Once you become an expert about an issue that matters to you, you may feel you have a lot to say. A manifesto is a written declaration of someone's position on an issue, written in a way that suggests how that person or group will react in situations related to the issue. A manifesto may be based on ideas that have already been published or discussed in the public sphere, or it may promote a new idea and suggest changes that the manifesto's author believes should be made.
A recent example of a manifesto is the nonfiction book The Rich and the Rest of Us: A Poverty Manifesto, published in 2012 by Tavis Smiley and Cornel West, two journalists who have investigated the societal forces behind income inequality in the United States. Political groups and individual politicians also publish manifestos sometimes to convey their positions. For instance, in 1994, the Republican party issued the Contract with America, which listed actions Republicans promised to take if they became the majority party in the U.S. House of Representatives for the first time in forty years. And, of course, the most famous political manifesto in history is probably The Communist Manifesto, published in 1848 by the German philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.
For this assignment, you'll write your very own manifesto based on what you've learned about one particular issue during this course. First, locate these two worksheets and make sure you have completed all of the sections in each one: Participating in Democracy and Better Know an Issue. Then use the guidelines below to write your own manifesto.
| Paragraph 1 | Describe the issue in a way that helps readers see its importance and understand your own sense of urgency about resolving the issue. |
| Paragraph 2 | Explain the factors that you believe have contributed to the nation's problems related to this issue. |
| Paragraph 3 | Describe what is being done currently to address the issue by the government, by citizens' groups, and/or by individuals. |
| Paragraph 4 | Explain what you think should be done to resolve the issue or improve the lives of Americans who must deal with it. |
| Paragraph 5 | Describe what you personally will do to make sure the issue is addressed in the way you have proposed. |
| Paragraph 6 | Propose actions that other citizens can and should take to ensure the issue is resolved or addressed in a meaningful way. |
When you feel that your final product represents your best work, submit it to your teacher. Your work on this project will be graded using the following rubric.
| Paragraph 1 | 5 points | Your manifesto describes an issue in a way that helps readers understand why it matters to you and why it should matter to them. |
| Paragraph 2 | 5 points | Your manifesto fully explains the situations, laws, or policies that created the issue and that contribute to it today. |
| Paragraph 3 | 5 points | Your manifesto accurately and completely explains what is being done to address the issue and evaluates the effectiveness of those actions. |
| Paragraph 4 | 5 points | Your manifesto makes a compelling case for what should be done to resolve the issue or to improve the lives of Americans affected by it. |
| Paragraph 5 | 5 point | Your manifesto describes in detail what you can or will do to help improve how the issue is addressed in the near future. |
| Paragraph 6 | 5 points | Your manifesto proposes practical, realistic actions that all citizens can take to help resolve the issue or ensure that it is addressed in a meaningful way. |
