PHYS 280 :: Physics Illinois :: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Required Essay 2, First Version (RE2v1)

Electronic submission due Wednesday Feb. 1 at 10pm; paper submission due Thursday Feb. 2 at 2pm

For RE2v1 you will write an essay using the scenario and guidelines described below. Your RE2v1 will be graded by your writing lab TA, who will use this rubric. 

The primary learning goal of RE2 is to learn the important technical aspects of nuclear weapons by writing about them.

Scenario

You are an analyst for the Congressional Research Service in the early 1940s. Representatives from President Roosevelt have asked you to write a brief special report for a select group of senators and representatives that will convince them that the United States should fund a new nuclear weapons technology that is so powerful a single strike has the potential to stop the war. Funding for the Manhattan Project (active: 1942-1946) must be kept almost entirely hidden from members of Congress, but the support of these select individuals will help push through certain funding measures and allow the project to proceed without undue pressure or curiosity from the rest of the legislative branch.

Your report should tell the story of how investing in the science will be worth the cost (historically, a case initiated by Albert Einstein and Leo Szilard). Rhetorically, your report should open with a very brief statement of the challenging military circumstances the United States and its allies face in the European and Pacific theaters of WWII and why it is so important to deviate significant funds from the ongoing war effort to fund nuclear bomb development. To convince readers, you will need to explain the underlying science so that they can understand what scientists plan to do, why this development is so challenging, and how its potential for winning the war outstrips conventional bombs.

In making the case for funding the Manhattan Project, be sure to include the following technical content (not necessarily in this order).

Guidelines

Writer's Memo

Professional writers often ask for feedback from their peers on their written products. This feedback is most productive when one requests comments on specific points or sections. 

For the RE2v1 writer's memo, please compose 3-5 questions to which your peer review partner will respond. These questions can be related to content, organization, style, or grammar. For example, you could ask for clarification on some aspect of the points described in the Scenario section above, or you could also ask if your paper has adequately adhered to the CRS report genre.

The writer's memo for RE2v1 will facilitate the peer review (see below) component of this assignment. Please see the Phys 280 Style and Format Guide for additional instructions on the formatting of the writer's memo.

Your submission must include:

  1. Your RE2v1
  2. Your writer's memo for RE2v1

**submission must be in one file**

Content Learning Goals

  1. Learn the different types of relevant nuclides pertaining to nuclear weapons and examples of them.
  2. Learn the general requirements to achieve a nuclear explosion.
  3. Understand how a nuclear explosion compares to explosions from conventional bombs.

Writing Learning Goals

  1. Learn course concepts by writing about them.
  2. Learn and practice conforming to the Phys 280 style and formatting guidelines.
  3. Practice assuming a professional role and style (in this case, an analyst for CRS).
  4. Practice analyzing and adapting to different writing situations and genres for responding to them.
  5. Develop a sense of audience and editorial awareness as a writer through peer review.

Required Essay 2, Peer Review of RE2v1

Electronic submission due Monday Feb. 6 at 10am

This assignment has a peer review component. You will be asked to review a peer's RE2v1 by i) addressing the questions contained in their writer's memo (describe above) and ii) making at least two substantive comments on their RE2v1, preferably using the review feature of Microsoft Word. These comments can address an issue with content, style, or grammar; they could also praise an exceptional aspect of the paper. Your partner will be assigned via email after you submit RE2v1, and you will discuss your review with your partner in the Feb. 6 writing lab. The peer review is due on Feb. 6 at 10am via electronic submission.

After the RE2v1 due date, you will receive an email with your partner and instructions on finding their RE2v1 submission. Also you will be asked to email your peer review to your partner at the end of your Feb. 6 writing lab.

As stated in the RE2v1 rubric, peer review is 10% of your RE2v1 grade (the points will be added after the Feb. 13 writing labs).

Required Essay 2, Second Version (RE2v2)

Electronic submission due Wednesday Feb. 8 at 10pm; paper submission due Thursday Feb. 9 at 2pm

For RE2v2 you will revise your RE2v1 essay. This revision should address all the comments of your TA and peer review partner. Your RE2v2 will be graded by your writing lab TA, who will use this rubric (different from the RE2v1 rubric above). RE2v2 page limit has been increased to 1.5 pages single spaced. 

Writer's Memo

In addition to your RE2v2 essay please submit a brief statement (5-10 sentences) that describes how you incorporated your TA and peer review partner's feedback and, if appropriate, explains why you did not incorporate any feedback that you chose to ignore. 

Please see the Phys 280 Style and Format Guide for additional instructions on the formatting of the writer's memo.

Your electronic submission must include:

  1. Your RE2v2
  2. Your writer's memo for RE2v2

 **submission must be in one file**

Your paper submission must include:

  1. Your RE2v2
  2. Your writer's memo for RE2v2
  3. Your graded RE2v1 with the writer's memo for RE2v1