you will be assigned a country –Poland that we are going over in class during that portion of the semester and write a paper profiling the country.  Papers should profile the country be providing information regarding the topics listed below.  You should be using reliable sources (newspaper articles, government websites, journal articles, etc.) and you will need to include a list of references used.

Physical Geography (Climate, Natural Resources, Topography, etc.)
Population Characteristics (Age and Sex Characteristics, Density, etc.)
Cultural Characteristics (Language, Religion, Customs, etc.)
Political Characteristics (Type of Government, Political Parties, etc.)
Economic Characteristics (Types of Economic Activity, Quality of Life, Infrastructure, etc.)
Current Events (What are some of the current issues that are going on in this country?)
Thoroughly and accurately covering the topics will be worth 40 points.  The remaining 10 points will be based on grammar, organization, style, and appropriateness of references.

World Travel Paper The paper assignment for this course is intended as an exercise for you to become acquainted with different places throughout the world, as well as in the United States and Canada. For the paper, you are to select eight (8) specific locations of your own choosing and write about each location. The requirements for the paper are as follows: You are taking a hypothetical tour in which you will be visiting eight (8) different locations around the world. You are to write the paper in either journal format (personal account) or as letters home to love ones or friends. Your paper should be written to account for the things you saw and did at each of the locations visited. Although not necessary, you may include such things as hypothetical arrival and departure dates, time spent in each location, and other information regarding your stay (such as accommodations, mode of transport, etc.). Failure to write you paper in the specified format or neglecting to write about your experiences for each location will have points deducted from the paper. As mentioned previously, you are to select eight (8) specific locations of your own choosing. However, you MUST select ONE location from EACH of the following textbook defined regions: 1) Latin America (see p. 351 from text); 2) Europe (see p. 66 from text); 3) Russia and the Near Abroad (see p. 115 from text); 4) Middle East and North Africa (see p. 158 from text); 5) Sub-Saharan Africa (see p. 310 from text); 6) South and East Asia (see p. 212 from text); 7) Oceania and Antarctica (see p. 285 and p. 304 from text); 8) United States and Canada (see p. 392 from text). Note: Failure to select one location for each of the eight (8) designated regions will significantly reduce your score for the paper. The largest locational unit you may explore is a specific region within a particular country. Very small countries are allowed (e.g. Singapore), but you must first check with the instructor to see if they are acceptable. For the United States and Canada, the largest locational unit you may explore is a specific region within a state or province. It’s best to stick with cities, national parks, and well-known historic sites or tourist attractions as locations to write about. A paper describing multiple locations visited within one of the textbook defined regions will have points deducted from the paper. A paper describing locations visited that are larger than a specific region within a country, state, or province will have points deduced from the paper. Furthermore, a paper describing multiple locations visited within a country (and not limited to a specific region within a state, country, or province) will have points deducted from the paper. If you are not certain in what particular region a location is situated, refer to the maps located in the text at the beginning of each chapter covering the world regions. For example, you’ve selected Kabul as a location to write about but are not sure where it is located. You know that Kabul is located in Afghanistan – by checking the map on page 212 of the text you see that Afghanistan is considered to be part of the South and East Asia region. Therefore, your “visit” to Kabul covers the region you have to write about for #6 above (South and East Asia). If you are still not certain about a particular location, ask the instructor. Failure to write about one location in each of the regions specified will significantly reduce your score for the paper. As mentioned in the Syllabus, your paper is to be no less than six (6) full double-spaced typed pages (not including a required reference page). Failure to have at least six (6) full double-spaced typed pages will significantly reduce your score for the paper. A minimum of five distinct sources is required and must be cited in the reference page. You may use any written media (book, newspaper, academic journal, web site, encyclopedia, etc.) as sources for the paper. Note: use of an encyclopedia (either written or electronic – i.e. Wikipedia) constitutes one distinct source only. Use a writer’s manual, the websites listed below, or the sample paper to aid you in properly formatting and citing material in the reference page. Failure to identify at least five distinct sources in the reference page or neglecting to properly format the reference page will significantly reduce your score for the paper. Note: Refer to the following websites to assist you in properly formatting the reference page for the paper, especially if you are using Internet sources: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/ http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ http://www.easybib.com/cite/view http://www.yale.edu/bass/writing/sources/kinds/citeinternet/index.html For each location, focus on the interesting or unique things you did and/or saw while visiting each location. They can be places you have already visited, or places you have always dreamed of visiting. Remember, it needs to be in either journal or letter format. Probably the easiest way to write the paper is to write a single page on each location from each region – that way you’ll have more than the six (6) page requirement. I also encourage you to be creative. You can write about the different modes of transport used to get to each location (maybe you hiked from one place to another, or rode a bicycle, or flew in a balloon). You can write about some of the interesting, crazy, wild things you did at each location (skateboarded along the Great Wall of China, parachuted from the Eiffel Tower, etc.). You also might want to include a map depicting the route(s) you took to get from place to place. Incorporate anything into the paper that will make your trip exciting and memorable. Important Note: Please keep factual and/or statistical information about each location visited to a minimum (example: If you visited Paris, France as your location for Europe, please do NOT tell me that Paris is the capital of France, it has a population of 2.2 million people with a metro population of 12 million people, etc. This information can be easily obtained from the Internet and does NOT fulfill the purpose of this writing assignment). If you include factual and/or statistical information, make sure it relates to what you saw or did, the people you met, and/or the experiences you had at that location. Points will be deducted from the paper if you include more than necessary factual and/or statistical information that does not relate to your experiences for the locations visited.