This guide will help you identify and locate sources for your writing assignments.
Library-related questions? Please email me. I am here to help.
Judy Markowitz
judym@umd.edu
From your syllabus:
Essay Question 1
Is limiting or banning fake news a restriction of liberty? Whether or not it is a restriction on
liberty, is it justified?
This essay requires you to make two arguments. The first is about the nature of liberty, and the
reasoning for this argument must invoke a conception of liberty AND explain how a competing
theory of liberty is mistaken about limiting fake news. The second argument requires you to
assert the hierarchy between liberty and other values, such as equality, security, growth of
knowledge, justice, etc.
Your essay must conform to the following guidelines:
- Between 700 – 100 words (excluding quotes and bibliography)
- MLA format (although cover page is not necessary)
- Makes use of at least three scholarly sources, one of which must come from the textbook*
bibliography (non-scholarly sources are welcome beyond the three scholarly ones)
NOTE: this essay is a political theory essay and not a legal one, so the Constitution is not a
sufficient reason to support your arguments.
* The textbook is a key resource for this essay, and so it must be cited in the bibliography. But it
will not count as one of your scholarly sources.
