George Floyd Death & Protests New York Times Article Essay & Cover MEMO Essay 5: George Floyd- George Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American man in Minneapo

George Floyd Death & Protests New York Times Article Essay & Cover MEMO Essay 5: George Floyd- George Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American man in Minneapolis, died on May 25 after being handcuffed and pinned to the ground by Derek Chauvin, a white police officer. Bystanders captured video of the officer behind a police car using his knee to pin down Mr. Floyd between his neck and head. Mr. Floyd is heard repeatedly saying, “I can’t breathe,” in the video.The next day, the video was widely shared on social media and ultimately became a driving force for protests, first in Minneapolis and then in dozens of cities across the country, from New York and Los Angeles to Chicago and Washington, D.C.

Essay Prompt: In the New York Times article below the authors describe how this moment is playing out under “dystopian circumstances, with a pandemic that has kept much of the nation at home for months, Depression-era job losses and the public bitterly divided on politics and culture.” What role do you think these three factors — the coronavirus, the unemployment rate, and the nation’s political divisions — are playing in the protests and violence?

As you prepare to write your essay CONSIDER:
Floyd’s death while in police custody
George Floyd died in Minneapolis. Why do you think protests have spread to so many other cities? The protests that have erupted in at least 75 cities across the United States
Reactions by politicians and the media
Use of force at the protests (Links to an external site.)by the police
Have you participated in any of the protests? Do you know anyone who has? Do you live in one of the cities where these protests are occurring? How do these protests, and the movement to protest police violence, connect to your life and community?
Do you think that anything will change — either locally in Minneapolis or nationally — as a result of the protests? Why or why not?
You will use the New York Times article below for your essay prompt.
You will research two additional outside sources for your essay to explain your thesis.
Quotes from at least three sources are expected to be integrated throughout your essay.

REQUIRED READING:

“Appeals for Calm as Sprawling Protests Threaten to Spiral Out of Control”

By John Eligon (Links to an external site.), Matt Furber and Campbell Robertson (Links to an external site.), May 30, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/30/us/george-floyd-protest-minneapolis.html (Links to an external site.)

Restated Essay Prompt: In the New York Times article above the authors describe how this moment is playing out under “dystopian circumstances, with a pandemic that has kept much of the nation at home for months, Depression-era job losses and the public bitterly divided on politics and culture.” What role do you think these three factors — the coronavirus, the unemployment rate, and the nation’s political divisions — are playing in the protests and violence?

Cover Memo stapled to front of essay:

What is the biggest strength in your essay? (What are you most proud of?)
What still needs improvement in your essay? Write about what you’d still like to work on with your writing.
What was your biggest challenge with completing the task of writing the essay?

Minimum Requirements:

The essay contains a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion.
The essay supports the thesis with appropriate quotes and paraphrases the author’s ideas.
Proofread, making sure that grammar errors don’t interfere with readability and comprehension and attempt to use coordinating and subordinating conjunctions.
Write a final draft answering the essay prompt (3.5-4 pages), include related assignments and a cover memo describing the revisions made between drafts.

An “A” paper will meet all the minimum requirements AND…

The essay contains a thesis statement that gives the readers a clear idea of issue being critiqued.
Included are three quotes from texts and writing that shows quotes were carefully unpacked and critiqued.
Developed ideas completely and wrapped it up to conclude strongly.
Close attention to style and mechanics in all work by implementing the organization and writing skills introduced in this class.
Careful proofreading together with correct grammar and punctuation usage is crucial in this class. Although the spellchecker is a valuable tool, one that students absolutely should use, students cannot simply run a spell-check without also proofreading a paper. As we know, spellcheckers do not flag everything, and may incorrectly flag some items. Only careful proofreading can find all the errors. In conjunction with the spellchecker, also enable the Microsoft Word grammar checker to run concurrently with the spellchecker. Lack of proofreading — formatting, punctuation, spelling and grammar mistakes — will result in an NP grade.
Questions always arise regarding what constitutes a “page,” so to ensure all use the same guidelines for essay length, a “page” for essays is a full 8 ½ x 11 inch page. (3.5-4 full pages required!)
Follow the standard MLA formatting guidelines.
-Essay is double-spaced.

-Use 12 pt. Times New Roman text running from the top margin to the bottom margin

-All margins are one inch wide, no greater. The exception is the first page with the author block and essay title, in which the text runs from one line space below the title to the one-inch margin at the bottom.

-Single space after period (or punctuation) at end of sentence.