Political Assassinations English 10 CP

Consider this: Regarding political power, Robert Dalberg Alton comments that“power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely.” What does this mean? What should happen if and when absolute power corrupts a political leader?

Important Definitions to Know: Assassination (n.) – the murder of a politically prominent person Assassinate (v.) – to murder by sudden attack a politically prominent person Assassin (n.) – one who perpetrates (def: commits) an assassination Aftermath (n.) – consequence or result of an event Conspiracy (n.) – an agreement by two or more persons to commit a crime, fraud, or other misdeed (including murder)

Your Objective You will write a research paper (expository essay – WA 2.3) on a famous assassination of your choice (you will have three options). Here is your task:  Write a research paper in which you explain the political situation leading up to the (attempted) assassination, the motivation behind the (attempted) assassination, the nature of the conspiracy involved with the (attempted) assassination, a description of the (attempted) assassination itself, and the political aftermath of the (attempted) assassination of the political figure.  You will receive an outline later as it is more important to understand the information first.

Questions to Consider about Assassinations 1.What was the time period and situation (social, political, and/or economic) leading up to the (attempted) assassination? 2.What motivated the assassin(s) to commit the murder? (This is most likely a disagreement with political opinions or actions—find something specific.) 3.Political assassinations are most often the result of a conspiracy, that is, a group of people who come together to plan to commit an illegal act. What was the nature of the conspiracy involved with the (attempted) assassination? Who was involved and how did they work out the details? 4.What was the timeline that enabled the (attempted) assassination to take place? Find a series of at least five events that show how the assassination took place. 5.What was the political result of the (attempted) assassination? Consider what changes took place in the country or region after the assassination and how the assassination may have caused these changes.

Your Choices 1.The assassination of James I of England by Guy Fawkes in the Gunpowder Plot. 2.The assassination of President Abraham Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth. 3.The assassination of Franz Ferdinand by Gavrilo Princip.

Start with ABC A = Attack the Prompt Wait! Before you can continue with B and C, you must read the articles. This will be your homework Monday and Tuesday night.

How to Annotate Highlight important quotations that answer the essential questions in the following way:  Highlight information about the timeframe (information that answers essential question #1) in yellow.  Highlight information about the motive of the assassin (essential question #2) in pink.  Highlight any information about a conspiracy or the plan to assassinate the political figure (essential question #3) in green.  Highlight any events during the assassination (essential question #4) in orange.  Highlight any political results of the assassination (essential question #5) in blue. Write notes to yourself about how the highlighted quotations answer the essential questions in the left-hand margins. This should be filled up when it is checked.

How to Annotate (cont.) Circle words that you don’t know. Make time to look up the definitions. Write down important ideas from the text in the left-hand margin. You should have at least three important ideas in each article. Write a summary at the end of the article. This should also be filled up in order to receive full credit.

Timeline Monday 19 March 2012 – Assignment given Thursday 22 March 2012 – Annotated articles due Friday 23 March 2012 – Brainstorm and “Choose the Order” due Tuesday 27 March 2012 – TYPED Rough Draft due Wednesday Friday 30 March 2012 – TYPED Final Draft due You MUST bring a hard copy (def: printed copy) to class on this date. You must ALSO submit to by 11:59 p.m. on this date. If you are missing EITHER of these steps, you will receive a ZERO and a HOMEWORK card.