions the model analysis poses.
    
    
  • Your updated bibliography should include annotations for 20 (twenty) sources in addition to contemporary accounts of your trial (total; twelve (12) more than the first annotated bibliography)..
    
    
• Paper due [4/18/00] - Wednesday of exam week
  
  
  • I have certain criteria I use when grading the form and content of a paper. You should read these criteria carefully before submitting your paper. I will assume that you have when I grade your paper.
    
    
  • One of the best resources Bates has for students is the Writing Workshop . I have seen the advice and services provided by the Writing Workshop improve the work of students at all levels. I encourage each and every one of you to seek the advice of the Writing Workshop early in the process of writing your paper.